ST. JOHN'S MISSION STATEMENT
As the body of Christ, we strive to make disciples of all, focusing on the next generation, through growing...
As the body of Christ, we strive to make disciples of all, focusing on the next generation, through growing...
UP in God's Word and Sacrament
OUT into the community by caring for physical and spiritual need
TOGETHER in fellowship to build lasting relationships in Christ
Memorize it! Get used to it! Live it! It is YOUR mission statement as a member of St. John's Lutheran Church!!!
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DEVOTION: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
I opened my daily Bible this morning after hearing some waking up to Karin having a migraine, then waking up again too late, then hearing bad news on the radio, then looking outside and seeing a rainy day, and then I thought about all of the things I had to do today, and then I thought about all of my mess ups and mistakes yesterday, and the list could go on and on.
I have to laugh when someone is asked if they have any regrets in life and that person says "Nope, I have no regrets. If I had to do it all over again, I do it all the same." This kind of a person just doesn't understand sin and the consequences of it. A person who doesn't realize his mistakes and sins is one that I truly worry about for his salvation.
Maybe it's just me, but when I look back on my life I see a whole lot more things that I regret and am ashamed of than I see success and achievement. Maybe it's just my Lutheran upbringing. Maybe it's that I've focused on the law too much in my life. Maybe it is just me.
At the same time I know from where my comfort comes. My comfort comes from the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. I know that, in the end, despite all my sins, I have a Christ who loves me and will keep me with Him forever. I have a God who will never leave me or forsake me. It is in that, not myself or my own holiness, that I find comfort.
I have so much comfort and confidence in this that it overflows to others. It is just a peace that I have, and that all who believe in Jesus should have in their hearts, on their faces, and in their lives so much that others see it and want it. They see what it means to be loved by Jesus and they desire that love too. Hallelujah!
My prayer for you is that in as much as you share in my sufferings over your sin, you will also share I my comfort in the forgiveness of sins.
Let us pray: God of all comfort, thank you for continually comforting me with the knowledge of salvation and the abundant life which you give to me in Jesus. Amen.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
OUT into the community by caring for physical and spiritual need
TOGETHER in fellowship to build lasting relationships in Christ
Memorize it! Get used to it! Live it! It is YOUR mission statement as a member of St. John's Lutheran Church!!!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
DEVOTION: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
I opened my daily Bible this morning after hearing some waking up to Karin having a migraine, then waking up again too late, then hearing bad news on the radio, then looking outside and seeing a rainy day, and then I thought about all of the things I had to do today, and then I thought about all of my mess ups and mistakes yesterday, and the list could go on and on.
I have to laugh when someone is asked if they have any regrets in life and that person says "Nope, I have no regrets. If I had to do it all over again, I do it all the same." This kind of a person just doesn't understand sin and the consequences of it. A person who doesn't realize his mistakes and sins is one that I truly worry about for his salvation.
Maybe it's just me, but when I look back on my life I see a whole lot more things that I regret and am ashamed of than I see success and achievement. Maybe it's just my Lutheran upbringing. Maybe it's that I've focused on the law too much in my life. Maybe it is just me.
At the same time I know from where my comfort comes. My comfort comes from the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. I know that, in the end, despite all my sins, I have a Christ who loves me and will keep me with Him forever. I have a God who will never leave me or forsake me. It is in that, not myself or my own holiness, that I find comfort.
I have so much comfort and confidence in this that it overflows to others. It is just a peace that I have, and that all who believe in Jesus should have in their hearts, on their faces, and in their lives so much that others see it and want it. They see what it means to be loved by Jesus and they desire that love too. Hallelujah!
My prayer for you is that in as much as you share in my sufferings over your sin, you will also share I my comfort in the forgiveness of sins.
Let us pray: God of all comfort, thank you for continually comforting me with the knowledge of salvation and the abundant life which you give to me in Jesus. Amen.
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