A Time of Growth

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord!

We have now come to the Green Season of the Church. This “green season” is known as the season after Pentecost, or the season after Trinity.

During this “green season”, like the green plants, this color represents our growth. For us Christians, this color represents our growth in the one, true Christian faith. So, you may notice a change in our church lectionary during this season of growth.

Throughout the Easter season, we read how our Lord Jesus the Christ bodily resurrected from the dead and appeared to many during His 40 days prior to His bodily ascension into heaven (Acts 1) where He promises to return to judge the living and the dead on the Last Day.

Now, during this green season, our Scripture readings have changed. Instead of our readings being only about Jesus, our readings have become about Jesus and us, His disciples.

§  On June 14 (Second Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus called the twelve Apostles and sends them out (Matthew 9:35-10:20).
§  On June 21 (Third Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus tells us to not be afraid and to acknowledge Him as Lord, so He will acknowledge His follower to God the Father, so we would have eternal life (Matthew 10:5a, 21-33).
§  On June 28 (Fourth Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus tells us that by following Him, our closest family and friends may hate us for Christ says, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34-42).

July continues our time of growth. But growing is not easy. Christ never said that being a Christian – a follower of Christ – was going to be easy. Just look back at the Apostles. Was their life easy? By no means. They dealt with persecution and death. But they all never turned away from their Lord Jesus. Instead, they persevered to the end. And at that end, eternal life with Jesus.

A couple weeks ago, I preached on the Epistle reading from Romans 5:6-15 on the Second Sunday of Pentecost. Here, Paul reminds us, who are growing in the one, true Christian faith, that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Here, Paul is reminding the followers of Christ that we all did nothing to receive God’s grace. Instead, God accomplished His grace on behalf of us through His Son Jesus. In the sermon, I focused upon what divides us from God: sin. Sin is all the evil we do in thought, word, and deed. Although, we are sinners, God the Father gives us the cure to get rid of sin. This cure is Jesus Christ alone!

As our sinful nature is full of hate, which leads to all sorts of horrible acts, such as rioting, burning, and looting, the cure for all of us is already here! 

So, each time we repent of our sins to God the Father, we are forgiven through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ alone! The world around us needs Jesus. We all need Jesus!

Thanks be to God, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, so we would have the sure and certain hope of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and salvation!

God’s richest blessings to you!

In Christ,

Pastor Adelsen