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www.LutheranMissions.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #30
I Cor. 16:9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. My name is David Lau, and I am one of the teachers at Immanuel Lutheran College and Seminary in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. Every three years I teach a course in the Seminary called Missiology. From time to time I will be submitting some of the material from these Missiology notes for this Newsletter. I am sure there are many hundreds
of books that have been written on the subject of Missiology or Mission
Work. But since we are Christians, there is one book in particular
that we need above all others, and that is the Bible, the
What does the Bible say about God's plan of salvation? Listen to what Jesus said will happen on the Last Day, the Day of Judgment. To those believers on His right hand Jesus, the Judge, will say: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). God's plan of salvation goes way back to the beginning, from the very creation of the world and even from eternity. So also the apostle Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy: "God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began". (Second Timothy 1:19). "Before time began." Yes, from eternity, before the creation of the world God was planning our salvation in Christ Jesus. Sometimes when we read the Old Testament, we may think that God really did not have all of us in mind. We may think that the only people He cared about were the children of Abraham. But that is not true. From the beginning God has always wanted all people to hear about His plan of salvation in Jesus and be saved. In fact, there were at least two times in world history when 100% of the world's population heard the good news of God's plan of salvation. The first time that 100% heard about it was in the days of Adam and Eve, when God told them that the woman would have a seed, and this seed would crush the head of the serpant. That is, a Child born from woman would have a fierce battle with Satan (the devil or serpent) and would defeat him. Both Adam and Eve heard this promise, and there were no other people living in the world at that time. Thus 100% of the world's population heard the good news of the coming of the Savior, who would make right again what the devil messed up. If Adam and Eve and their children had only passed this message on to their children and grandchildren and on and on down through the years, everyone in the whole world would know about God's plan of salvation in Jesus. The second time 100% of the world's population heard the good news of salvation was in the days of Noah after God destroyed the first world with the great flood. The only human inhabitants on the earth were Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives. Eight people in all. Surely all eight of these heard the promise of the coming Savior. They all knew that the reason God had kept them alive was so that He could keep His promise about the Woman's Seed, the Savior to come. If only Noah and his sons and their sons after them in the coming generations had passed down this great plan of salvation, everyone in the world would know about it now. But we know that men and women have failed to pass down this promise to their children and grandchildren. That is why there are many people in the world today who do not know who Jesus is. They don't know what Jesus has done for them and for all. It is true, God chose Abraham to be the father of the nation from whom the Savior would come. But God still had everyone in the whole world in mind. He wanted them all to be saved, even as He wants all people to be saved today. God said to Abraham more than once: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). In fact God wanted all people of the world to hear about the Savior from the children of Abraham. But so often they were unfaithful and did not live or behave the way God wanted them to. Instead of spreading the good news of God's salvation they fell away from the true God and worshipped idols, false gods that were not gods at all. Nevertheless, there were some people from other nations that learned to know the true God and trust in His plan of salvation. A few examples from the Old Testament: Rahab of Jericho and her family, Ruth from the land of Moab, Captain Naaman from the land of Syria, the Queen of Sheba. I am sure there are many more the Bible does not mention. Now that Jesus has come into the
world and died for our sins and won the victory over death by His resurrection,
God surely wants everybody to know about this. That is why Jesus told his
followers: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature:
(Mark 16:15). Jesus wanted His followers to go everywhere
May our dear Lord bless us all as we bring His Word to the world. Amen. David Lau ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #31
