Tomorrow we will share in the worship of our amazing Lord and hear the Word of God from Matthew's gospel and Romans 8. In Romans 8, St. Paul writes: "37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." These words are often heard at Christian Funerals. This is a very comforting passage of Holy Scripture for us each day!
Earlier in Romans 8 we hear "28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. The point of this is not that God automatically predestines some for heaven and some for hell through election (as our calvinist brothers and sisters believe) but that as Jesus said in John 12:32 "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He, God in Christ, will draw everyone to himself. Does this mean therefore everyone has to go to heaven? No, it means that our Lord, through the Holy Spirit draws, calls, gathers, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies! We hear this in Luther's explanation to the 3rd Article of the Apostles' Creed:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
If people do not respond to the call then they are not justified, even though Christ died for all sins, once and for all! But God is faithful and will call, justify, glorify those who receive this free gift of grace! St. Paul wants us to know who we are when we receive the gifts that the Lord offers to us, as the Creed states: our adoption as children of God, our redemption in Christ and Sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what makes us more than conquerors and what makes Satan tremble when we live by the Spirit and know to whom we belong and what it means.
We are going to change a few things in worship tomorrow. Because we love to hear from the Word of God, prophecies and testimonies, sharing what the Lord has done and is doing, we are going to add a sharing time in the service each week. We are going to begin with our worship and prayer time as we normally do. We have the Gospel reading and then Children's message. We will read the text from Romans 8 which I will share from. After the Sermon we will share the peace and then confess our sins and enter into the Lord's supper. We will have the Lord's Supper and while we offer prayers during the worship time following the distribution, while we pray for people, healing etc... we will also offer time after the worship for people to share at the microphone at the side. An Elder will stand on the pulpit side at the front and everyone who wishes to share may come up and we will have sharing time every week. This will allow us to have "God-sightings" and other sharing on a regular basis! The Elders will be responsible for assisting the people who feel led to share by helping them in keeping good order and time. The Elder's and I believe this will facilitate an even greater appreciation for what we know the Lord is doing in the midst of his family here at Cross and Resurrection!
I look forward to worship tomorrow, giving our Lord all praise and honor!
Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan
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