The Ministry Of And To The Elders ^[1]

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 ”Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.” (Ps 71:9)

Last month I conducted the celebration of the resurrection for my mother JoanEllen after a long life of 95 years. My mother has been one of my parishioners for the last ten years, so who else was going to preside over her funeral? I was delighted because I knew all the stories. The sermon was easy to preach. I proclaimed God’s promises for a woman who knew herself to be a redeemed repentant sinner. 

My mother, JoanEllen, was a woman of great faith who in her last months would pray even over a simple bowl of cereal. She enjoyed being involved in our prayer group, going to worship and helping with the quilters. One of my deepest sorrows is that I lost one of my most committed prayer partners.

My Mom’s life points to how important the lives of all our seniors are to the church’s mission today. How do our mature saints live as models of the faith among our community of believers? How do our congregations carry out the ministry of the LORD to our elders when they are old and their strength is gone?

Ripe Old Age

Our consumeristic American society embraces agelessness, always wishing it could turn back the biological clock. We live in a society that will do anything to disguise or deny the fact that we’re all, minute by minute, day by day, getting older.

Whereas American society is fixated on youth or at least the illusion of youth, Christian congregations can and should celebrate the splendor of ripe old age.  Where contemporary media portrays the elderly as out of step and even clueless, our biblical faith directs us to view the aged as God-seeking elders nearing the culmination of their faith journeys.

With advances in health and economic well-being, people are living longer than ever. This amazing gift of additional years has created an opportunity for people to grow, learn, participate in meaningful ways during their golden years. Our senior years are not winding down their years, but rather they are enjoying extra time for continued growth. As Paul writes, “I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Rather than seeing some sort of decrepit decline, we are encouraged by scripture and our faith to see our old age as a time of ripening spiritual maturity and bearing godly fruit.

The Church can function as a countercultural institution by being an intergenerational community that runs counter to society by bringing young and old together as fellow spiritual pilgrims in the extended family of God.  Every week the Church gathers to courageously face aging, and even death.

Ministry with the aging should be an integral aspect of a congregation’s total mission. To have a positive ministry for our elders, pastors and congregations will want to embrace a biblical perspective on aging. This perspective includes a theological view on God’s finite creation. Agelessness is contrary to His plan for us. We are designed biologically by God to age in a life-long process. Luther saw spiritual growth as a slow, lifelong process that culminates in facing death, not as a final event but as a transition to resurrection.

“This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.”^[1]

Ministry with the aging should be marked by an interactive give-and-take of shared service together. Most Lutheran pastors are experts in providing pastoral care to senior citizens because they make up a significant percentage of our congregational members. The challenge is to include these elder saints in the ministry of the church. God calls us and instructs us in the scriptures to honor our elders, especially our parents, as a means of assuring our own longevity (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:1-3). The people of God are encouraged in the ethic of Christ’s love to show respect and care for widows, our own kin, and all elders (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 5:1-8, cf. Mk 7:9-13). “When we see clearly the image of God in our elders, we understand caring as honoring to be a journey of God’s people, the young and old together.” ³   Senior citizens from retirement age to their centenary years have important contributions to make to the mission of God’s church by their involvement, contributions, and faith wisdom.  Christian care for our aging neighbor is a matter of compassionate concern for his/her well-being which, at the same time, respects his/her autonomy and individuality.

Can your congregation gather a task force of three to six elders who will listen to other elders’ needs and then create a senior ministry that responds to them and at the same time challenges them?

Reaching the Geriatric Guest

  While the older generations have greater levels of expressed Christian faith, not all people over 65 years of age have an active faith. About 18% of boomers have no religious affiliation at all. The next generation, GenX, which is beginning to retire, reports one out of four with no religious affiliation.⁴ The fact is that not all “old people” go to church. When you factor in attendance patterns across all age groups, nearly three quarters of Americans make up the harvest field.  Sixty percent of Americans attend worship rarely or not at all. Five percent attend worship once a month and 23% attend worship weekly or even more frequently. ⁵ Many senior citizens drifted away from the church over the course of decades. So, plenty of your bridge-playing friends are not seriously attached to a congregation and could be invited to worship.

Congregations should be encouraging their members to invite elderly friends and neighbors to come to church. People are attracted to belong to others who are like them. If your congregation has lots of older folks then it makes sense that they can reach others like themselves. Perhaps a good way to start the discussion about senior evangelism is by asking your members a few questions, like “How would you feel if you didn’t have this church?” or “Where would you be at your age if you didn’t have the gospel and the church?”   And don’t forget to remind members to greet people as they would want to be greeted as first-time visitors.

