Second Sermon: Audio Sermon (25-Jun-2017)

Click title for link

Second Sermon [1 Corinthians 16:5-11] (25-Jun-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Click here for PDF version for printing.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, send us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.

Our sermon today, for those of you who weren’t here last week, follows on from last week, where I preached on the first part of the text from 1 Corinthians which I just read. This particular passage shows the wonderful relationship between Paul as a pastor, and God’s people of the church. Last week, we reflected on the way in which Paul described himself as a traveller. He wants to be with God’s people there in the city of Corinth, after he has been in Ephesus, and after going through Macedonia. Like many pastor, and many Christians, Paul is a traveller, he goes from place to place, never quite knowing where Jesus is going to lead him next, but he trusts that Jesus will be with him to guide him and lead him.

Paul also tells the Corinthians that wherever he goes, it will only happen if the Lord permits [1 Cor 16:7]. Paul doesn’t know where he is going, but Jesus knows where he is going.

Paul also says that while he wants to stay for a while in the city of Ephesus, because a wide door for effective work has opened [v 9] for him. Jesus has opened the doors of people’s hearts there to hear the Word of God and to believe the Gospel. And this means that for Paul he has much work to do. The work belongs to Jesus, and all the energy behind the work, the effectiveness, belongs to Jesus.

And lastly, Paul says that there are many adversaries [v 9]. Even though a wide and effective door has opened there are also many adversaries, many opponents, many enemies. Why? Because the devil only bothers those who don’t belong to him. When Jesus wins a victory among a group of people, the devil is robbed of his people, and so he sometimes bites back. But this is only to make us run back to Jesus, and to be closer to him, knowing that there will be a time in the future when Jesus will rescue us from every heartache and sorrow and problem on this earth to be with him in heaven and to see him with our own eyes for the whole of eternity.

So today’s sermon is “part two”. Today we are focussing on the next few verses of the reading, which says:

When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Last week, we were reading about how Paul tells about his own life as a pastor and apostle. But this week we read about how Paul instructs and teaches the congregation there in Corinth how to receive this young pastor Timothy, who is about to come and visit them.

So we’re going to look at three things in our sermon today:

I.                   Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing to work of the Lord.

II.                 Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the same work as himself.

III.              Paul tells the church how to treat him.

And so, may the Holy Spirit bless us in my speaking, and our thinking and hearing today, so that we may believe this word of God and live it out.

So let’s come to our first part, where:

I.                   Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the work of the Lord.

We read: When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. He says: He is doing the work of the Lord.

What do you know about Timothy? Well, first of all, there are two books in the bible that are named after him, not because he wrote them, but because they were addressed to him. There are four letters that Paul wrote to pastors—1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon—and these four letters contain wonderful teaching and advice which spells out how we should conduct our ministry. Actually, this is a useful thing for us all to remember, because today, there’s plenty of books and seminars and conferences that are held about how to make pastors successful and dynamic leaders. But what is often forgotten is that the bible itself has its own teaching about how to be a pastor and how to conduct ourselves as pastors. It’s not for us to make it up—it’s not our ministry, the ministry belongs to Jesus.

We pastors can be a disappointing lot, sometimes! We often fail to meet people’s expectations, because of this reason or that. There’s no such thing as a perfect pastor, except for Jesus, and they crucified him! But what is important about a pastor is not whether he is like this, or like that, or even whether we like him personally, but that, as Paul says, he is doing the work of the Lord. This is an amazing thing that Paul says!

Paul says that Timothy is doing the work of the Lord, because he knows that he is speaking the word of the Lord. Sometimes a pastor might like to change this or that, but actually, it’s not up to him at all, but it is up to Jesus. He is the one who is doing the work, the pastor simply speaks Jesus’ word. An old pastor once told me this wonderful little motto: I am nothing, I have nothing and I can do nothing, but I have a Saviour is all, who has all, and can do all. It’s a bit like what Jesus said to Paul: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness [2 Cor 12:9].

So what is it that Jesus told his apostles to do before he ascended into heaven? He said, Go and make disciples of all nations [Mt 28:19]. How? What should they do to make disciples? Two things: First, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and second, teaching to observe all that I have commanded you [v 20]. Do you see how Jesus sends his apostles out to teach! I remember hearing a sermon once where the pastor was talking about where Jesus was teaching his disciples a few days before he died on the cross. The pastor said: What do you think Jesus is going to do, when he knows he’s going to die at the end of the week? He dedicates himself to one thing—teaching, teaching, teaching!

