Beloved in Christ,

I remember two Kennedy Evangelism questions (or the Evangelism Explosion version in the LCMS) from back in the 1980s.  I’ve re-worked them to my preference here.

1.)  If Christ returned today, are you confident that He would take you to be with Him in His heaven?

2.)  What is your confidence that Jesus would do that for you?

And we live in a frightening world with anti-Christian sentiment on the dramatic rise.  And the direction things are going in this country, in terms of truth, confession of faith, and morality, with the rise of human secularism, surely all this gives rise for even more concern–great concern.  Jesus said, to calm the hearts of His very own: “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

Where am I going with this?  Simply to make the point: we need Jesus.  You and I need Jesus.  We need Him to take hold of us, hold onto us, carry us, strengthen us.  We need what He provides.  We need His gifts.  We need His Holy Word and Holy Spirit–especially as we contend for the faith in this growingly anti-Christian culture.  We need assurance of His mercy and His pardon for all of our sins.  We need His assurance of heaven.  Who knows when our earthly life will end?  Who but God alone knows when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead?

I recently had a pleasant conversation with someone who was commenting about our church sanctuary–and how much it looks like an ark.  It does!  The finished ceiling and beams make it look like…Noah’s ark?!?!

The worship space in the church is in fact an ark.  It is called the church “nave” where the people sit in the pews.  “Nave” is Latin for “ship” (and so, we have the word “Navy”).  How fitting!  Our spiritual safety and security, as we journey toward all that God has in store for us in eternity, is renewed in us and sustained in us where Jesus has promised to be–where His Word is preached in its truth and where His sacraments are rightly administered to His people.  Safe and sure in God’s ark–His church!  How wonderful!  And that is God’s desire for each of us.

Dear people of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, now more than ever before, and I am not relying here on my own rash logic, but because the “signs of the end times” are all about us…and so now, I urge you in the name of Christ Jesus to find that this really is the necessary place–the best place–where God’s children must hang out.  This is God’s grace place.  Come and receive His forgiveness!  For this is His safe haven for repentant sinners.  Come and be safe and secure in Jesus by His Word and Sacraments!  Come and be kept in the true faith!  Come and be fed and nourished!  Come and receive NEW LIFE in Christ!  Come and know from Jesus why you have every reason in Him for confidence of His heaven!  Come and find in His objective Word the basis for Your salvation!

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

There are no activities at the church this week.

Next Sunday, July 12th, Divine Service at 9:00AM.

This past Sunday, I announced of a special opportunity to be a blessing to soldiers in our armed forces.  It is called a Biblestick.  It is an electronic stick by which soldiers can listen to the Bible (New Testament and some selected Psalms).  Imagine the soldier serving overseas (even in the midst of a danger zone) being able to conveniently hear the Word of God in their ears.  An organization called FAITH COMES BY HEARING makes this Biblestick for our military personnel possible.  Each Biblestick costs $25.00.  I intend to promote this outreach through July 19th.  All funds received until then will be matched 100% by a special donor connected to FAITH COMES BY HEARING.  If you would like to donate toward this effort, you may make the check payable to: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and in the memo line write: “Biblestick.”  I will be showing a three minute video this Sunday during our coffee time.  Our church has worked with FAITH COMES BY HEARING in the past, and we have been blessed by their efforts.

We had a great week at our Vacation Bible School.  We were all blessed to participate in this effort–enriched with God’s Word and enjoying some very special Christian fellowship. Thanks to all who helped in any and every way!

SERVING THE LORD THIS WEEK:

Ushers:    Randy Krampitz

                Rich Clukey

Elder:       Jeff Sonstroem

Altar:        Laurie Sonstroem

Acolyte:    Megan Hendrickson

Coffee:     N. Johnson/D. Chambers

Have a great and blessed week in the Lord!

Pastor Kotila