Churches often want to bring in young families, but doing that successfully is usually dependent upon already having a population of children in the congregation. Young families certainly bring advantages of longevity for the church. But they also require intensive ministries to serve children. On the other hand, senior citizens don’t require nurseries or VBS programs, instead they bring with them life skills, financial resources, and ample time to contribute to the local ministries of a congregation.

Don’t Say You Are Too Old  

I recruited elder saints to make up our congregational prayer group that meets every Monday morning. We study a daily lectionary passage each session. As we explore God’s word, we often get into deep theological questions. Some of my elderly cohorts talk about how they are growing in their faith.

No baptized Christians should use age as a reason to stop living as an active child of God. Elder Christians have definite gifts to contribute. Congregational leaders should continuously explore how elder Christians might serve in God’s kingdom.

The elder Christians still can be useful and want to be useful with the spiritual gifts, experience, and wisdom they possess. These days, it is not whether the elder Christians should be invited into the planning and conduct of worship, leadership, outreach, and decision-making in the local church, but rather how church leaders can challenge complacent older people who assume they have pretty much fulfilled their responsibilities or that their productive days are at an end.

This means that congregations and pastors should continue to challenge seniors to follow the biblical model of lifelong learning and ministry. The best example is the call of Abram and Sarai who were living a comfortable retirement in Ur. The LORD calls this childless geriatric couple across the wilderness to the Promised Land to form a new people. At a very advanced age and “as good as dead”, God works through them to bring about His promises (Rom 4:19).

While most elderly Americans have worked hard to enjoy comfortable retirement, they still have much to contribute.  The elderly preacher of Psalm 71 pledges his continued discipleship when he writes, “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds” (Ps. 71:9). Scripture reminds us “the righteous still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green” (Ps. 92:14). The Apostle Paul explained that older men and women are to lead by example, passing on their wisdom to the next generation (Titus 2:1–5).

Because the aged feel they have lost status and role importance in society, inviting them into ministry activities can help assure them of their continued worth and usefulness as well as communicating their value to younger believers. “Our later years well may be the season to answer more fully than ever before Christ’s call to serve.” ⁶ Living wisely is more important than longevity. The psalmist writes, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). The real wisdom and work of our lives is growing ever more mature in Christ.

Older Christians who respond to being called in their later years tend to be far less focused on themselves, and instead are more engaged in work that contributes to building up the kingdom. How much fuller might old age be if elders gave of themselves in some form of service to others?

Aging and the Older Adult explains that “Older members of the church have skills, wisdom, and experience to share in exercising the universal priesthood of the baptized. The Spirit helps us to discern the special gifts and needs of the elderly, along with the related opportunities and obligations of Christians in society.” ⁷

Our elder Christians are needed in our congregations to share the wisdom of their faith. They are entrusted with great responsibility: to transmit their life experiences, their family histories, and the histories of their congregations. “These ‘elder statespersons,’ transmit … the ideals and traditions of the congregation’s history, [and] help to open up opportunities for the present and future.” ⁸

Does your congregation have ministries which deepen the spiritual lives of your elder members?  Don’t let the numbers of people participating determine success.

Ripe Old Age

Our elder Christians are ripe for the ministry of the LORD. These older Christians often have more free time, more scripture learning and life experience, as well as the faith maturity to understand of what it is to live a life that follows Jesus. Even past their centenary year, elder Christians can serve the LORD and His people in the church and the community.

I remember Gertrude, in her mid-70s, giggling about how she had to go off to take care of the old people. Truly one of the ways elder Christians can serve is to help care for even older Christians. This happens easily as the aged recognize that they may need someone in the future doing the same thing for them. We have pairs of folks who serve as eucharistic ministers visiting a couple of shut-ins each month.

While many evangelical churches segregate members into age groups, at St. John’s we have a couple of programs where elder Christians are tapped to be mentors of the faith. In what we call “Junior-Senior friends,” pre-school and elementary children are paired with an elder Christian as a “church grandparent.”  They meet for fellowship and a learning craft project once a quarter in our fellowship hall. No contact occurs outside of the church setting. We have assigned older Christians to pray for each of our teenagers. Again, clear boundaries are put down and no contact outside of the church is permitted. And we keep looking for other opportunities to create intergenerational connections within our congregation.

Early on I recruited a couple in their late 70s to be marriage mentors for our engaged couples.  This couple who still has romance in their marriage experienced the childhood illness of their oldest daughter and her death in her 40s. Their hard-learned wisdom and humor is appreciated by every one of our engaged couples, who always invite them to their weddings.