After Jesus gives this task to his apostles to teach, what then does he say? Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. He says: when you go and do this work, it’s not going to be your work, it’s going to be my work. And I am going to work with you, and I am going to be with you, and I am going to be right here clothing you all the power of the Holy Spirit that you need for each day and for each task.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes: We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accept it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers [1 Th 2:13]. Can you see how God’s word and God’s work go together? He says that you received our words as the word of God, and that this word of God is at work in you believers.

This is why Paul says in our reading today that Timothy is doing the work of the Lord.

I’d like to read a wonderful quote from Martin Luther about this, where he is speaking to parents, encouraging them to have their sons trained for the ministry. He writes [LW vol XLVI, “A sermon on keeping children in school”, p 223-225]:

There is no dearer treasure, no nobler thing on earth or in this life than a good and faithful pastor and preacher. Just think, whatever good is accomplished by the preaching office and the care of souls is assuredly accomplished by your own son as he faithfully performs this office. For example, each day through him many souls are taught, converted, baptised, and brought to Christ and saved, and redeemed from sin, death, hell, and the devil. Through him they come to everlasting righteousness, to everlasting life and heaven, so that Daniel says well that those who teach others shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness shall be like the stars for ever and ever [Dan 12:3]. Because God’s word and office, when it proceeds aright, must without ceasing do great things and work actual miracles, so your son must without ceasing do great miracles before God, such as raising the dead, driving out devils, making the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lepers clean, and the dumb to speak. Though these things may not happen bodily, they do happen spiritually in the soul, where the miracles are even greater, as Christ says in John 14[:12]: He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works that these will he do. If the single believer can accomplish these things working independently with individuals, how much more will the preacher accomplish working publicly with the whole company of people? It is not the man, though, that does it. It is his office, ordained by God for this purpose. That is what does it—that and the word of God which he teaches. He is only [the instrument through which it is accomplished. Now if he accomplished such great things spiritually, it follows that he also does bodily works and miracles, or at least gets them started. For how does it happen that Christians will rise from the dead at the Last Day, and that all the deaf, blind, lame and other sufferers of bodily ills must lay aside their ailments?...It is not because here on earth, through God’s word, they have been converted, become believers, been baptised and incorporated into Christ?

Do you see what Luther is saying here? When the word of God is spoken, the resurrection of your bodies on the last day has just kicked off. You can’t see it now, but when you rise from the dead, and all your aches and pains and sorrows have all melted away like wax, then you’ll see it. Then you’ll look back and realise just how powerful God’s word was, when to the world, all it looks like is that there you are in church sitting on your backside. We come to church to cease from all the work you do, so that God can work on you.

God’s word—God’s work! They go together. If only we had the eyes to see it!

The second thing, we’re going to look at today is that:

II.                 Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the same work as himself.

Paul writes: He is doing to work of the Lord, as I am. He also says: Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Sometimes people say: I don’t care much about the apostles, I only care about what Jesus says. This doesn’t really work, because Jesus is the one who sent the apostles. And Jesus said to them: Whoever hears you hears me [Luke 10:16]. The only thing we know about Jesus is what the apostles told us. Jesus didn’t actually write anything down himself. The whole of the New Testament is the writings of the apostles. Actually, the Gospels of Mark and Luke were not written by apostles, but by their close friends. Mark and Luke wrote down what they knew about Jesus from the apostles. The reason why the New Testament was all brought together is because it was the teaching of the apostles. On the day of Pentecost, after the fire and the wind came down, and after 3000 people were baptised, what did they do? It says: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching [Acts 2:42]. And this is what we come to do in church.

And so Timothy also comes to the church in Corinth, not teaching his own ideas, or having the spirit of the age as his teacher, but the apostles as his teachers. John writes in his first letter about himself and his fellow apostles: We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error [1 Jn 4:6]. Now why can John here be so black and white? Because he remembers the words of Jesus: Whoever hears you hears me.

