- kept my Word
- not denied my name
An interesting note: according to the People's Bible, the city of Philadelphia exists today and has a number of Christian congregations.
I really liked how the devotion "keyed" off (did you catch that?) on the "Ministry of the Keys" defined in Luther's Catechism. I encourage you to look that up and remind yourself what you most likely had touched upon in confirmation class.
There can be no greater compliment to a Lutheran pastor than to thank him for his faithful preaching and teaching and consistent use of the Sacraments. There can be a lot of outside pressure from the mission board on reporting stats, popular books that promote the "right activities or programs" or even the sinful nature's "means to an end" attitude that believes man knows better than God how to build a church family. Looking for a Christmas present for your pastor this year? Now you have one - and it's free!
3 comments:
What an encouraging section..."I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." It makes me very grateful that we are part of a Christian synodical body that takes such great pains to preach God's Word--law and gospel--in its truth and purity. Praise God that he continues to preserve his Church and that we get to take part in such an awesome task as sharing that Word with others!
I also found the passage Christine highlighted to be very comforting. How often do we, as churches and/or individuals feel that we have little strength? But we pray that God would help us to keep our priorities in order. If we have strength for only one thing, may that thing be to keep God's word and not deny his name! It reminds my of one of my favorite passages- "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) When, by his grace, we keep him first in our hearts, our Lord promises that he will give us the strength we need to remain faithful, and he will take care of the rest as well.
Regarding the ministry of the keys, I recently went through a Bible study on that topic I found on the WELS Women's Ministry web site (www.wels.net/women). It has been many years since confirmation class, and this study helped me refresh the knowledge I already had and gain a better understanding of the significance the ministry of the keys for me in this phase of my life.
Thanks for sharing the Bible study at the Women's Ministry site - that's a great resource!!
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