Dear Brothers in Christ, greetings in the name of our Risen and Ascended Savior Jesus Christ. My name is Pastor Todd Ohlmann. I serve a small CLC congregation called Faith Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Pastor Koenig has asked me to compose the B.A.S.I.C. Newsletter for this week. I have met many of you in India and Nigeria, others I have only read about and prayed for. I read with great interest the reports that Pastors Koenig and Gurath send and I feel that I know you all. Of course, by faith we are all brothers and sisters through the grace of our loving Father in Heaven who has made us His children and heirs of eternal life through the sacrifice of His only Son. Today is Thursday, May 20th, 40 days after Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus. Today we celebrate His ascension into Heaven and in 10 days we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. We have the account of Jesus ascension recorded for us in the book of Acts. 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. 9Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:8-11 Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. He also told what they were to do with this special power. We too are Christ's disciples and through the Word and Sacrament of Holy Baptism we have received the power of the Holy Spirit. God too has blessed us with the glorious opportunity to be His witnesses in our homes, in our villages, in cities and to the ends of the earth. It was also Jesus who said: 18"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 We call this, Christ's Great Commission. With His almighty authority, Christ sends His followers out into all the world to spread the Gospel. His Great Commission also includes the ongoing teaching of His Word. To this end the CLC sponsors and supports several efforts in the United States, in Africa and in India to train pastors and individuals so that they can go out into all the world and proclaim God's saving Word. As a church body of fellow believers, committed to our Lord and Savior, we strive to carry out His Great Commission by teaching and proclaiming to others ALL that Christ has commanded. The CLC-USA will be meeting for our convention in June. The pastors of the CLC and two members of each congregation have the opportunity to travel to this convention. At this gathering, of likeminded Christians, we will hear God's Word as three different men deliver essays under the theme 'O Blessed Ministry of Reconciliation.' This is also a time when we gather together in worship to rejoice in the Salvation won for us through Jesus Christ. A big part of this convention involves taking up the work that the Lord has laid before our church body. We will discuss such things as our church High School where young men and women from all over the U.S. learn and grow in a Christian environment. We will also discuss our College and Seminary where young men and women are trained to be school-teachers and young men train to be pastors and missionaries. Much of our time will be spent determining how best to use our God-given time, talents and financial treasures to the glory of our Savior Jesus as we discuss the many opportunities the Lord has given to our small church body to spread the Gospel here in the U.S. and in Africa and India. Please remember us in your prayers as we seek the Lord's wisdom and guidance to make decisions that are pleasing to Him and to the glory of our Savior's name. On Sunday I will preach a sermon
on Ephesians 4:11-16:
The main point of the sermon I have written deals with the qualities of the "Ideal Church." From Paul's inspired words to the Christians in Ephesus we learn that the "Ideal Church" is not one that has a fancy building or the proper type of music or decorations. Rather, the "Ideal Church" is where God-given gifts are being used for the equipping of the saints through the teaching of the Word of God. It is where each person is being built up in the Christian Faith through the teaching of ALL that Christ has commanded us. It is a place where God's love for all people is on display. It is a gathering of likeminded believers where that which is harmful and contrary to God's Word is avoided. In the "Ideal Church" each person is contributing of his or her God-given gifts of time, talent and financial resources to the work of the ministry. It is a place where the Law and Gospel of God's word is being taught and preached for the purpose of calling sinners to repentance and announcing the Good News of forgivenss of sins so that we might have salvation and eternal life through faith in our Savior Jesus. As I write this letter I am making plans to travel to India in August and September to work alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. I am thankful that the members of the congregation I serve here in the U.S. have been moved by the Holy Spirit to allow me this opportunity. They see, and by faith, understand the importance of teaching and preaching the Word of God wherever and whenever the Lord presents the opportunity. If all goes as planned, and the Lord is willing, I will work with Pastors: D. Paul, V. Rajamani, T. Sampath, B. Bhasker, Victor and Moses Raghu. We will work to carry out Christ's Great Commission by conducting ongoing training for the pastors and students of the five districts of the BELC. Please pray that the Lord would bless this effort and also that He would look after and bless the sheep of His flock that I have been blessed to shepherd here in the USA while I am gone. As we think about our Savior's ascension into Heaven we also remember the words of the Angels who said to the disciples gathered that day: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11 Our Savior Jesus is coming back to judge the earth with righteousness! We have no time to stand around gazing up into heaven. The harvest is ready my bothers! In Christ,
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