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Weekly Devotional

November 9, 2009

God’s Peace be with you all.

Revelation 14:12-14   ¹² Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.  ¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."  ¹⁴ Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!

 “We cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by intellect.  Your first duty is to begin by prayer.  Entreat the Lord to grant you, oh His great mercy, the true understanding of His Word.  There is no other interpreter of the Word of God than the Author of this Word, as He Himself has said, “They shall be all taught of God (John 6:45).  Hope for nothing from your own labors, from your own understanding: trust solely in God, and in the influence of His Spirit.  Believe this on the word of a man who has experience.”  -Martin Luther

            As Christians, we don’t learn specifically by coming to church or by sitting down and reading our Bibles.  We learn about God from God himself.  On any various Sunday, each of us could sit down, read the lessons, and come up with different messages.  The reason is that God talks to each of us differently.  The message that we hear from the lessons has a specific root within the frame work of our lives, and so it has different meaning as well.

            The duty of the church is to help put all these perspectives together, and through them, work as the hands and feet of Christ within the world.  Each of us have gifts that we can use, but as a collective whole, we are able to do so much more than any of us would be able to do by ourselves.  This is both the blessing and the hindrance of the church.  It is a blessing because when everyone is working together, the amount of ministry that can be accomplished is astounding.  However, if no one works together, then the ministry is held to a minimum.

            As you all approved yesterday, the church has $10,000 now set aside to specifically go towards evangelism and outreach for 2010.  We need ideas, examples, and most of all, your help as we move forward.  Yesterday was a big step in the life of the church.  Not only did we approve this measure, but we also approved a Spending Plan for 2010, and we had 3 previous members walk back through the door.  It seems to me that God is continually opening doors for the church to walk through.  However, as scary as that may be sometimes, we have to do it.  The good news is that we don’t do it alone.  We do it with each other, following the Spirit towards whatever the future may hold.

In our prayers this week: 

Doris, Mary Netta, Ann, Joseph, Lisa, Kim, Robert, Evelyn, Gail H, Sharon Pugh, Michael, and St. John’s Lutheran Church.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson