“A Word of Truth” from Immanuel Lutheran Church of Mankato…
A Word of Truth #048
“Church” is literally an “assembly.” When Scripture speaks of “church” it is an assembly of believers. In the early New Testament church the Lord added believers to the assembly through the working of the Holy Spirit. Luke reports, “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth saying, “…to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus…” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
Christian congregations are visible assemblies of God’s children, however, in these visible assemblies it is also possible to have hypocrites—those who outwardly appear to be believers, but have no faith in their hearts. The church as God sees it and as it is dentified in Scripture consists only of believers. Since faith is something known only to God, only God knows the true members of His Church. “The Lord knows those who are His…” (2 Timothy 2:19). This true Church is identified by faith, not by any one visible church on earth.
A Word of Truth #049
“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!…Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name” (Psalm 100:1,4). So the Psalmist encourages, and so we would be wise to do. God blesses us in many ways—providing for our eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, causing crops to grow into bountiful harvests, granting us safe and secure homes. He blesses us through many means—granting us good health so that we can work, moving families to provide necessary support, arranging unexpected kindness from strangers.
Unfortunately, many people chose to ignore God and fail to thank Him. How sad! May we ever join the Psalmist and live lives of thanksgiving to our gracious God!
This has been “A Word of Truth” from Immanuel Lutheran Church of Mankato.
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