One of the most critical ministries older Christians can be recruited for is prayer ministry. Our congregational prayer group functions as the pastor’s prayer team, supporting the congregation, members in need, and the pastor himself, through dedicated intercessory prayer. Having lay people partner in prayer with godly leaders “unleash[es] the potential of prayer on behalf of themselves, one another and the church.” ⁹      

Of course, other activities are offered as well. The best way to launch ministries aimed at older saints is to involve them in the brainstorming, organizing, recruiting and execution of the ministries themselves. Our most attended activity is our “Social Seniors” group which goes out to a “destination” restaurant each month. Led by a couple of faithful women, we average between fifteen to thirty and see this as a critical ministry of assimilating older members who are new to the congregation. We also have men’s and women’s Bible studies that primarily consist of older members. A small quilting group meets once a month. Some older gents even put together a dartball team. (I had no idea what dartball was until I moved to Indiana.)

For the sake of building the community of believers, we would encourage church leaders to actively introduce older members to one another, helping them to discover what similarities they may have in common on which to build friendships.

What ministries do your mature Christians have a vision and passion for?

Celebrating The Splendor of Aging:  

The often-cited quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art,” ¹⁰ encourages us to see aging well as an intentional process. The community of faith can have a significant influence in helping our older saints mature into the fullness of Christ.  Again, Martin Luther saw our aging as a lifelong process culminating in facing death to transition to our promised resurrected life.

Dr. Richard “Rich” Bimler, author of Joyfully Aging: A Christian’s Guide, encourages us “to see aging as a blessing to celebrate rather than a burden to bear, to no longer see aging as a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured, but rather as a powerful, rational, lifelong process that connects all of us in this community of faith, the Church.” ¹¹

Aging is natural.  Genesis 15:15 states that being “buried in a good old age” will be the peaceful outcome of Abraham’s life. “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). The Bible neither glamorizes nor denies the reality of aging. Ecclesiastes 12 portrays the dismal physical losses of aging. Arms shake, legs grow weak, teeth fall out, eyes grow dim and ears so deaf you can’t even hear the millstone grind

Yet through aging one also accumulates wisdom. Proverbs 16:31 notes, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” Wisdom comes with age. Aging leads to a “heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Wisdom doesn’t just come from growing old. Wisdom comes with the blending of knowledge and experience, seasoned with reflection and reconciliation.

Aging is the opportunity “to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” to become fully mature in Jesus (Eph 4:15, Col 4:12). First, having gained perspective, we bear the fruit of humility and persevering patience. Next, we act out our discipleship in new ways, especially as mature Christians helping to guide younger believers. Then we seek to pass on the faith to the next generations, leaving a legacy of seeking and trusting in the LORD. Through the losses of time, we grow deeper in our trust of our savior Christ through our own suffering and weakness. Finally, with the hope of the resurrection and eternal union with Christ, we prepare to die. 

Congregations would bless their elder saints to gather small groups, perhaps even just groups of three, to go through guided reflections on their lives and aging. The ability to forgive and be forgiven is crucial, not just living a resilient life, but finding resolution and peace.  “Looking back, taking stock, giving thanks, knowing shame, reconciling where possible and forgiving when necessary, oneself as well as others, and accepting God’s forgiveness – all this is the work of the human spirit collaborating with the human mind.” ¹¹

How does your congregation encourage older Christians to reflect on their lives, examining themselves and making reconciliation?

Preparing for the Church Triumphant  

The process of aging is living through  losses, growing in severity, until finally we are stripped of nearly everything. In the last couple years of my mother’s life the death of her last remaining classmate from her deaconess nurses training caused her great grief and intensified her feelings of being alone even though my sister lived with her.

Part of the pastoral ministry of the Church is to help elder saints deal with these losses and the resultant grief. Two retired registered nurses have worked with me to hold workshops addressing matters of loss confronting our aging families entitled  “Memory Loss” and “Caring for Caregivers.” We also brought in our local funeral home director and our Thrivent agent to conduct a workshop: “What Do You Do When You Die: Planning For Your Final Demise.”  Seeing evidence that younger generations often do not care if their faithful Christian elders have a Christian funeral, we wanted to encourage our elder Christians to make their funeral desires clear to their heirs. Pastors need to give their people a Christian understanding that the funeral is a celebration of the resurrection, not an award ceremony for the deceased (I will be glad to send our notes on the workshops if requested).

As the body declines, finances dwindle, physical mobility shrinks and the outside world becomes more irrelevant, enduring the ordinary, everyday suffering is daunting. Reflecting on these spiritual realities put us on a path of Christian growth in the midst of earthly decline as we move towards death. Aging is a hard discipline imposed upon us by the LORD. The Law works its wretched authority over every cell and points its accusation in every weakness.  When older saints embrace the limitations and the loss of independence with a faith empowered by perseverance, they can experience a deeper humility which leads them to discover a steadfast dependence on Christ. Jesus tells us, “In the world you will have trouble” (John 16:33b).  Then he continues, by telling us that genuine hope comes only through his cross: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Luther “taught that Christians could rest assured of their salvation, and that this assurance could be attained through faith in God’s gracious promise to forgive sins.” ¹⁴ We should struggle over our sins while we are living, but our deathbed is the time for the assurance of salvation. Giving the last rites, what we Lutherans call the Commendation of the Dying, has become more and more important to my pastoral ministry, working with families to try to celebrate this rite while the dying person is still conscious and in the presence of family. I have added the clear absolution from the Brief Order of Confession and Absolution. The word of forgiveness needs to delivered direct and clearly, not just alluded to. 

