The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - August 13, 2023

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 18:1-6 (7-16). If you look at 2 Samuel 22, you will find the original context of this poetic psalm and almost the exact same words, when David spoke these words to the Lord in thanksgiving “that He had delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” David uses word after word to describe how the Lord was his Shield and Deliverer. When he was surrounded by death and the torrents of destruction, David cried for help, and the Lord heard his voice. A great, great storm is described and then from on high, the Lord “took David and drew him safely out of many waters.”

The Old Testament lesson is from Job 38:4-18. Job, in his many troubles, has been challenging God and His ways and will. Finally, God asks Job a series of questions, also in a poetic way, wondering where Job was when He created the earth, or if Job ever commanded the morning into being. Did Job set the dimensions of the sea or ever walk in the recesses of the depths of the sea? Could Job comprehend how great the expanse of the earth really was? Declare it, if you know all this, God says. After this goes on and on, Job finally has to admit, “Now my eyes have seen you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

These readings lead up to Jesus, in the Gospel lesson, Matthew 14:22-33, going off to pray by himself and then coming to the disciples, walking on the water of the stormy Sea of Galilee. The disciples think “it is a ghost” that they see, until Jesus assures them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Impetuous Peter wants to walk on the water, too, and Jesus tells him to come. Peter walks on the water, but soon fears and doubts and sinks. Jesus immediately rescues him, but speaks of his “little faith.” As soon as they get in the boat, the stormy wind ceases, and the disciples worship and say of Jesus, “truly You are the Son of God.” (As God the Son helped create the natural world and has control of it, and drew David out of many stormy situations, He could also walk on water and rescue Peter
and the other disciples. He can help us, too, with our doubts and fears, as we are much like Peter, at times. He is the One who has saved us, too.)

How does God both create faith and strengthen it in us, too? Paul tells us, in our Epistle lesson, Romans 10:5-17. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” That Word is “the Word of faith that we proclaim,” Paul says. It is not based on what we do, in obedience to God’s law, but through trust in what Christ has done for us. “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” The Lord brings us to that faith through the Word of God, the Scriptures, and our baptism and then “bestows His riches upon us” as we keep calling upon Him in prayer for His help and forgiveness and keep hearing and speaking more and more of His Word, in our mouths and our hearts.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 3

As we heard last week, John makes it clear that he is writing a message from the one true Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that this message centers especially in the saving work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, already accomplished, and His promise to come again in glory.

John received a number of visions from the Lord God, and the first he reveals is in Revelation 1:9-3:22, the focus of this study. In 1:9, John identifies himself as the one who received this vision and the others, as he had done in 1:4. and does again in 22:8. He speaks in the same way as Daniel did, several times, in his Old Testament book: “I, Daniel.” (See Daniel 9:2, 7:15, and 8:1.)

John identifies himself, with the people in the seven churches to whom he writes (1:11), calling himself their “brother and partner” (one who has fellowship with them) because of their faith together in “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). Through Jesus, they share in the “Kingdom” of God (1:6), but being in this Kingdom in this sinful world also means that they share in “tribulation” (trouble and pressure that can lead to persecution) and in the need for “patient endurance” in the strength of Jesus (1:9). (The Roman historian, Pliny, identified this same island of Patmos, mentioned in 1:9, as a place of exile for people in trouble with the Roman authorities. Some were required to work in mines there, though we don’t hear that said specifically of John. It was certainly a place of “tribulation” and the need for “patient endurance” for him, too.)

John says, in 1:10, that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” That John was “in the Spirit” means that he was being inspired and led by the Holy Spirit in what he wrote, as were the other Biblical writers.(See the same phrase used of David’s writing, quoted in Matthew 22:43.) The “Lord’s day” refers to Sunday. Christ had made Sunday His special day, as He rose from the dead on that day and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, also a Sunday. Christians soon began to worship together on Sunday, “on the first day of the week,” though there was no requirement to do so. (See Acts 20:7, for example.)

The commentator, Lenski, mentions this and says Revelation 1-3 could be summarized as “John sees Christ.” Lenski also suggests that John, sitting in exile, must have greatly missed being able to worship regularly with the fellow believers in the churches he was the leader of for so many years. (Think about “shut-ins” in our own churches today. How hard it must be for them, too, not to be able to get out to worship as they used to do. Pray for them and send them a note of encouragement or visit them, once in a while, if it is possible.)

