Use The Gifts OF God For His Glory

Romans 12:2-9 KJV; God gives to each of us gifts to grow His Kingdom and for His Glory.

Growing Up Together

Ephesians 4:1-16 KJV; We all receive various gifts from God so that we might all grow in the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.

We Are One

Ephesians 5:22-33 KJV; 14th Sunday after Pentecost; The two become one.

Of One Mind In Christ

1 Corinthians 1:10 KJV; We are to be of one mind; after all, we are One Body in Christ.

Say No To Adultery

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 KJV; 2nd Sunday of Epiphany; You are joined as one in the Body of Christ. Do not be joined as one with another in adultery.

We Are All One Body

Galatians 3:26-28 KJV; There is no difference between us. We are one in Christ Jesus!

God Would Have Us Welcome The Stranger

Romans 11:33 – 12:8; KJV; 13th Sunday After Pentecost; God does indeed have a mind. He has a plan like none that we can fathom. He would have us welcome even the strangest of strangers.

Sisters In Christ

Romans 12:1-5; KJV; Sisters in Christ; we are one in Christ.

One Body In Christ

Serving Together.
Worship in Laskela, Karelia, Russia (2002)
Russian Interpreter, myself preaching, Rev. Antti Lepisto as Finnish Interpreter
Two interpreters makes for a very long sermon; yet, by serving together all heard the message 
in their own language.

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 

                                                                            (Eph 4:1 KJV)

Only one!  There is only one Body in Christ! There is only one Body in Christ who worships and serves the one Father by the power of the one Spirit of God.

We, all who believe that Jesus who is the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, lived and died on the cross for them and yet lives again in and through us all, are members of his Body.

Yet, there are many divisions within the visible church on earth. Not only individuals; but, whole congregations and even denominations, over the centuries, have turned to themselves to micromanage faith; to micromanage mission; to micromanage evangelism! Way too often we do not reach out because we who are in the church consider our own particular ways of being the church more important than being the Body of Christ.

Christ's ministry was to reach out to others. He proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. He did all this with hand's on! He came to this earth as a true man for our sakes; to serve us. After teaching us many things, his ultimate act was to usher in the Kingdom of God for us by dying on the cross so that we might be forgiven our sins and live life as citizens of the Kingdom. But, before he ascended to that Kingdom he gave us a command. He told us to go and make more disciples by teaching about everything he had said and done and baptizing others.  There is only one Body in Christ. We are that Body. Christ continues to work in and through and above us all to continue serving others. 

But, if anyone thinks that we should stand aside though while false teachers and prophets proclaim a Gospel that Jesus did not proclaim, think again! Jesus did call out the false teachers and prophets. He did call out sinners. But, he loved them all. He loves us all enough to suffer and die a cruel death that we might live. We too love are to love all people. We ought to love them enough to call them out if they are teaching another gospel.

The faithful will work together to continue the mission of the Body of Christ reaching out to all people. We cannot isolate ourselves from the whole Body of Christ. There is only one Body and every member is needed for the Body to be fruitful. There is not one member more important than another that the other should be cast aside.

The Body of Christ serves others in unity by the power of the Spirit of God.  It is not we who do the work of our Father; but, God himself who is above all, and through all, and in us all. 

May God help us to drop the egos and the isolation so that we may love and serve one another as members of the Body of Christ.

God's Peace be with you all.  Pr. J.

Gather Together Often!

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

And if they were all one member, where were the body?

But now are they many members, yet but one body.

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 

                                                                        (1 Cor 12:18-25 KJV)

As I attended a meeting for the South Eastern Conference SEC of the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) last night I could not help but wonder why the various members of the Body of Christ are reluctant to come together. I am not only speaking of those who profess to be Christians and rarely gather with others to worship God. I am also speaking of whole congregations who prefer to be isolated from the rest of the Body. 

Sometimes it is doctrinal difference particularly when it comes to gathering with others of a different denomination. Sometimes, it is because they have genuine animosity toward a brother or sister in Christ of another congregation.  Sadly; sometimes, it is also because we do not want anyone interfering in the power that we may have in the congregation that we are in. We simply do not want anyone interfering with the little bit of control that we think we have in our place of worship. Yes, sadly, there are members of congregation who do not have care for one another; but, only to build themselves up. They want no outside interference reminding people that we are all members of the One Body of Christ and that every person is as important as the next in the growing up of the Body. There are those who actually think that we do not need one another and that we are not a part of the same Body. 

The list of excuses used for not gathering together with other Christians is too long to be able to go over them all. But, remember that we are One Body and one member is not better than another. God gives each of us gifts to the growth of the Body and they must be used together "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." (Eph 4:12)

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

                                                                      (Eph 4:1-7, 11-12 KJV)

The LCMC South Eastern Conference in conjunction with St. Paul's Lutheran Seminary is sponsoring a conference on the "Two Kingdoms" on Jekyll Island” on April 19 and 20 this year. Join us! More information can be found at this link: https://semlc.org/conference-registration/

Let us not neglect to gather together in the bond of peace often!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

One Body

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15 KJV)

Let us depart from the idea that we must take care of ourselves first; that we are number one. The first is God. When we abide in Christ we are members of his body joined together with all others who confess that Jesus is the Son of God. 

When Christ abides in us and we in him we are one with one mind serving the Lord and one another. Each member of the body has its particular gifts given to us by God so that the body might be edified and grow in Christ Jesus.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

In Fellowship; In Christ

 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

                                                                                  (Acts 2:42-43 KJV)

They continued in fellowship... I suppose fellowship of sorts can be done via social media. But, that is not the fellowship that was enjoyed by those first followers. The coming together to break bread and to pray; being together is what communing is all about. Yes, social media is good to keep in touch with one another when we cannot be together. It is great that we have the opportunity to share the Gospel by means of the world wide web!

But; when it is all over, Christians must gather together to hear the word; to pray; to sing praises; to worship the Lord; to break bread together; and to fellowship with one another. Being a Christian means being a member of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is one body and not many separate bodies. We cannot delude ourselves into thinking that we can be Christian yet never truly connect ourselves with other Christians. As members of a Body we much be connected in order to be fruitful. As St Paul wrote to the Corinthians: 

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

For the body is not one member, but many.

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

And if they were all one member, where were the body?

But now are they many members, yet but one body.

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

                                                                                     (1 Cor 12:12-21)

And, once I'm rambling this morning one more question: How are we going to know how to serve others if we cannot ever hear them or see them face to face to know what their needs are? 

I watch many Bible Studies and Worship services online. Many people are hearing the Gospel that have never heard it before because of social mediajust as many people heard the Good News because of St. Paul's letters to the various communities. This safe-distancing that we live with today, in one regard has enabled a great deal of evangelism. It has also put a bit of a hamper on "feeding the sheep" as there are many who do not have social media available to them and that would include many faithful members of the Church. 

I see many small congregations who are either worshiping with social distancing or in their vehicles. I am very grateful for those congregations who are affording those opportunities to hear the Good News and Worship if even at a distance. But, there are many who are not taking advantage of the opportunity. They have found no real alternative ways to continue as evangelists and I cannot help but wonder if they will ever be able to open their church doors back up again. 

I just pray that as we hear the Gospel online, we will not consider this the end all. As soon as it is possible the Body of Christ has a great need to come together in worship; in prayer; in praise; in thanksgiving; in receiving the Sacraments; in breaking of the bread; in fellowship with one another; in community. We cannot succumb to thinking that we can be Christ-like without being connected to the Body of Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.