In “the process of growing older we are forced to confront the fact that we are finite, unable to be and do all that we can imagine and desire.” ¹² Luther encouraged people to meditate on their own mortality, to see sin and the Law as the cause of death, and to receive the ultimate assurance in the promised resurrection. Even though we recognize that death is a painful and frightening process even for Christians, in Christ death is overcome. With the Apostle Paul we proclaim about suffering and death that we need “not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). For those preparing for death [which will be all of us], Luther stated through the promises of faith the best part of life is not in the past, not in this earthly tent, but is to be found in the eternal future that lies ahead. In our ministry with the aging and the dying, we are to proclaim a future we can barely conceive. The real glory days are not behind, but ahead. Our task is to help our people to commit their spirit to the LORD and depart in peace (Psalm 31:5, Luke 2:29).

“Why am I still here?” As pastor I hear that question often asked by my oldest and most suffering saints. I have come to recognize that aging and physical infirmity are the stripping away of this world, leaving us utterly dependent upon God. All the pretenses of strength, will and pride are gone. We are left with our desperate faith in Christ. “The discipleship of the cross recognizes that the cross Jesus Christ bids his followers to take up includes the ordinary, everyday sufferings of human life—including those associated with aging—that are borne as Jesus bore his sufferings.” ¹³ With the physical decay, loss of beauty, and failure of vitality, our finitude is thrust upon us. In this physical humiliation we recognize we are not self-sufficient. We will not be walking into heaven under our own power. Learning the hard lesson of the weakness of the flesh and stripped of confidence in the flesh, we learn to ultimately rely on the LORD rather than any aspect of this earthly life.

What does your congregation do to help people prepare for death?

Older saints discover that these ripe years can be an exhilarating time of spiritual deepening. Far from casting us away in our old age, or forsaking us when our strength is gone, the LORD is drawing us into his embrace of grace.

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Works Cited

• ¹ Referenced in Prov 20:29 “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” Ref. Zech 8:4, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age,” NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 2020). All subsequent Bible citations in this essay use the NIV translation.
• ² Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 32: Career of the Reformer II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 24.
• ³    Anne E. Streaty Wimberly, “Caring as Honoring,” pp. 9-17, Christian Reflection: Aging (Waco, Texas: Baylor University, 2003), 10.
• ⁴ Ryan Burge, “What Generation Can We Blame for Religious Decline?”Graphs about Religion, Jul 03, 2025, Accessed 12/08/25 https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/what-generation-can-we-blame-for .
• ⁵ Ryan Burge,”Why Were People Attending Church More (or Less) in 2022 vs 2020?”, Graphs about Religion,  Aug 22, 2024, Accessed 12/08/25, https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/why-were-people-attending-church?utm_source=publication-search .
• ⁶ Stephen Sapp, “Aging from the Perspective of the Cross,” pp. 18-25, Christian Reflection: Aging (Waco, Texas: Baylor University, 2003, 24.
• ⁷ Aging and the Older Adult (Chicago:Lutheran Church in America, 1978), 2.
• ⁸ John A. McConomy, “Ministry with the Aging”, Word & World, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, vol. 2, issue 4 (1982), 390.
• ⁹ John C. Maxwell, Partners in Prayer (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1996), xiii.
• ¹⁰ Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960), 14.
• ¹¹  Paula Schlueter Ross, “Older Adults: An Overlooked Ministry Resource?” The Reporter, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, January 31, 2019, Accessed 12/08/25, https://reporter.lcms.org/2019/older-adults-an-overlooked-ministry-resource/ .
• ¹²  Carole Johannsen, “Epiphanies of Senior Spirituality” Reflections, Yale University, Fall 2013,  Accessed 12/08/25, https://reflections.yale.edu/article/test-time-art-aging/epiphanies-senior-spirituality .
• ¹³ Sapp, 21
• ¹⁴ Sapp, 18¹⁵  Austra Reinis, “Luther, Linck, and Later Lutherans on Pastoral Care to the Sick and Dying.” Journal of Lutheran Ethics, April 1, 2015, Retrieved 12/08/25, https://learn.elca.org/jle/luther-linck-and-later-lutherans-on-pastoral-care-to-the-sick-and-dying/

Article previously published in SIMUL: Journal Of St. Paul Lutheran Seminary. Fall 2025, Vol.5, Issue 1

Ever been ghosted? Ever have someone you with whom you were connected not call you back? Ever have someone stand you up? Most of us have been ghosted at some time.