John first hears a voice behind him, in his vision - a voice “great and loud, like a trumpet” - commanding him “to write what he sees in a book and send it to the seven churches” (1:10-11). (We will talk more about the specific churches when we get to Chapters 2 and 3.) John turned to see who was speaking, and he saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of them, “One like a Son of Man, with a long robe, down to His feet, and a golden sash around his chest.”

This term “son of man” was used often of Ezekiel in the Old Testament, as a prophet, but it is used much more often by Jesus, referring to Himself, in the New Testament, and reflecting what was said in prophecy of another “Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13-14 in the Old Testament. This Son of Man was presented to “the Ancient of Days,” God the Father, and He “was given dominion and glory and an everlasting Kingdom” in which “all kinds of people and languages and nations would serve Him.” This is almost exactly what John said of the risen, victorious Lord Jesus in Revelation 1:5-6. John was seeing in his vision the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man, as well as the Son of God, in glory in heaven.

In what John sees in this vision, Jesus now looks much like “the Ancient of Days,” God the Father, as described in Daniel 7:9, who had “clothing white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool, and fiery flames all around Him.” Compare this description with what is said of the “Son of Man” in Revelation 1:14. That it is Jesus in glory, like His Father, is confirmed in Revelation 1:17-18, where this “Son of Man” speaks and says, “I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I died , and behold, I am alive forevermore.”

There is much more in Revelation chapter one, but we will stop at this point, before this gets too long. Keep reading and be thinking about why God would give this vision to John, for his sake, and to be relayed to the churches, at this particular time. Notice also how Jesus in glory explains the true meaning of at least some of what John sees. What does this tell us about how we should read what is said in Revelation? The Lord’s continued blessings!

Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost - August 6, 2023

Sermon for 10th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 55:1-5

Romans 9:1-8

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon originally delivered July 31, 2011

Preparing for Worship - August 6, 2023

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 136:1-9 (23-26). The psalmist calls upon people to “give thanks to the Lord,” who alone is Lord and God. He is the Creator of heaven and earth and all things. Above all, “His steadfast love endures forever,” as every verse of the psalm says. He remembers people in their “lowly” situations in life and “rescues” them and even provides “food for all flesh.”

In the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 55:1-5, the Lord calls everyone who is hungry and thirsty to come to Him  for the spiritual food He provides. What we ourselves can do and buy will never “satisfy” us. The Lord’s gifts are gifts of grace, given “without money and without price,” as we “incline our ears” and “come to hear” and “listen diligently to Him.” In Him “our souls will live,” in His “steadfast, sure love.” Even “unknown nations” will be called and come to Him, through “the Holy One of Israel,” the Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 14:13-21, we see “a great crowd” of people coming to Jesus to hear Him and receive His gifts. He has “compassion” upon the people and helps them and even provides bread and fish in a miraculous way, free to all, so that “all ate and were satisfied” - “about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 9:1-5, Paul has “great sorrow” and “anguish” that many of his own people, the Israelites chosen by God in the Old Testament, were rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.” Paul almost wishes that he “could be cut off from Christ” if that would somehow help more of his fellow Jews come to faith. He knows, of course, that that would do no good. His people had so many blessings that he lists in this passage; but so sadly, they were not listening to “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness” (Revelation 1:5). (See also John 18:37, where Jesus tells Pilate, the Roman governor, “For this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate cynically rejected Jesus, too, saying, “What is truth?” Yet Jesus died for that truth and to pay for our sins and the sins of the world, including Pilate and Paul and his fellow Jews.) “It is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.”

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 & ”Ears that Hear” Part 2

Last week, we looked at an introduction to the Book of Revelation, written down by the Apostle John while he was on the island of Patmos, exiled by Roman authorities (Revelation 1:9). This was the “revelation of Jesus Christ” to be sent to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey, Revelation 1:5); and blessings would come to those who read aloud this Word of God and to those who heard that Word and sought to keep it and follow it (Revelation 1:1-3). Blessings will still come to us today as we hear and read that Word, as we are doing now. 

The word “revelation” (apokalupsis) in v.1 is important. It means the revealing or disclosure of hidden things and sometimes, but not always, refers to things in “the last times.” We find this “apocalyptic” writing in the Old Testament in places like Isaiah 24-27, Zechariah 9-14, Ezekiel, Joel, and Daniel, and now in Revelation, as well. This writing used many symbols and picture images and things like numbers and colors and stars, which had special meanings.

The Book of Revelation often reflects some of these Old Testament passages and has more allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament writing. (That is part of what makes Revelation more difficult for us to read, because we are often not so familiar with the Old Testament. These images tie the Old and New Testaments together, though, showing the fullness of God’s revelation, predicted in the Old Testament and revealed and fulfilled in the New Testament, especially in Jesus our Savior.)

Here is one example. The number “seven” represents “fullness and completion.” The word “blessed “ is used in Revelation in Chapter 1:3 and then six other times scattered throughout Revelation, ending in Revelation 22:7,14. The seven “blesseds” represent all the fullness of God’s blessings. John is directed to write to seven real churches in one area (Revelation 1:11), with specific messages for each. These seven really represent all churches, and as we listen, we can all learn from what is said to each of these churches. God created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh, a perfect, complete week (Genesis 2:2). Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive people up to seven times. That sounds like a complete enough number for forgiving. Jesus tells him to forgive 70 times 7 times - an uncountable number of times (Matthew 18:21-22). We could go on and on with this. This does not mean that numbers are not real, but they often represent something more.

In Revelation 1:4, then, John begins to reveal what has been shown to him and who revealed it - the one true Triune God, who wants to bring “grace and peace” to the churches and to all of us. There is He, “who is and who was and who is to come,” God the Father, who has always existed, present and past and future. (See also Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58 and Revelation 1:8.) There is also God the Holy Spirit, who is pictured here as seven Spirits, going to each of the seven churches to whom this original letter went. (See also Isaiah 11:2. The Spirit is one Spirit, but He will go to all these churches. There is also God the Son, Jesus Christ, “the Faithful Witness” to all of God’s plans, who lived them out for us (Revelation 1:5, John 18:37). Jesus is also “the Firstborn of the dead.” He died for us, but was also raised for us, that we too might have new and eternal life. Jesus also is “the Ruler of kings,” “the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16 and Matthew 28:18).

Since Jesus is at the center of God’s saving plan, even more is said of Him. “He loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.” In His love for us, Jesus, as a true man, as well as God the Son, was willing to be sacrificed on the cross, shedding His blood in payment for our sins, that we might be freed from their condemnation (Romans 8:1). Through Jesus we become part of God’s kingdom and priests to our God and Father (Revelation 1:6). This is what is described in 1 Peter 2:9-10. All those who trust in Christ as Savior become part of the New Israel, the new people of God. We cannot all be pastors or teachers, but we can serve the Lord and “proclaim the greatness of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We can also say: “To Christ be glory and dominion forever!”

For, as Revelation 1:7 says, Christ “will come again with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.” As believers, we can rejoice with great joy when Jesus comes again (Luke 21:27-28 and Hebrews 9:26-28). We are prepared by trusting Christ, but others who have rejected the Lord will mourn and have great sorrow at the salvation they have lost. (See also John 19:37.) “Amen.” This is most certainly true. This will really happen. The time to trust in Christ in now, before He returns and it is too late.

The Lord God also says that he is “the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8). These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This is another way of saying that God is eternal. He is the beginning and the end of all things. He has always existed and always will, as v.4 also said. (Notice that the same words are used by God the Son, Jesus, about Himself in Revelation 22:13. This is true of each Person of the Trinity and by the Trinity as One True God.)

We will stop here for today. If you have time, read Revelation 1:9-20. Notice the unusual words and descriptions. These are part of the “apocalyptic” way of speaking that we find here and then in the letters to the churches in Chapters two and three, at times, too. The Lord’s blessings on your week.

Sermon for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost - July 30, 2023

Sermon for 9th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Deuteronomy 7:6-9

Romans 8:28-39

Matthew 13:44-52

Sermon originally delivered July 24, 2011

Preparing for Worship - July 30, 2023

In the Old Testament lesson this week, Deuteronomy 7:6-9, God speaks of His great love for His “chosen” people, His “treasured possession” out of all nations. They are His, not because they are “greater in numbers” or (if you read the next few chapters of Deuteronomy) for a variety of other qualities within themselves. God is faithful to them because He loves them and has redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and will keep His “oath” and “covenant” and promises. It is purely by His grace, His undeserved “steadfast love” that they are His.

