Thoughts from "Bonhoeffer's Last Sermon: Confident Hope‏" by Jim Belcher

Listen to this message by clicking HERE.

Bonhoeffer is on my short list of Christian men whose name inspires love and respect.  I admire him and wish I could have known him.  I want to be his friend.  I count myself blessed to serve the same God he served.  I love hearing about him and reading from him in his published works.  I love dead mentors.  No surprises.

In this message by Jim Belcher you will get a cook's tour of Bonhoeffer and his life, work, and hope in Christ.  For a more in depth look into his life, click HERE. Bonhoeffer loved Jesus and wanted his church, suffering under Hitler, to hold tightly to the hope of the world to come in light of present darkness.  He pastored his flock through the trainwreck that was WWII Germany.  He loved God's people and God's Son. He also plotted to assasinate Hitler and was eventually hung as a traitor.  He is like the pastoral verison of Jack Bauer.  Or maybe the Jack Bauer version of Spurgeon.  Or the Chuck Norris version of Jack Bauer doing a Martin Luther impression.  Either way, the recipe calls for a lot of people I like a lotta.

Belcher quoted C.S Lewis in this message regarding eternal security found in Christ alone:

"It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God...to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness...to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is."

Bonhoeffer was a minister of this Gospel.   He preached a God of justice and wrath and love and mercy and a Son in Whom all of these are satisfied and displayed perfectly for all. 

If you love church history, WWII, C.S Lewis qouotes, or Bonhoeffer, I would highly recommend taking the time out of your day to download and listen to this message.