Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
Do the problems we face in this world ever seem overwhelming
to you, complex beyond reasonable solution?
How do people, especially God’s people, deal with issues like drug
problems in our communities? How do we
face family disintegration and struggles, trade wars, terrorism, and environmental
issues?
I recently completed a “Basic Teachings of the Bible
Class” again. In this class we discuss Who
God is, what He has done for us, His blessings in our lives, and how He calls
us to live. In the midst of a complex
and confusing world, God’s call to Christians is actually quite simple. He calls us to believe in Him, and to live in
faith and love. But while God’s call to
live in His grace may seem simple, it is actually very difficult as we struggle
against the enemies of God and His people, the devil, the world, and our flesh.
Therefore, God gives His help to His people. The Lord gives His word, which we receive in
regular worship and through personal devotions.
Our Savior promises to work His gifts of love and faith in our lives
through our baptisms and in the Lord’s Supper.
God promises to answer our faithful prayers. However, sometimes these answers from God to
the complicated problems of life seem so simple that we dismiss God’s call to
Christian living, and even God’s people can doubt His promises to help.
So, let me share with you story I heard this past
week. For the last 7 years Mrs. Temple
Christiansen has taught seventh grade confirmation classes. This is a real labor of love, since Temple’s
four boys have all finished confirmation classes and are in college, or have graduated
from college. With her classes, Temple has
been trusting God’s promises and going to Him in prayer for various concerns. Please read below as she shares one journey our
prayer she and her classes have taken with our Lord.
For the last four or five years our
7th Grade Confirmation Class has had a lesson which included discussion on the
persecuted church around the world. At some point in those years a certain
Pakistani Christian woman’s story was in the news, and I shared it with our
class.
The woman’s name is Asia Bibi, a mother of 5 or 6
children. She was arrested, tried, convicted, and condemned to death in
Pakistan of blasphemy, because she offered a cup of water to two Muslim women
whom she worked with on a farm. The women claimed that instead of a very caring
Christian act of recognizing other’s needs and doing what she could to help,
that she was attempting to defile them.
Asia was imprisoned for many years, and struggled
through multiple appeal attempts with dignitaries and ambassadors and lawyers
from the United States and other countries working on her behalf. Prayers were
requested through Christian organizations around the world.
A number of our 7th graders in Confirmation at St John
Lutheran Church in Palmer, through the years, have prayed for Asia Bibi. At
some time this past year, the Lord miraculously moved on the hearts and minds
of the Pakistani justices, and Asia Bibi was acquitted by the Supreme Court in
Pakistan and set free from the penalty for her alleged blasphemy, which was
death.
But, there were such violent protests from Muslim
radicals in the country who said if the justice system wouldn’t do it, THEY
would kill her, that Asia Bibi had to remain in prison for her safety!
Today, I am so excited to share with you, that just
this past week, Asia Bibi was finally able to get out of Pakistan, and is now
on her way to, or already in Canada.
Thank you for your prayers, and praise God for his
mercy and grace. Please continue to pray that this courageous Christian women
will also be able to be reunited with her family soon.
Always trusting in
Christ,
Mrs. Temple Christiansen
Life
is complex and can seem overwhelming.
But God gives us a simple call of grace.
Our Heavenly Father loves us in Creation, and in the saving life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus. God calls us
to believe His love and to live in faith and in love. God promises to help us through His word and
worship, through the sacraments, and through prayer.
While
this can seem overly simple, when God’s people answer His call we are not
trusting our own faith, or our own worship, or our own prayers. We trust the One who created us with His
spoken Word, who saved us in the gift of His Son, and who calls us each to
follow Him. We trust the One who is more
powerful and more wise than all the troubles or complexities of life.
I
pray that you may face the trials and complications of your life with simple
faith and love from God, and that you may see God answer your prayers!
A Child of God, Seeking to Live a Simple Faith in the
Powerful Love of God,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here is a
picture from Sunday’s baptisms of Elizabeth Morey (Mom), and her children
Zephaniah Horman, Jackson, Tucker, and Wrangell Morey. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ppELYGH4Nzf1fUat9
P.P.S. New Stephen
Ministers are commissioned in worship this Sunday. Here is a picture from Stephen Ministry
training last Thursday, May 9. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7P69zwMw7rd4BiCU9
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.
******
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