Dear Christian friends:
What do you think about our church, Pilgrim Lutheran Church? Are you
satisfied and happy about our church or not? Some people are not satisfied
with our church. They complain about it. Do you thank God for our
church? Often we see some weaknesses and faults and fail to see the good
things that God has done for us here at Pilgrim Lutheran Church.
We need faith to see the good things God has done for our church. St. Paul
can help us. He had such a faith and spiritual vision. Although the church
at Corinth had many problems and groups quarreling with each other, Paul
saw many good things that God had done for the members and he gave praise
and thanks to God for the good work in the people. This helped them and
encouraged them to improve and become a better church.
We need the same encouragement and improvement, so let us attend to our
texts and
Thank God For His Good Work In Us
Can you think of a good work God has done for us here at Pilgrim?
In our text St. Paul tells about a good work which God had done for the
church at Corinth. He writes to them, "God made you holy through Christ
Jesus, and called you to become saints, together with all people in every
place that worship our Lord Jesus Christ." (verse 2) Truly a wonderful work
God did for those people at Corinth!
As God called the Christians at Corinth to become His people, so He has
called you and me. And as God made them holy, by Jesus Christ, so He has
made you and me holy or saints.
By nature we are not holy. We are sinful and unclean, and we cannot free
ourselves from sin and eternal punishment of sin. But God has shown mercy
to us. He has called us to faith in Jesus, who died on the cross that we
might have forgiveness of sins and become holy people, His people, His
saints. As God made the church at Corinth holy, so He has made Pilgrim at
Los Angeles holy.
God has made us His saints and with that He gives us hope for eternal life.
We need this hope. During 1983, eight of our members died. And we ourselves
are dying people. After Adam sinned God said to him, "You were made
of dust." (Genesis 3:19) So we need this hope of the resurrection and
eternal life. Thank God! He has given us this hope! In our text St. Paul
tells about Jesus' coming again in glory to awaken the dead and call them
to arise to eternal life. We read, "God will make your faith strong to the
end, and He will take care of you. Then you will be without blame on the
Day our Lord Jesus Christ comes again." (verse 8)
God has made us become His saints and He promises that we shall remain His
saints unto the end, until His son comes again in glory. Although often
it seems that God has done nothing good for us and although we seem not
to be His saints because we still sin and wrongs do, yet we are really
His holy people in Jesus. God has announced it! It is true! He has done
this wonderful work in us without our deeds! Thank Him and praise Him!
If we really thank God for His good work in us, we will show our thanks by
trying to serve Him better as we wait for Jesus to appear in glory.
God has given us many gifts so that we can serve Him with glad and thankful
hearts. In our text St. Paul reminds us about these precious gifts from
God:
"Daily I thank God for you,
because He gave grace to you
in Jesus Christ. And He made
you rich in everything that
you say and know about Jesus.
And He established the good news
of Jesus in you. So that you
have every gift while you wait
for our Lord Jesus Christ to
come again." (verses 4-7)
We the members here at Pilgrim, like the Christians at Corinth "have every
gift" so that we can serve Him while we wait for Jesus to appear in glory
to take us home. We must not say that we can't do God's work or will. We
can! He has made us able to do it. He has given us all that we need to
do His work: faith, hope, joy in Jesus, His Word, Baptism, the Holy Supper,
all spiritual blessings, and also earthly blessings, time, talents, and
money.
What is God's will? His chief will, His good and gracious will is that
all nations hear the Good News of Jesus the Savior for sinners. (Matthew
28:19-20; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:45-50 and John 20:21) Evangelistic work and
mission work, that is His chief will.
Today we will have our ANNUAL MEETING. We will hear reports about how
our church did the Lord's work during 1983. We will elect the 12 trustees
who will be our Board of Directors for 1984. We will choose various
members to serve on the seven standing committees. We will adopt the 1984
budget and other goals for 1984. This should be a very exciting and interesting
meeting for every member of Pilgrim. We all are saints of God and he has
equipped us with various gifts and talents so that we can serve Him and do
His work as we wait for Him to come again in glory and take us to our true
home in heaven.
Let us thank and praise God for the wonderful blessings He has given to us
here at Pilgrim Lutheran Church! Then we will be excited and thrilled to
do His work better and better as He helps us!
Amen.