Cutting off contact with a friend without giving any warning or explanation is ghosting. Essentially, they vanish into thin air as if they were a ghost. Sherry Turkle, MIT sociology professor, says that “ghosting has serious consequences because when someone treats us as if we could be ignored, we begin to think this is okay and we treat ourselves as people without feelings. At the same time, we treat others as people who have no feelings, so empathy begins to disappear.”

Are you okay with being ghosted? I presume not. While we certainly don’t want to be treated as though we can be ignored or dismissed, who do we ghost? Ghosting or being inactive in a relationship negates the whole point of being in a friendship or relationship. If someone says they are your friend, but then ghosts you, then their words are worthless and empty.

If we say we are Christians we are claiming to be friends of Jesus. But if we are inactive in our relationship with Christ, if we ghost Jesus Sunday after Sunday, month after month, then we are inactive friends, right? And to be clear, Jesus has an opinion on friends who ghost him. The nicest word he uses is “lukewarm” which he says he will spit out (Rev 3:14–22).

Saying one believes in Jesus doesn’t carry much water because even the demons believe in the one true God. But demons do not have a faith relationship. They don’t claim Jesus as a friend. If you are ghosting Jesus, why? An inactive faith is really no faith at all.

A complacent or inactive faith weakens our ability to fight off the devil and allows Satan’s temptations to lead us into brokenness and sin. As a matter of fact, an inactive faith blocks Christ’s courage to overcome the devil’s cunning and deceptive plan (Ephesians 6:11). So, letting faith to die is unwise. True faith does something (2 Pet 1:5-9).

Jesus calls you a friend (Jn 15:13-15). He seeks having an active faith relationship with you where he connects in you and you connect with him (Jn 15:4). A true friendship with Jesus is living and vibrant. It is active.

While we may go through times when our faith is weak or small and inactive, faith can always be revived, grow stronger and be more active. A living relationship with God brings you a holy strength. This mighty power comes from your relationship with Christ and gives you resolution to life’s circumstances.

Does the LORD ghost us? Never. He is the LORD who neither slumbers nor sleeps. God keeps watch over his people. Christ never abandons his people, but rather comes for his lost sheep who ghost him. Christ takes on all our rejection, not just ghosting him, but for our unfaithfulness to trust our lives to false values and empty gods. All through Scripture, God demonstrates his heart for his people

While an inactive faith is kind of worthless, Jesus does want you to have a ghosted faith. The LORD gives you the Holy Spirit – the Holy Ghost so you will never feel abandoned or ghosted. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (Jn 14:26) When the Spirit of Truth comes to you, he will guide you into all the truth and will make known to you Christ’s friendship (Jn 16:12-14).  You can be certain that Christ is always ready to have an active faith relationship with you!

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Rom 5:5)

Your servant in the Gospel,

Pastor Douglas

        When I was dating my wife Debra, I was so excited about being with her. I was eager to talk with her, be with her, and go off on adventures with her. I am still delighted that she is my wife. But I sometimes worry my beautiful wife may think I am too contented with her. I am surely tip-toeing on danger if I take her for granted. Does my contentment give me an excuse for being lackadaisical about our relationship?

As Christians, are we excited to belong to Jesus? Or are we just contented to be church goers?

Of course, excitement is a feeling or an emotion. We know emotions come and go, often because of circumstances. Where do we turn when our excitement has drained away and we are left with the day-to-day patterns? A faith dependent upon emotions will bottom out when hard times eventually arrive.

        Are we so contented with our relationship with Christ, that our faith is a ho-hum contentment marked by satisfaction but not joy? Is contented faith acceptable to the Lord?  We are warned by Jesus, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16)

        While we may be bored, apathetic or lukewarm in our faith towards Christ, that is not how the Lord considers you. The LORD is not content for you to wander away in sin or indifference. The LORD seeks after us. (Luke 19:10) Consider how Christ came to call us sinners, not the righteous. (Mt 9:13)

        Today we use the word “passion” to describe our emotional intensity. But in our faith, we use the phrase “the passion of the Christ” to communicate the depths to which God is willing to go to redeem us from sin and to convey the intense commitment of His love for us. Jesus tells us that the LORD rejoices over you and every other sinner who repents and is saved (Luke 15:7,10, Zeph 3:14-17, Isa 62:5). Holy Week, or Passion week, is all about Christ Your Savior who loves you so much he is willing to die for you.

        Do you feel like you are in a love affair with God? Do you have a contented faith where you are satisfied with just knowing who Jesus is? Is your faith excited about a what or a who?

        Rather than speak about emotional excitement, the Spirit-inspired scriptures speak of rejoicing and joy. Do we rejoice in the Love Christ pours into us? “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” (1 Pe 1:8, cf 1 Th 1:6–7)  We are to have joy and rejoice with all our being in the LORD (Zech 10:7, Isa 61:10, Ps 70:4).

        Is the Lutheran pattern for faith to be mildly contented and satisfied with minimal investment or contact with the LORD? No. Pastor Martin Luther was driven by a passion to exalt and praise God. Listen to his prayer:  “Dear Lord God, I want to preach so that you are glorified. I want to speak of you, praise you, praise your name. Although I probably cannot make it turn out well, won’t you make it turn out well?” The passion of Luther comes across on almost every page that you read from him.

        As Christians we have the absolute assurance and presence of Christ to save His people from their sins. We can be contented that Christ’s work is complete (Christ Alone) and that through trust in Christ we are redeemed (Faith Alone). This faith is a gift of love from God, not our effort (Grace Alone). Such was Luther’s rejoicing that we stay focused on Christ.    

   May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

Your servant in Christ, Pastor Douglas

(BTW: picture above is not my wife. 🙂 Debra always has a bright eyes and smile on her face.)

The stream behind my brother’s home has tons and tons of gravel consisting of large boulders, all manner of rocks down to the finest sand filling in a good portion of the riverbed.

 One spring the Ozark mountain region in southern Missouri where my brother Billy lives experienced heavy rains. The rainfall cascaded down the mountains, hills and valleys carrying sediment down into the creeks, streams and rivers. The storm water uprooted and carried huge trees downstream. So much rain fell the tributaries were filled breaking beyond their bounds. The water became a torrent flooding land, homes, and Ozark villages.

As we are baptized into Christ and washed with the Word, the Holy Spirit cleanses us from the sediment of sin, guilt, shame, and brokenness. 

How can we speak of being cleansed when there is still the gravel of sin and shame in our lives? Granted, because of sin we are never as clean and holy as we should be. BUT you have been baptized which is pure. You also receive God’s Word which is also pure. Since the purity we receive in faith comes through Christ (who is brilliantly pure), we can certainly say we are whiter than snow, purer than a mountain spring. Even though the gravel of sin still is in the stream of our lives, our sin is covered by the purity and innocence of Christ. We are washed Holy, Pure, because Our God is Holy and Pure.

How can you have this? You receive this when we hear and trust God’s Word. Of course we know this purity comes from outside ourselves completely. Pastor Martin Luther wrote, “If we look at Christians apart from Christ and see them as they really are, we would notice how much they are contaminated by sin. Even if they were fine people, we would see not only that they’re thoroughly contaminated, but also that they’re covered over with a thick, dark film of sin. If someone tried to separate us from Christ and take away our baptism and God’s promises, we would no longer have Christ’s purity. We would be left with nothing but sin.”

This purity is also a process where the Holy Spirit washes our lives, especially through the Word. Sometimes we go through periods where the Spirit flows through our lives like a torrent moving boulders of brokenness and shame out of our lives. Most often the Spirit is gently flowing through us each and every day cleansing us of the nitty gritty sins.

Having a holy life – a life that is connected to our Holy God – encourages us to daily be washing the sediment of sin. Each day we are to drown the old Adam / Eve with repentance so the new person in Christ can be raised up. Each day we are being sanctified and purified for our Holy and Pure God.

As Christians we should never be content to have a shriveled up spiritual life like the Kings River in a time of drought. When you actively seek the LORD – being in the Word – coming into His presence in worship – daily living as Baptized child, you are filled to the brim life giving, nurturing flow of the Spirit in your life.

Since summer is a time of relaxation and refreshment, come on Sunday mornings to relax in the loving grace of your Holy and Loving God and be refreshed by the Word and Sacraments. Come for this worship series: Holy God, Holy Lives.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Thess. 5:23)

Pastor Douglas

“You’re welcome.” A joy comes from saying those words to someone who recognizes and thanks you for an act of service or kindness. When you perform such gracious acts to express respect, kindness and even love, you hope your service will bless the other person. So, when the recipient of your kind service is oblivious or seems entitled, you might say sarcastically, “You’re welcome!”

Ingratitude is an ugly behavior of people who think they are entitled. Ungrateful miscreants are ever present irritants in our contemporary culture causing much friction. I can understand how secular unbelievers are trained by hyper-consumerism to be lousy ingrates.

