Worship ... Grow ... Serve ... Share

by Nathan Meitner

Nathan wrote the following "epistle" for a church as an assignment connected with my New Testament course on the book of Acts and the epistles.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a).

Brothers and sisters in faith in Jesus,

            Nearly two thousand years ago, our Savior Jesus Christ stood on the Mount of Olives and ascended into heaven. Before he left, however, he gave his disciples—and ultimately all Christians—this Great Commission. This vital assignment is our purpose for living, and it governs our hearts from day to day. That is why our mission in our congregation today is to live our faith and share Jesus' love with all people—one heart and home at a time. Together, we will accomplish this by worshiping, growing, serving and sharing the gospel message.

Our Savior certainly deserves our praise, so we worship our God by coming together around his Word and Sacrament. The early Christian church set a wonderful example for believers today. Luke writes, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:46-47). This early church pattern in Jerusalem motivates us to also eat, meet, and mingle together. We as Christians have the amazing opportunity to gather around God’s Word and freely declare our faith. Therefore, we can understand the importance of meeting for Bible study and worship. This fellowship will be both beneficial and God-pleasing.

As Bible-believing Christians, we will also grow spiritually by faithfully studying God’s Word at home and together. The apostles of the early Christian church established a number of congregations. These ministers of the gospel knew, however, that faith also needs to be exercised. Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7). Since we are blessed with this wonderful gospel message in our lives, we also want grow in our faith so that we do not lose it. Whether you’ve been a Christian your whole life or for just a few days, you can always increase your faith and spiritual skills. The power of reading Scripture will help us put our faith to use.

We are thankful that Christ has redeemed us, therefore we serve God and others by using our distinct gifts. As new congregations were created in the early Christian church, the apostles stressed the need for people of different talents to work together. Paul writes, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Romans 12:6). The Lord has blessed every one of our congregation’s members with special gifts that can all be used for his glory. From musical talents to social skills to cleaning our facilities, all these God-given blessings can be used to maintain our worship and invite visitors to join us. We pray that the Holy Spirit would grant each of us a servant’s heart to use these wonderful abilities.

          Most importantly, we want to share the hope of heaven by telling others about the grace of Jesus. Christ died for all people. It didn’t take long for believers of the early Christian church to realize this. Luke tells us, “Some of them . . . began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:20-21). This verse speaks volumes. For a long time, many people believed that Jesus’ work was solely for the Jews. We know, however, that it was for Jews and Gentile’s alike. While we don’t often speak of Jew and Gentile today, let’s not forget that the good news of the gospel is for all races and cultures in our community.

          Christ did not leave us here on earth to sit around idly. He gave us a mission. Luke writes, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers” (Acts 15:5). The early Christian church set a powerful precedent. When we worship, grow, serve, and share, however, we also can accomplish much in the name of our Savior.  Our local congregation is here to reach out to one heart and home at a time. So the next time you see that unchurched family member, friend, or coworker, ask yourself: Who will tell them about Christ’s love? You will.

Sincerely,

Nathan Meitner

Online course: Connecting Young Adults to the Church

Notice of upcoming course offered through Martin Luther College Continuing Education:

Connecting Young Adults
to the Church  

(THE8113 - 1 credit)

A study and discussion of issues regarding young adults' involvement in churches and member ministry. Participants engage in Bible study and discussion of practical issues related to ministry with youth/young adults.

July 5 - 16 (online)     /     Instructor: David Sellnow

Register through MLC Continuing Education site.   (Cost for registration and fees = $330)

New Life in Christ

by Elizabeth Duff

            As each of us began our physical life on earth, we were in a bad way, spiritually speaking. In fact, we had no spiritual life. All of us were born dead in sin, separated from our God. There is nothing we could do to make ourselves alive. But God, by his grace, called us to be his own, making us alive with Christ. God used his gospel message – Christ crucified for the sins of the world and raised to life for our justification – to bring us to faith, whether that be through hearing his word or through baptism. We are no longer on the road to eternal death in hell, but now have God’s promise of eternal life in heaven. This full realization of our spiritual life – being able to see God face to face and that he will make his dwelling with us – is what we eagerly anticipate this side of heaven.

            This new life that God has given us compels us to live out our earthly lives in a new way. No longer are we slaves to sin. This new self in us takes delight in God’s holy law and wills us to carry it out. Our lives have becomes lives of thanks – Christ’s love overflows from our hearts into what we think, say, and do.

However, that is not the end of the story. If it were so, we would simply be doing good works all the time. Any Christian can tell you that the truth is this: we continue to struggle against the sinful nature within us. This part of us continuously rebels against God’s commands – it hates his holy law. Our two natures, the new self and the old self, continue to fight one another.  If it were simply up to us, we would fail time and time again. Even as new creations, we still are weak to fight the temptations that our sinful flesh, the world, and the devil throw our way.

So where do we turn for help? We turn to our Savior. We see what he has done for us on the cross. We see how his blood has covered every single one of our sins – including those times our new self has failed and we have given into our sinful flesh. We see Christ’s work for us and take heart. We are not alone in this fight. Our God and Brother is at our side. He has conquered sin, death, and the devil for us. He now sits at the Father’s right hand, guiding all things for the sake of his church (which includes us).  He continues to intercede for us, perfecting our imperfect prayers. We also see our Father, in turn, graciously blessing us with all good things. He willingly has given up his Son, so how will he not graciously give us all things? He also sends out the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. This same Holy Spirit makes intercession for us, expressing thoughts that human language cannot contain. He equips us with the great gospel message. Our armor is God’s very Word – in preaching, in baptism, and in communion. When we fail in this life, our God picks us up in his loving arms. We already are his new creation. We continue to trust that he will help us fight off temptation in this life and bring us into the next life. We may fail in our lives of sanctification, but God and his promises never fail. We receive our energy and strength from these great promises – promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Our life of sanctification isn’t so much seeing ourselves become better, but learning to fully lean on the cross of Christ.