"Monkey Shines"
Bits of wisdom from Pastor Bimen
Associate Pastor & Youth Pastor
@
St Mark Lutheran Church
July 7, 2003
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God’s Ministry
Back
to the real life again! My wife and
I became tourists in our hometown for the last two weeks. We traveled to many
places in Alaska with the motor home. It was quiet an adventure. The
Orzechowski’s family graciously loaned their motor home to us this summer. We
thank God for their generosity. We were amazed to find out that Alaska is more
beautiful than we thought. We were just as excited as tourists from lower 48. We
spent our vacation this summer with our friends from Minnesota. It was wonderful
that we had a chance to spend time with them and at the same time it is nice to
be back to our ‘normal’ life with my wife.
In
my sermon last Sunday I made the highlights that Jesus calls, equips, empowers
and sends us out. That is the heart of God’s mission. He extends that mission
to the church. God, through the Church continuously calls, equips, empowers and
sends people out to the world to bring the gospel of Jesus. The great commission
of Jesus starts with the word “Go”: “Go
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey every
thing I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very
end of the age.” The church will grow when we continue to go and reach out to
people.
Yesterday
(Monday the 7th)
we went out to our neighborhood, handing out the fliers, inviting them to come
to our church’s Block Party. That
was one of the examples of God’s ministry we are talking about, going out to
invite other people to meet God in our worship. By doing that, we keep sending
people out. Meeting or talking with strangers was quite of challenge. We
didn’t know what to expect. But
it wasn’t bad at all. It was
rather a wonderful experience. Every person that we talked to was nice. One of
them was looking for a church to attend. Remember, every time we do God’s
work, God is with us and ahead of us. Our
Church needs to go out in order for us to grow.
I will end my article by quoting Paul’s letter: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
God bless