But I scratch my head explaining Christians who have an ingrate faith. Ingrate faith is an entitlement that God owes you. Ingrate faith is not joyous for God’s work of redemption. Ingrate faith is selfish with a hardened heart and a stubborn mind

What in your life is not a gift from God? Can you say you have real faith if you are ungrateful to God who blesses your every moment, redeems you from sin and death and bestows every spiritual blessing? I know people the LORD has rescued personally or a loved one from death, yet they are not moved to give thanks. Not thanking God emerges out from a darkened, foolish heart (Rom 1:21). So, If you take the blessings God for granted you are an ingrate to God.  Since God created us and we owe him everything, if we simply “live a good life” for ourselves and we do not live for Him, it is not enough. We are not just spiritual ingrates; we are bona fide ingrates.

If you feel slighted when someone takes your kindness for granted, how does God look upon those who do not give thanks. So, when God gives in our lives, repeatedly how do we remain silent (1 Cor 15:57). Ingratitude is the opposite of the spiritual gift of gratitude or thankfulness.

How do Christians become grateful people? By the work of the Spirit, gratitude arises from faith in the redemption Christ bought so preciously for us. Faith marked by gratitude and thankfulness creates joy within us.

Gratitude is a blessing that comes through faith from the LORD. We joyfully thank God who made us his people to live in his kingdom of light (Col 1:12). I am grateful because God delivers me from sin to live a new life through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:25, 2 Cor 2:14)

The funny thing is that gratitude is seriously good for us. People who were more grateful actually had better heart health, a boosted your immune system, a less depressed mood, less fatigue, and they slept better. Gratitude has the opposite effect of stress. Another study found a simple key to happy and lasting marriage is regularly expressing gratitude. Teenagers who are grateful have higher grades, are less envious, depressed, and materialistic and are more satisfied with their lives.

What does grateful faith look like? Thankfulness expressed in worship (Heb 12:28). As Christians, our lives of faith are to be characterized by thankfulness (Col 3:15-17, 1 Thess 5:18). Rejoicing and praise mark a grateful faith, a grateful Christian (Eph 5:20). We are singing to God with gratitude in our hearts for his victory in our lives (Col 3:16). At the center of our worship is the thanksgiving meal for Christ’s sacrificial cross. Our communion meal is called Eucharist in the Greek meaning “thanksgiving”.

If you are an ingrate to God, you are not living in true faith. Come know blessings of your generous God, give thanks to the LORD who blesses you.

“May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father” (Col 1:11–12)

Pastor Douglas                                                           

The Lutheran World Relief (LWR) of yore that was a bold effort of Lutherans to put their faith into action around the world has morphed into a government contract conglomerate whose primary client is the US government and its policies. LWR has become a Lutheran-in-name-only, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) government contractor which operates under the auspices of CORUS INTERNATIONAL as one its nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries.

One of the North American Lutheran Church’s (NALC) requirements for endorsing independent ministries is that they have an evangelical focus, which means they will share the name of Jesus to advance the Kingdom of God. Earlier this year, the Great Commission Society reviewed LWR recommending to the Executive Council to withdraw NALC endorsement of LWR.

Surrendering The Name of Christ:

While LWR says not using the name of Jesus allows them to get into places where that would not be allowed, there are plenty of places where they do work where other Christian agencies are able to be explicit about Christ. LWR does not function as a Christian aid society, but rather as a USAID foreign aid contractor focused on carrying out its work “in compliance with the US government regulations”. As many service ministries understand, they cannot receive US government funds and still evangelize. You surrender the name of Christ and any explicit work to advance his kingdom when you take government funds.

LWR belongs to Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) made up of government agencies and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), working to advance US government and UN interests. The Global Resilience Partnership, which is funded by the US govt, other government agencies and the UN, promotes a progressive globalist vision of the world.  On the GRP website, LWR communicates clearly to US agencies, the UN, and other secular NGO’s that it will be trusted secular partner: “LWR works with people based on need, regardless of race, religion or nationality and we do not evangelize.”  

Since Corus operates as a foreign aid NGO working with the US and other governments they have no interest in advancing the Gospel of Christ, but they are very much involved in advancing a globalist humanist kingdom on earth. CORUS is committed to the secular cultural agenda of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI) which is rooted in political critical theory as well as climate change. LWR does not recruit for people of faith but employees who are good at implementing government contracts and following federal government policies.

Pushing Abortion:

A hidden concern is that CORUS and their IMA World Health subsidiary in encouraging health access and reproductive rights seeks to advance abortion around the globe, as per US government policy. The corporation has funded groups that push for abortion. One report on their website laments an effort they supported was “not enough to liberalize abortion laws in Latin America” and points to the influence of religion as an obstacle. This pro-abortion stance comes from the same board that oversees LWR.

