This is an excerpt from Ditching the Checklist: Assurance of Salvation for Evangelicals (and Other Sinners) by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 5-7.
In the liturgy, Christ is present, self-giving, and ever-addressing his people.
Christians don’t need a bucket list. We’ve got the whole bucket: the Word fulfilled, life fulfilled, and life in full.

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What greater legacy could you claim than that of Mark? Listen to the Word. Learn from Jesus.
The needs of the people remain the same, but now the people are you and me. We still sin, and that sin causes so many challenges in our lives.
Sunshine and rain, food and harvests, family, friends, and health, love and joy. All these things and more he gives, not because of what you do or don’t do, but because he is generous and gracious.
Hidden beneath the sinner is a glorious saint. Jesus has declared it to be so in your baptism.