So when it comes to our pastors, what are they supposed to do? Well, Paul wrote to Timothy: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work [2 Tim 3:16-17]. So when our pastors, whether it’s me or someone else, speak the word of God—to convict us of our sin and to comfort and strengthen us—we should listen to it, believe it, trust in it, and live by it.

But also Jesus gives another warning. He says: Beware of false prophets [Mt 7:15]. So if a pastor teaches you something that is not God’s word, then you shouldn’t listen to it, you shouldn’t believe it, and you shouldn’t trust in it, and you shouldn’t live by it! At one point, the high priests in the temple told Peter and the other apostles that they were forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. Well, they did it anyway—and they said: We must obey God rather than man [Acts 5:29].

So let me tell you something very important. We are all baptised Christians, and that means that because of God’s word and promise, he has given his Holy Spirit to all baptised people who believe in him. Paul says: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good [1 Cor 12:7]. What this means is that if you think I say something that isn’t right and isn’t from God’s word, you’ve got to come and tell me! Don’t keep it to yourself, because you might be the only person that the Holy Spirit uses in our congregation here to change my mind and correct me for the benefit of everyone. Remember that. Pastors should never expect anyone to obey them—but if it’s God’s word, then we must believe it.

And so, we’re an Apostolic church. I don’t mean the church denomination called the “Apostolic Church” down the road! I mean that we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching. We have the apostles as our teachers, not ourselves, not the spirit of our time. Paul says about Timothy that he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.

The last thing we’re going to look at from our reading is where:

III.              Paul tells the church how to treat young pastor Timothy.

I’m not going to say too much about this! Paul says three things: Put him at ease among you. Let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace.

Put him at ease literally means: Let him be without fear among you. It’s a terrible thing when a pastor lives in fear!

It’s important also for we pastors to realise that we are here to seek the sheep for Jesus, and not the fleece for ourselves.

Now today is exactly 6 months before Christmas Day. And you might remember that John the Baptist was 6 months older than Jesus, so often at this time of the year, Christians remember the birth of John the Baptist. And John gives us a good picture of something very important. He points to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world [John 1:29].

God gives two things to the church. He gives a Messiah, and gives you a pastor to preach the Messiah. However, sometimes people want a two-in-one package. They ditch the real Messiah, and they want their new pastor to be their Messiah instead. This doesn’t work, because sooner or later they’ll realise that he doesn’t measure up, and then they’ll want to crucify him too! Sometimes, this happens in the church. Instead of wanting a shepherd, people want the sheepdog instead!

But Paul gives three simple instructions to the Corinthians: Put him at ease among you. Let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace.

Let’s leave it at that, and let’s pray that our dear Lord Jesus would bless our time and our future together as a congregation and me as your pastor with his blessing. God bless you! Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

First Sermon: Audio Sermon (18-Jun-2017)

Click title for link

First Sermon [1 Corinthians 16:5-11] (18-Jun-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Click here for PDF version for printing.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, bless us with your grace as we begin a new journey together as your people, and send us the Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.

Over a hundred years ago, in America, there was a Lutheran pastor called C.F.W. Walther, who trained pastors in a seminary in St Louis, Missouri. He wanted to encourage these new pastors as they went to their first parishes, and I’d like to read what he said as we think about me coming to this parish. He writes [The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, pp207-209]:

When a place has been assigned to a Lutheran candidate of theology where he is to discharge the office of a Lutheran minister, that place ought to be to him the dearest, most beautiful, and most precious spot on earth. He should be unwilling to exchange it for a kingdom. Whether it is in a metropolis or in a small town, on a bleak prairie or in a clearing in a forest, in a flourishing settlement or in a desert, to him it should be a miniature paradise. Do not the blessed angels descend from heaven with great joy whenever the Father in heaven sends them a minister to those who are to be heirs of salvation? Why, then should we be unwilling to hurry after them with great joy to any place where we can lead other [people], our fellow-sinners, to salvation?

However, though great be the joy of a young, newly called pastor on entering his parish, there should be in him an equally great earnestness and determination to do all he can to save every soul entrusted to him. Frequently it may seem to him that the majority, if not all members, of his congregation are still blind, dead, unconverted people. That observation must not make him morose or discourage him, but rather fill him with an ardent desire to rouse them out of spiritual death through the divine means of grace and make them living Christians. Spite of the devil he should take up his work in the power of faith...Briefly, he must resolve to turn his congregation from a dreary desert into a flourishing garden of God… Blessed is the minister who starts his official work on the very first day with the determination to do everything that the grace of God will enable him to do in order that not a soul in his congregation be lost by his fault. Such a one resolves that by the grace of God he will do all he can, so that, when the day comes for him to put down his shepherd’s staff, he may be able to say, as Christ said to His Father: Here I am and those that [you gave] me, and none of them is lost.

