Tag: 21st Century Church

CALLED TO WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, our Christian faith is not meant to be lived in isolation. The Bible clearly emphasizes the importance of believers gathering in regular communal worship and actively participating in a local church fellowship. And as Lutherans, we confess that God has called us to live out our faith in community, gathering regularly for grace-filled worship and fellowship. Rooted in the Holy Scriptures and guided by the Lutheran Confessions, this call reflects God’s gracious design for his people to receive his good gifts, grow in faith, serve one another, and witness to Christ within our fallen and sinful world, united as the Body of Christ.

The Scriptures make clear that gathering together for worship is a divine command for believers. In Hebrews 10:24-25, we receive firm exhortation for this purpose, where it states the following: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day [of the Lord’s return] drawing near.” This passage emphasizes the necessity of regular assembly, where believers receive God’s Word and Sacrament, and where they give one another mutual encouragement in faith, especially in view of Christ’s imminent Second Advent to come.

The Lutheran Confessions affirm this biblical mandate. The Augsburg Confession (Article VII) defines the Church as “the congregation of saints in which the gospel is purely taught and the sacraments are rightly administered.” Regular communal worship is the context where these powerful means of God’s grace (i.e., Christ’s Word and Sacrament) are faithfully delivered, sustaining and strengthening us in true faith and hope. In addition, we as Lutherans believe that the Lord himself is at work in our assemblies of worship forgiving sins, creating faith, and renewing his people through his gifts. And as we gather together in praise and prayer, we participate in a foretaste of the heavenly worship described in Revelation 5:9-14.

No Christian is meant to function alone. Our faith is not solitary but lived out in the context of a local church fellowship. We are baptized into the community of Jesus Christ where we depend on one another and serve with our God-given gifts. The Small Catechism teaches that the Holy Spirit “calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth.” And this calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying happens concretely in the local congregation, where believers hear the biblical Word of God proclaimed (both law and gospel). Moreover, the local church is also the place of mutual care and accountability. For Galatians 6:1-2 calls us to “bear one another’s burdens,” which requires active involvement in a fellowship where relationships foster love and support.

Faithful participation in a local church yields profound spiritual benefits. First, it anchors us in God’s grace. Second, it strengthens us to live out our various vocations of family, work, citizenship, and so on. Third, the local church is God’s primary instrument for mission. Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is a corporate call, fulfilled as believers work together to evangelize, support missions, and amplifying our impact for God’s Kingdom. By being faithful members of our own congregation, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, we contribute to this work of the Kingdom.

Despite the clear biblical mandate, too many Christians at this present time neglect communal worship, citing their busyness or personal preferences, or their disillusionment with imperfect human organizations. Yet, Scripture warns against this in Hebrews 10:25, as isolation seriously weakens our faith and hinders our growth in Christ. While no congregation or organization of the Church of Jesus Christ is perfect, God nevertheless calls us to commit to a local congregational assembly and “to bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

In our digital age, some may argue that online services or private devotions are sufficient. But while these digital and private alternatives can help supplement our faith, they cannot replace the embodied, relational nature of the Living Church of Christ gathered in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The biblical vision of divine worship involves physical presence, shared sacraments, and personal ministry — elements that virtual platforms cannot duplicate.

God commands his people to gather regularly for worship and to be faithful members of a congregational fellowship, because it is his design for our spiritual flourishing. As Lutherans we rejoice in this command and calling to prioritize corporate worship, engage actively in our congregation (including participation in one of our two small group Bible studies), and use our gifts to serve one another. So let us heed the call of Scripture: Do not neglect meeting together. And in this, we honor God, encourage one another, and prepare for the great “Day” when we will worship him forever in perfect fellowship and eternal joy.

Happy Summertime! Pastor Tim

REFORMATION HOPE IN CHRIST

Martin Luther, the great evangelical catholic theologian and Sixteenth Century reformer of the Church, lived in a time of colossal challenges and hardships. In addition to the many troubles Martin Luther experienced due to his efforts to increase Biblical literacy, promote Christian revival, and reform the entrenched corruption of the Church of Rome and the Holy Roman Empire, Martin and Katie his wife also lost two of their six children (probably due to the plague) during their life together: first their infant daughter (Elizabeth Luther) died at only 7 months old, and then years later their teenage daughter (Magdalena Luther) died at 13 years old. Moreover, Europe was under constant attack by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and there was populist unrest and revolt all over the place.

Martin Luther lived in extremely uncertain times, and it’s very unlikely in the year 1523 that Luther could have foreseen with any amount of certainty how all of his work would ultimately turn out. In that early Sixteenth Century timeframe (a pivotal time of immense transition from the Late Medieval era to the Renaissance era), Martin Luther’s evangelical catholic reformation of the Church was not a steady and glorious march of gospel revival and spiritual restoration. Indeed, it was never smooth going. Rather, it was messy, and it had its share of radicalism and extremism. However, one thing was for sure, it was quite clear that something a lot bigger than one person, a lot bigger than even the great Martin Luther, was taking place.

Furthermore, all of this socio-political and religious turmoil wasn’t happening in a technological vacuum. For it was a time of new technologies such as the printing press. It was a time in which an innovator who was a mathematician, astronomer and Church canon lawyer, named Nicolaus Copernicus, published his great scientific work that kicked Planet Earth out of the center of the Solar System. It was also a time in which the map of the globe was growing increasingly extensive and detailed, being charted by the expanding empires of Portugal and Spain.

What new kind of world was emerging out of all this? Which aspects of all this great change were good and righteous and constructive? Which aspects of all this change were destructive, unrighteous and demonic? How was God’s Holy Spirit calling, gathering and enlightening his Church for such times as this?

Today, 500 years on from Martin Luther in 1523, in this Year of our Lord 2023, we the modern-day Church of Jesus Christ find ourselves living through a similarly pivotal time of colossal challenges. We are still trying to help our youth climb out of the developmental stagnation they endured resulting from the unprecedented “stay at home” directives, requiring them to do school and learn, to build relationships and develop life skills, all from their bedroom desks on laptops and tablets. And sadly, we are still contending with old radical ideologies that have been repackaged for our digital era, causing great harm in their wake.

Additionally, the tried and true principles of life and liberty, of family and faith, and so on, are all under tremendous pressure. New technologies and discoveries are wiring us up and plugging us in (whether we like it or not) for both good and ill. Our technology can be used to keep us informed and connected, but this technology is also used to keep us propagandized and contained.

So yes, something new is emerging, and the world is changing at a lightning pace. But the question always remains: Which changes are good and Godly, healthy and constructive, and which changes are not?

I believe God is still calling and shaping us, his Holy Church, to be faithful witnesses within the world that is presently emerging, no matter what the cost to us might be. We just need to be enlightened and shaped by God’s grace and truth, first and foremost, and to be ready and willing to answer God’s call.

Forever secure in God who is “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1) we can be bold in our witness of the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. For as Jesus declares to his disciples of all times and places, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim