by Pastor Ronald Boelte
What is it you think of when we see the pictures and film of the world
outside of our community, a world in so much need.? If you were like me,
you watched the pictures coming out of New Orleans and the surrounding
area and was amazed at the destruction you saw from Hurricane Katrina. Did
it move you to want to help in some way? What about the pictures we
see of the famine in Africa, or the destruction of the communities in the
Indian Ocean from the tsunami?
Often we are so bombarded with facts and the pictures that we sometimes
build up an immunity and really don’t see the need, or we get so
involved in our own concerns that we forget there is a lot of suffering
out in this world that could use our help.
It is the same way with going into the world with the message of Jesus
Christ. We may think it is not our job, or witnessing is not my gift, or
the thousand other excuses that we can think up. However we must remember
that the last command of Jesus was for us to "Make Disciples"
as we go into our own world and our own communities. Jesus had a much
bigger goal in mind: the world. God wants the message of Jesus taken into
the whole world.
This Saturday we have a chance to go and listen to Dr. Wallace Schulz
at St John Lutheran Church in Lawton OK at 6:00PM. He has been a
missionary and he has gone into the world with the message of Jesus. He
will share some of these experiences and encourage us in our walk with
Jesus and help us see the need for our going, going, gone.