As I begin my time here at Maryborough, I commend these words to you as my own desire for my ministry among you. And as I begin my time here, I also ask that you pray for me, that God would break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and [my] sinful nature that wants to get in the road. Let’s get this right upfront: I pray for you, and you pray for me, and together we pray for each other!

So for my first sermon here in Maryborough and Childers, I thought it would be a good idea to choose a text outside of the lectionary which really talks about the relationship between pastors and congregations. In the New Testament, there are many letters which the apostles wrote to congregations, which is where we gather many of our teachings. However, often at the beginning or the end of these letters there’s all kinds of good stuff, that when we first read it almost sounds a bit like chit-chat, as if it’s not very important. In the last chapter of Romans, for example, St Paul spends half the chapter saying hello to this person, and hello to that person! But at the same time, there is often hidden amongst all this stuff a great wisdom and strength, which shows the wonderful love and Christian friendship, between the writer of the letters and those who would receive them.

Now the sermon text I’ve chose today comes from 1 Corinthians, St Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth. Now these Christians at Corinth were a rough bunch—or, as they say up here, they were a mob of “ferals”! But after Paul had written to them about all kinds of issues, he tells them about his travel plans and that he wants to come and see them. And then he tells them that a young pastor Timothy is about to come and see them, and how they should treat him. So today our sermon is going to focus on the first part of our reading where:

I.                   Paul tells us about his life and work as a pastor.

Next week, I plan to preach on the second part of the reading where:

II.                 Paul instructs the congregation how to receive young pastor Timothy.

So let’s go to our first part of the text, where:

I.                   Paul tells us about his life and work as a pastor.

The first thing we read about in this passage is that Paul describes himself as a traveller. He says: I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost.

Paul, being an apostle, has amazing spiritual gifts, and amazing wisdom, and yet, at the same time, he does not know exactly where he is going to end up in life. He has made some plans. But he says, perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter. Perhaps, not for sure. Like every Christian, whether they are a pastor or not, Paul needs to learn from Jesus to trust him each day, and to take him not where Paul wants to go, but where Jesus wants him to go.

And that’s how it is with every Christian, but especially we pastors, and we pastors together with our families. Many of us end up serving and living in places that are a long way from where we grew up. Just last week, I heard about a young pastor who is from Finland, and is now a missionary in Albania. He went from the north of Europe right down to the south, where they have completely different people, in a completely different country, with a completely different language. I grew up in a faraway country called South Australia, where people dahnce, and ahnswer, and take backpacks to school, and now I’ve moved to that country up north, Queensland, where they dance, and answer, and take ports to school. And every year they have these strange rituals where people watch something called the State of Origin! You never know where you’re going to end up! Jesus is the one who knows where he is going to send people.

Jesus prophesies about this in the gospel of John, where he says about all Christians: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Jesus knows where to place all of the members of his own kingdom to that it can be built up and strengthened all throughout the world. But we don’t know, just as we can’t follow the wind. I bet if we worked where everyone in this congregation was born and where we had all come from, we could be quite surprised in seeing how the Holy Spirit has brought us all together.

We also read about a time where someone came to Jesus said: Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” The same for us Christians, and especially for pastors—we live in a world that turns itself away from God, and where we never really quite feel at home. But what a wonderful thing it is to be with Jesus, and to walk with him!

Our whole life is a kind of journey, directed toward heaven, but we never know where Jesus is going to lead us on earth on before we get there. On Easter Sunday in the evening, Jesus walked along with two disciples and taught them and broke bread with them. In the same way, Jesus walks along with us, and when we gather together in church, Jesus speaks his words to us, and gives us his body and blood to eat and drink in the Lord’s Supper. And the disciples said to each other: Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?