The psalm, Psalm 125, says much the same thing. As “mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His (chosen) people” who “trust” in Him. They “cannot be moved.” The Lord wishes that “peace be upon Israel.” However, there is the warning that “those who turn aside,” away from the Lord, “to their own crooked ways” - those people “the Lord will lead away with evildoers!” Those people would be “stretching out their hands to do wrong.” It is the same kind of warning given right after the Old Testament lesson, in Deuteronomy 7:10. The Lord “repays to their face those who hate Him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates Him.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 13:44-53, Jesus tells parables of “a treasure hidden in a field” and “a pearl of great price.” These treasures represent the Lord Himself and His blessings coming through Jesus and His saving work, by which people are now redeemed and forgiven and counted “good and righteous” and brought to trust in Him as Lord, above everything else. Such believers are “trained” by the promises of the Old Testament and the fulfillment in Christ of the New Testament. They will enter “the Kingdom of heaven,” through His love, unlike those who reject the Lord and His Word and end up “in the fiery furnace,” in hell, where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 8:28-39, Paul reminds us again that our future hope is not in ourselves but only in God and His love for us, as He works for our good, now and forever. He knew us from eternity and “called” us to be His own through His Word and baptism, and “justified” us by His grace in Christ, and will one day bring us to “glory” in eternal life. “If the Father “did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all,” and the Son willingly came to make such a sacrifice for us, simply in His “love” for us sinners, and the Spirit prays for and strengthens us, what is there that can separate us from that continuing love?  Nothing can, whatever we face in this life, as we keep hanging onto “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 and Having ”Ears that Hear”

The last few weeks, we have been hearing Jesus telling parables in Matthew 13 and then saying several times, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Jesus also said, “How blessed are your ears, for they hear,” in contrast with others who who are “hearing but they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

This made me think of the last book of the Bible, the Revelation to the Apostle John, including letters to be sent to seven churches in Asia Minor (not in modern day Asia, but in what is now the country of Turkey). In each of these seven letters, we hear the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

In our Epistle lessons the last few weeks, we have also been hearing about the Holy Spirit and His importance in bringing us to faith in Christ and keeping us in that faith. We and our churches today still need to hear the Spirit’s guidance for our churches through God’s Word, and we have many problems and concerns that are similar to those described by John in Revelation. That is what we will look at in our study in the coming weeks. The actual letters are in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, but we will begin with Chapter 1, which will help us better understand what follows.

Here is a brief introduction. The Book of Revelation was likely the last of the books of the Bible to be written, in 95 AD, or at the latest, 96 AD. The early Christian leader, Irenaeus, tells us that John wrote this letter near the end of the reign of Domitian as Emperor of the Roman Empire, from 81-96 AD. Domitian strongly emphasized worship of the Emperor as a God and brought on widespread persecution of anyone who refused to worship Domitian in that way. That created serious problems for Christians, who would only worship the one true Triune God, saying  that Jesus is Lord and God, to the glory of God the Father, in connection with God the Holy Spirit. (See Philippians 2:1, 5-11.

John, the author of Revelation, was one of the original disciples of Jesus and became the leader of the church in Ephesus, in Asia Minor, for many years. He wrote the Gospel of John and the 3 Letters of John that we have in the New Testament. As persecution of Christians increased, under Domitian and others, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, in the Mediterranean Sea. (See Revelation 1:9.) This was done by the Romans in the hope that leaving the church in Ephesus without its key leader would weaken the Christians in Ephesus and in all of Asia Minor. Maybe then these Christians would feel the pressure and worship the Emperor as a God, as Domitian wanted them to do. This would settle down these Christian rebels and bring more unity to the Roman Empire. 

John, however, knew the prediction of Jesus that he would not die in the same way as Peter and the other original disciples did. (Tradition says that they all died as martyrs while sharing the Christian faith, other than John. See what John tells about Peter and him in John 21:17-24.) John could not travel to visit his old church and others, because of his “exile,” but he could write to them. Read Revelation 1:1-3.

John says that Jesus sent a revelation and prophecy from God to him through an angel, and John was to write down what he saw and heard from Jesus and send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor (Revelation 1:4). What John wrote was not his own word, but “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ;” and he was to write down “all that he saw” (v. 2).

Verse 3 then promises: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Remember that at that time, many people could not read, and there were very few “books” available. Most all of them were scrolls, and copies could only be made, very carefully by trained scribes, trained writers. Most people listened to what others read to them.)

What a privilege it is for us to have a Bible we can all read and study on our own, today. As we will see, what John wrote by the revelation of Jesus, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not just for those ancient churches, but for us and our churches still today. Take time, if you can, to read through Revelation 1, for next week. Notice the unusual language and picture images as the chapter goes on; yet remember, “Blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written” (Revelation 1:3). “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9, 43).

Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost - July 23, 2023

Sermon for 8th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 44:6-8

Romans 8:18-27

Matthew 13:24-43

Sermon originally delivered July 17, 2011

A Bible Study on Birthpangs

I have often told people that I first could see for myself how valuable learning Greek could be when I studied Acts 2:24 in Greek. Speaking of Jesus, Peter said, “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” The Greek word for “pangs” most literally means “birthpangs.” Jesus’ terrible suffering and agony and pain (pangs) were like “birthpangs of death” out of which would come life - His resurrection from the dead, and new and eternal life for us who are brought to trust in Him as our Savior.

Death comes as a result of sin (Romans 6:23), and dying can often be a long and terrible and painful experience. For believers, though, it is also transformed into the gateway to eternal life. The “pangs of death” are more like “birthpangs” leading to the peace and joy of being with our Lord forever in heaven. Jesus said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” What comforting words of hope we have from the Lord, even in difficult days and even “in the valley of the shadow of (the birthpangs of) death” (Psalm 23:4). We will try to “fear no evil,” for the risen, living Lord has been through that valley for us and will be with us, too, and will comfort us and our loved ones and be the Door to eternal life for us.

Paul used the same basic word and concept in Romans 8:20-23, when he said that “the whole creation was subjected to futility” by the fall of Adam and Eve into sin and is in “bondage to corruption,” too. (Remember the description in Genesis 3:16-19 after the fall, including the thorns and thistles and pain in childbirth uniquely for women. Husbands can be there during labor and try to be helpful, but don’t always do so well in support! This original meaning of “birthpangs” is real and vitally important as a part of the birth of a child and will continue until Christ’s return, also.)

In the New Testament, though, “birthpangs” take on these additional picture image meanings. As a result of the fall, Paul says, “the whole creation has (also) been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Paul adds, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:22-24). We are already “children of God," adopted” through Christ and heirs of God’s promises to us. Our souls and the souls of all believers will be with Christ when physical death comes, but our bodies will wait to be raised and changed and glorified on the last day, when Christ returns. All this is certain for us, in Christ, just as God planned.

What happens with the rest of creation is not so clear. Jesus Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). Peter, in 2 Peter 3:12, speaks of the destruction of “the heavens” and “the heavenly bodies” by fire, but also, in v.13, “according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Mentions of such are also in Isaiah 66:22 and Revelation 21:1ff and in other parts of Revelation which seem to have highly symbolic language. Some commentators, like Franzmann, suggest that the New Testament writers do not really attempt to explain fully what the new eternal existence will be like. They talk more about what will not be there - no sea, no sun and moon, no evil, and above all, God “will wipe every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more. neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who is seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5).

In God’s amazing plans, there will be some continuity between our human bodies as they are now and as they are raised and changed and glorified on the last day. It will truly be us and our loved ones in Christ in heaven. Maybe, some think, Paul is saying in Romans 8:18-22 that there can be some continuity between the old creation and the new in which we will live in heaven and eternal life, too. We do not know, but God will work all things out in just the right way, in His wisdom as God (Romans 8:28). (See also Ephesians 1:10 and Colossians 1:20.)

In the meantime, we still suffer and struggle in this life, even as believers, and even though we also have much joy and blessing and eternal hope. Jesus Himself used the imagery of birthpangs in talking about “signs” of the times that will remind us that His return, and the end of existence as we now know it, is coming. See Matthew 24:8 and Mark 13:8, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Matthew 24:4-8). (If you read on through v.9-12, you can see why some think we are in the very last times.)

We know, however, that God is still in control, and he will care for us, in life and in death. The Holy Spirit is with us and will pray with and for us, as will Christ our Savior (Romans 8:26-27 and 34ff). The image of “birth pains” reminds us that something so much better is coming for us, in eternal life, no matter what today or tomorrow brings. “The one who endures to the end (in faith in Christ) will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Paul also reminds us, “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

As we wait for Christ’s return, in our death or on the last day, we still have important work to do, with and for our Lord. Jesus also said, “This Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). We can help with that testimony right where we are and as we pray for and support mission work wherever we can. There are still so many people without faith and unprepared for Christ’s return. As Paul wrote, including the image of “birthpangs,” “you yourselves are fully aware that the day of he Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

Paul used this image of “birth pains" one more time, too, when He wrote to the church at Galatia. Paul had been there, and people came to faith through the Gospel of Jesus and baptism. Then, false teachers came in and were leading people astray, away from Christ as Savior. Paul writes and witness to these people again, including those who seemed to have lost the faith. He calls them “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish (birthpangs) of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). Obviously, only the Lord can finally bring people to faith or renew their faith by His grace, but how challenging and wonderful to help even a little with others who still need to know the hope and joy we have in our Savior, even in very difficult times.