New Lutheran Quote of the Day

It is not what Christians bring along -- themselves, their interests, their similarities, even their will to belong - that makes them one body but rather what God brings and bestows on them: His forgiveness, His life, His Spirit. In the New Testament view therefore the church is not a collection of religious devotees who from time to time assemble to congratulate one another on their own salvation. But it is a fellowship that springs - through Word and Sacrament - from the inner fellowship of the Holy Trinity itself. -- Richard Jungkuntz, *The Gospel of Baptism* pp. 93, 94