Dear
Fellow Children of God,
I have been teaching a Licensed
Deacon class on preaching, on behalf of Alaska Mission for Christ, for some men
in congregations on the Kenai Peninsula, and Copper Center. These small churches do not always have a
pastor available for Sunday worship. This
class is one way that other churches and church workers can support these small
worshiping families of God’s children.
On Sunday, June 25, as we
discussed during class about writing a sermon, about the difficulty of this
task, and about delivering the sermon, I again stressed that the goal of the
preacher is to deliver the word of God, not the word of the individual
preacher. Paul told the Corinthians
about his apostolic work, “5 For we
do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your
servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
The application is
that, even when a faithful servant tries to give a winsome message from God,
sometimes we struggle in our efforts.
Yet, even in the struggles of a child of God trying to share the truth
of our Lord, when God’s word is spoken, even somewhat haltingly, God works
through that word and accomplishes his purpose.
I shared with the students that I was often amazed when I had delivered
a sermon with which I was not totally satisfied, when a worshiper would still sometimes
come forward and thank me for the strength and comfort God’s truth brought them
through the sermon. As a person who
lacks God’s full wisdom, I do often struggle in many areas. Therefore, it still surprises me that God
works through my weaknesses.
Nevertheless, this is what God promises.
In
Isaiah 55:10-11, God makes this promise. “10 As the rain and the snow come
down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making
it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the
eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me
empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I
sent it.” God’s word does NOT return empty or void. His Word does accomplish His purposes of
righteousness, of love, and of salvation.
That is also why God inspired Paul to write, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) God’s purpose is saving faith, and His Word
accomplishes that purpose. Remember,
Jesus is THE Word of God. Jesus is God’s
greatest communication of who He is, and what He desires. “14 The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
I share this long
exposition with you in order to relate a short story which happened in worship
at Cooper Landing Lutheran on Sunday afternoon, June 25. We had a total of 5 adults and 2 children,
present in worship. This is a small community, and it is growing
smaller. One of the pillars of this
congregation is LaDonna Herbert. Since
1994 she has reached out to the community, and especially the children, in the
name of The Word of God, Jesus. But,
LaDonna is near 90. Her husband died
last winter and she has been living alone.
Therefore, LaDonna is moving to live with family near Salem,
Oregon. Nevertheless, she still encouraged
Vacation Bible School in Cooper Landing the previous week. In this small community, 23 children attended
VBS. Amazing!
One of those young children,
Bode, was in worship on Sunday afternoon with his cousin, Avery, and Avery’s grandmother,
June. After worship June shared this
story with me. “I think this may be the first
time Bode has attended a church service.
But, as you were preaching, the light poked through the clouds and shone
through the window behind you. Bode had
been to VBS last week. He saw the light
and told me, ‘Let Jesus’s light shine.’”
That story touched my heart. Bode has had little exposure to the good news
of God’s Word. But, God’s word IS
powerful. It does accomplish His
purposes.
When I taught the class
on preaching, I was able to tell this story, and emphasize again to the
students, that what we want to share with others is especially God’s Word, not
ours. We want to share the Good news of
The Word of God, Jesus! The same is true
for all children of God.
A Child of God, Rejoicing
that God’s Word Still Creates Faith, in Old and Young Alike!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I first spent last week working on my
daughter, Mary’s, new home. I put up
some lights, worked on some cabinet drawers, moved furniture, and improved the
roof of her shed. That took a lot of my
time.
P.P.S. I actually went fishing twice this past week.
·
On Thursday, June 22, I took Pastor Tony
Schultz, his son, AJ, daughter-in-law, Maren, and grandsons James and William
fishing on Finger Lake. They all
actually had bites, and all but one caught a fish. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/L2wtYHYgRAvdv5bR8
·
After preaching at Sterling Lutheran, Funny
River Lutheran, and Cooper Landing Lutheran on Sunday, and teaching a preaching
class that evening, I went fishing for sockeye salmon on Monday, June 26. However, the water was about 2 feet higher
than my previous trip. I had fewer ‘bites’,
and caught no fish. Nevertheless, here
is a picture. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pbr86kD8cGAiErsn7
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired
at the end of August 2019 from serving as senior full-time pastor of St. John Lutheran Church
in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly
devotion previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me to continue
writing these devotions. So I have
continued writing. However, with life's
changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child
of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it.
So, if you stopped receiving these
devotions and wondered why, now you understand.
And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive
them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution
list. My e-mail address is
jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help
each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished
on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1
John 3:1 a)
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