LC-MS Left Long Ago:

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LC-MS) parted ways with LWR in the early 2000’s because of the increasing influence of government policy on LWR. The LCMS created their own relief effort which is officially named “LCMS World Relief and Human Care”, but internally and in donation drives is referred to as “Lutheran World Relief”. These references may create confusion for outsiders, but officials with the LC-MS are adamant that no official relationship exists with LWR.

Where To Give?

At the NALC Convocation in Oklahoma City in August 2023, during the discussion on the budget the assembly voted to no longer send money to the LWR. Some are concerned that if we do not contribute to LWR, where can our efforts be redirected?  While LWR will not miss the NALC or our donations compared to the $120 million in government funds CORUS receives, our donations could have a huge impact on smaller missional agencies the NALC endorses. 

If you are concerned about feeding the poor you can contact Pastor George Black (NALC-Auburn, CA) who works with Food For the Poor. Your congregation can give its quilts and donations to the NALC Disaster Response which unabashedly shares the love of Jesus and bibles with victims of disasters. You could send your money to the Malawi Orphan Care Project, SON Network or one of the other NALC endorsed ministry partners.

For St. John’s, NALC- Fort Wayne, after examining LWR we redirected the benevolence line item to a ministry of the Uganda Lutheran Church. This ministry was seeking to help feed the poor on a local level by building a chicken farm. As this congregation got excited about helping directly with the chicken farm our initial gift of $800 grew to $4200. This direct world relief has encouraged our people to look for other ways we can share the name of Christ and help the needy.

May the LORD bless our NALC and LCMC congregations as we seek to be Mission Driven by sharing the name of Christ in word and deed.

  

    Choices, choices and AdChoices. Our hyper-consumer culture overwhelms us with all the choices we can make to please our whims. For all the hyper-individually focused advertising that is pushed at you, you as a person are lost. You are just a consumer whose only value is what you can spend.

      Our Adchoice mentality affects our faith. We say we can be spiritual on our own with a custom order Jesus on our terms. This consumeristic spirituality caters to our self-centeredness. The whole “ME and Jesus” private relationship is not biblical, but blasphemous. This misguided, “Me and Jesus” spirituality not only runs counter to scripture, but even more, it degrades God’s saving work. We are redeemed as we are part of God’s people. Our ultimate communal expression is communion where we are joined to Christ and one another (1 Cor 10:17). Certainly, a self-centered spirituality will not require us to participate seriously in a church community.

      If you revel in being a severed foot cut off from the body of Christ because us other Christians stink and you are more holy than us, I am offended! Who are you not to grace us with your unique embodiment of sinfulness? Who are you to think you can have Christ without us? Who are you to withhold the work of the Spirit in you to bless others for God’s glory?

      The Way of Christ is not about and cannot be just a personal relationship with Jesus. Our faith has been handed down through the faith community. We are individually members of the body, the Church, but there is no severed foot faith separate from the body. The weakness of this self-centered faith in the United States is apparent from the weakness of individuals to pass along the faith.

            Following Christ is not a private individualistic affair. Yes, you are to have a personal connection to Christ. While we do have our personal and solitary times with the LORD, we are baptized and called to exercise our faith in God by how we live with one another. We are to meet together to encourage one another in the faith, rather than flying solo to be picked off one by one in spiritual warfare. (Heb 10:23-25) If even the Son of God needed a small group of disciples to do faith with, why would we think we can sever ourselves from the body and be okay?

            That we are to follow Christ with one another is abundantly clear throughout the New Testament (see below). We worship together. We experience life and salvation together. We are bound together. In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (1 Cor 12, Rom 12:5). So, we forgive one another. We bear one another’s burdens. We share God’s love with one another. We are to be devoted to one another in love. We are to honor one another above ourselves. Rather than slacking, we are encouraged to do more and more life together as God’s people.

      Don’t be a sinner alone.  You are redeemed by Christ to belong to His people, not to go life alone. To be clear, if you are doing faith as a severed foot without fellow sinners, you are unbiblical and disobeying Christ. So as baptized Christians joined to the Body of Christ, actively engage your spiritual life by living it out in the temple of God’s people (1 Pet 2:4-5). Embrace the Spirit-given blessing of belonging to the family of God.  Come join your brothers and sisters in Christ so you may more powerfully grow in knowing Christ in your life.

   May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give y’all a spirit of unity with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together y’all may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

Your servant in his Church, Pastor Douglas

(See Jn 13:34, Rom 12:10, 13:8, 1 Cor 3:16-17, 12:12-14, 2 Cor 13:11, Gal 5:13, Eph 4:2, 4:32, Phil 2:5, Col 3:13, 1 Thess 4:9, 5:11, Heb 3:13, 10:23-25, 13:1, 1 Pet 1:22, 1 Pet 3:8, 1 Pet 5:5, 1 Jn 1:7, 3:23, 4:11-12)