"The Ascension"
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Notice that Jesus says, "You WILL be my witnesses." He doesn't say, "You CAN be my witnesses" or You SHOULD be my witnesses." It says ""WILL". If you are a Christian, and you profess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, and by your salvation you will be His witness to the end of the earth.
By your living in faith you will witness to the world about Jesus. By your continual love, your forgiveness, your peace, you WILL be His witnesses to the end of the earth. It isn't a choice. The Holy Spirit will make you His witnesses.
Are you being a witness? Are you showing Christ? If not, it's time to repent! It's time to ask for forgiveness from the Lord, and from the those against whom you have sinned.
When you repent of your lack of witness, even your repentance will be a witness. When you ask for forgiveness, even your confession of sin is an act of witness. When someone sins against you and you forgive them openly and completely, there is no greater witness to the love and forgiveness of Christ! When you care for your children and bring them up in the nurture and love of the Lord and make sure they know as much as they can about Jesus, you are His witnesses! When you love your spouse with the love of Christ and give forgiveness and love like you should, you are a witness to Christ. When you go to church and show people you are proud of your church, you are a witness to Christ. When you are an honest and hard worker or boss, and love your coworkers and employees, and show them who Christ is by your actions, you are a witness for Christ. I could go on and on. You get the point.
You don't have to be a professional church worker to be a witness for Christ. In fact, the best witnesses for Christ aren't church workers at all. I love my pastor, but he was a very busy man being the sole pastor of a congregation of 1,800 members for most of his life. So he didn't have a lot of one on one time with members unless you needed counseling or wedding, funeral, confirmation services done. The biggest Christian influences on my life were my parents and my teachers. I thank the Lord every day for them!
Who are you to someone else? Whatever you are, may the Lord make you a witness to them in word, deed, and life!
Prayer: Lord, make me a witness to someone today. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Thurs- Alzheimers Support group 1pm; Lutheranism 101 7pm
Fri- Set up for Vendor fair, bake sale, and flea market.
Sat- Bake Sale, Vendor Fair, Flea Market 7am-1pm; Worship 5pm
Sun- MOTHER'S DAY; worship 8:30; Bible Study 9:45; Worship 11
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- George Pezold 11- Dawn Sherman
Ushers- Marv Hendershot, Don Luebke, Dave Callies, Don Nolte
Altar- Set up- Linda Callies; Clean Up- Wanda Turnure
Elders- Sat- Jason Cluver; 8:30- Roy Bohning; 11- Steve Robine
Greeters- 8:30- Erv Yoder; 11- Joan Sexton
Lay Readers- Sat- Sandra Perricone 8:30- Christy Winn; 11- Dawn Sherman
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Piano- Barb Dreyer
Projectionists: Sat- Perricone; 8:30- John Pezold 11- Jacob Cluver
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TODAY'S QUIZ: What is Psalm 12 about?
We have been blessed beyond measure in the United States haven't we? I want you to join me in making a global difference by releasing children from poverty through Christian education.
Instead of taking a week off and joining my fellow Lead a Child bikers who are riding the Fault Line across four states this year, I have decided to go solo and bike 1,000 miles locally and while on vacation by August 1 to raise funds for LeadaChild. Would you sponsor me so that I can raise funds to support this most worthy organization? In my opinion, there is no more worthy organization to support than LeadaChild!
LeadaChild provides educational assistance to over 26,000 children and shares the love of Jesus Christ with the students and their families! LeadaChild supports the poorest of the poor children through Christian education in the following countries:
Guatemala Chad Honduras Palestine Haiti Uganda
Gambia Ivory Coast El Salvador Nigeria Panama Nicaragua
Burma Ghana Chile Venezuela Bolivia Mexico
Liberia Uruguay Sri Lanka India Guinea Sierra Leone
Bangladesh Cambodia South Africa Togo Thailand
These students need your help to find a way out of poverty through Christian education and learn of the hope of Christ our Savior.
Please fill out your information below and send it with your check or donate online through the LeadaChild website: http://www.leadachild.org/bike
Every dollar makes a difference. Please give generously. Please remember all of the riders in your prayers! Thank you much for your support!
Biking For Kids Together,
Pastor Jeremy Klaustermeier
LeadaChild is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
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