Memorial Lutheran Church of Afton

God has blessed us with this precious gift of faith in Christ Jesus. God encourages us to grow in this faith using faith practices to teach and nourish us in our journey of life. Using the appointed Sunday readings this fall we will explore seven faith practices in greater detail.

FlamesDailyESPSGWx.doc Click here for your copy of a daily devotional for the first six weeks. [UPDATED]

I have worked with these faith practices almost since the start of my ordained ministry. They began as a discipleship initiative in the ELCA and have become a basic instruction for my ministry. We call them faith practices because they possess a building character to inform and reveal the life-giving promise in Jesus Christ.

In looking at the Revised Common Lectionary, I have incorporated these faith practices within the contours of the Sunday designated lessons. The sermon for each Sunday can serve as the catalyst by which we reflect upon the subsequent passages contained in this daily devotional for the remainder of each week.

In keeping with our fire image, I would encourage all participants to keep in mind three aspects of this series: consume, refine, and stoke. There is usually some part of us that needs to be consumed that gets in the way of our practicing faith. Like the refiner’s fire, there are aspects of our faith that exist but need more work or more attention. All fires need to be stoked from time to time; building up the flame so that others can be touched by the light and the warmth of this Christian faith. Each Saturday’s devotion will ask participants to set aside some quiet time to pray and to reflect on these aspects of consume, refine, and stoke.


We will provide online conversation forums using the Book of Faith networking site. A devotional booklet will be available at church. Sunday morning adult forums will be available between church services to further our learning and discussions.