CAN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL BE A TOOL FOR OUR FUTURE?
Jesus answered, “If you hold to My teaching you are really My disciples.” John 8:32
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“Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
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(Before you continue please say a prayer for God’s wisdom and Spirit and ask God to help you listen to what He has for you in this month’s article. The devil doesn’t want you to hear it, or wants you think it’s a good idea for someone else! Look up cited passages.)
Much work remains to be done toward the completion of our fellowship hall, yet the time rapidly approaches when it can be used as part of our congregation’s ministry. To that end different groups have already begun planning/dreaming how it can be used (meals; fellowship activities; fundraisers; etc.) To this I say, “God be praised,” and “Let’s keep our nose to the grindstone!” I believe that the Messiah Lutheran Fellowship Hall can be nicely used to facilitate interaction and strengthen the bonds of unity within our congregation. However, I’d like to suggest a way in which I think it can be eternally and blessedly useful in our church.
How would it be if all the elders and church council members came to Bible class? How would it look if all the choir members and ushers and ladies aid attended Bible class? How would it look if the parents of our confirmation and midweek classes attended Bible class and brought their kids to Sunday school? How would it look if each of these brought their family members? In our present circumstances, the Bible study room would look crowded – awesomely, God-be-praisedly crowded! How would it be if it became the norm for us to attend Sunday school and Divine Service? Can you imagine how awesome it would be for every person who attended church to attend Bible class? It’s true in the whole, wide world, that’s still not a great number (100-110), but I believe (and I know you do too) that a change like that would be the beginning of God changing our lives and our congregation’s future.
Here are a few reasons I think the fellowship hall will and can be a great blessing if we use it to grow in His Word – a great blessing to our individual, eternal futures, as well as the future stability and extension of our congregation… 1) It will offer a larger, and very comfortable, space for us to gather and hear God’s Word together, encouraging each other in the faith. (Heb.10:25); 2) God’s Word strengthens faith. There is no faith or salvation where people don’t hear God’s Word (Rom.10:17); 3) Since we’re saved through faith alone and God nurtures faith through His Word, fewer baptized Lutherans would be lost and damned to hell because they starved and killed their faith (Luke 8:11-15); 4) Too few Christians are able to defend and share their faith. Too few are able to be salt in the world (Matt.5:13). Our own ignorance leaves our mouths shut when God wants us to speak. So many people have questions about Christ that go unasked and unanswered. (1Peter 3:15); 5) What an awesome attraction to outsiders to see that the Lutheran church truly is one that loves God’s Word and considers it THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR LIVES TOGETHER. (Luke 11:28); 6) It helps us capitalize on the greatest gift our Lutheran Confession has to offer the Word – the purely preached Gospel (2Tim.3:14-17). 7) Sheep hear the voice of their Good Shepherd. It’s dangerous for believers to separate themselves from the rest of the flock. (John 10:1f) The Christian faith is a personal relationship with God, but it is never private (1Cor.12:13f)!
Not only would committing ourselves to hearing God’s Word together change our church family, it would echo through the community. It would be a powerful witness to what’s truly important and eternal – God’s love in Jesus our Savior. It would stem the tide of young people (and older) lost, not simply to other denominations, but lost eternally to our godless, antichristian age.
As Lent begins at month’s end, we begin a season whose emphasis is on growing in God’s love in Christ through daily repentance, Scripture reading, prayer, etc. Use this Lenten season to cultivate God-pleasing, spiritual disciplines. Get in Bible class. Don’t be scared. You will not be asked to contribute at a level outside your zone of comfort, nor will you be hindered from searching out answers to important questions. Read the Scripture at home and use Lenten devotions. Attend our extra opportunities for Lenten worship together.
Let’s not squander the great tool that God has given us. Let’s use the new fellowship hall to burst at the seams as we study the Word together. Let’s use it to invite others to an area where there’s always room for more. Let’s use it to glorify God in the greatest possible way – by making it a place where the Word reigns among us. If you aren’t attending a Bible class, particularly on Sunday morning, but also Thursdays or the new Ladies Bible study or the monthly Ladies Aid/LWML, don’t be afraid. Don’t be lazy. Be who you are. Be what God calls you to be. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”(Col.3:16).
Pastor Steve Sommerer