But back to our text, where we read where Paul says: I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. There’s a wonderful passage in Mark where Jesus sends out his disciples and they go and do wonderful things. And then they go back and it says: The apostles told Jesus everything that they had done and taught. Isn’t it wonderful to go and tell Jesus everything that we have done! But about the future, we tell Jesus what we would like to do and where we would like to go, but then it is not for us to decide where we go, but it is only as the Lord permits.

We don’t know how long we will be in one place. James says in his letter: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Sometimes we might think that this is an unsettling thing that we don’t know what’s going to happen. It might make us worry and get anxious. But in Romans we read: We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Even in dark times, we learn to trust that Jesus is still with us, and he will bring us safely through it. Psalm 23 says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Back to our text, Paul says: I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. What is this door that Paul is talking about? He is talking about the doors of people’s hearts. There is a group of people there who are open to hearing the word of God—and that means for Paul a wide door for effective work. This is like when Jesus says in John’s vision in the book of Revelation: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.

This effective work that Paul is to do is not his work, but it is God’s own work, the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Colossians: Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Do you hear that? It’s not Paul’s energy, it’s not Paul’s ministry, it’s Jesus’ ministry, and it’s Jesus who works all his energy and power in him.

God’s word is the thing that is effective. This is what we pastors are called to do: to preach the word, in season and out of season. We are called to preach, to speak to you the forgiveness of your sins, and to administer the sacraments. This means to baptise people—the power of baptism is once again the same Word of God.  And also, we give people the body and blood of Christ through the bread and wine for people to eat and drink. And once again, the power of the Lord’s Supper is the Word of God. And when we speak God’s word, it’s not us that is doing it, but it is Jesus who does it. He says: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them…and teaching them…and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Do you hear that? Jesus is the one who enters his own church, he is the one who takes care of it, he is the one who rules it and governs it and provides for it, and he is the one who saves it!

And yet at the same time, a pastor’s work isn’t done, simply by speaking the Word any-old-how. We also have apply it, and give people the right-sized portion, and the right food for each person. God’s word is made up of his law and of the Gospel. We have two things to speak: to show to the world their sin, and to show to the world their Saviour. It is the law of God that shows us our sin and finds us out, and it is the Gospel that shows us our Saviour and brings us to meet him and makes us his. When we speak God’s word, we have to take aim—to convict over here, and to comfort over there. Otherwise, it’s like having a loaded gun and just shooting it anywhere into the forest. No—we need to take and fire and shoot something! Whenever we preach the gospel, we take aim and fire at the devil, and get him off your back!

One last thing that Paul says about his effective work. He says: There are many adversaries. Adversaries? Enemies? Why does Paul mention this? Well, the devil only bothers those who don’t belong to him. It is often said, when God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel across the street! At Pentecost, some people listened to Peter, some people thought the disciples were drunk. The same happened when Paul went to Athens, and when he went to Rome. Some people listened to God’s word, and some people closed off their Hihearts, and some even tried to kill Paul and silence him. When the Gospel is preached, the devil loses everything. And when you kick a serpent, it starts to squirm and bite and attack the person who kicked it. But this happens not to discourage us, but to lead us to trust in the wonderful victory that Jesus has won through his blood, his sacrifice, his death, and his resurrection from the dead on Easter Day.

Wide and effective work and many adversaries go together. But they go together to encourage us and to lead us to trust Jesus even where we’re in the dark that he knows where he wants to lead us, and he knows what he is going to do with us. Ultimately, he promises us where he is going to send us and what he’s going to do with us. He says: In my Father’s house are many rooms, and I am going to prepare a place for you.

Next week, we are going to read the second part of this reading, where Paul encourages the Corinthians to receive the young pastor Timothy. In the meantime, what a great thing it is to be gathered by the Holy Spirit himself in God’s house, to receive the free forgiveness of all our sins, to hear the word of God spoken to us from God’s own throne in heaven, [to witness Jesus welcoming a new child into his kingdom], to enter into God’s throne room and to pray to God himself, and to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ together in the Lord’s Supper. This is something great that we have come to be part of today. This is something that all the angels of God rejoice over!

And as your pastor, I say with St Paul from our reading: Perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter [Don’t worry—I want to stay longer than that!], so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

Amen.

Dear Jesus, open a wide door for effective work here in Maryborough and Childers. Bless our congregation and all who are part of it, and build it up and strengthen it through your Holy Spirit. Come and work among us and with us and through us to your glory. Amen.