Tell the Good News

Every year the LCMS Wyoming district holds a mission convocation for pastors, lay leaders, and their families.  The title they use is "Tell the Good News about Jesus," a biblical and bold challenge to believers.  At the convocation, I met and participated with people from Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, and St. Louis in a powerful and encouraging event.  The speakers reminded us that evangelism is more than a mere program of the Church.  They reminded us, as it is written in the Bible, that evangelism is about growing disciples.  Disciples live the Christian faith in their vocation, they participate in the faith with their children, they approach God with repentance, and disciples take care of one another.  

When we surround ourselves with God's Word, we are able to stand up to attacks on the faith.  The "Tell the Good News about Jesus" convocation surrounded disciples of Christ with His Word.  Saturday morning, we celebrated together in His Gospel by participating in Matins.  Through singing led by organ and wind and string instrument there were disciples of all ages hearing His Word and growing in faith.  It was a quite enjoyable experience.  It was a wonderful experience to have so many children present at the convocation as well.  It was truly a celebration of the priesthood of all believers.

This is a great example of LHM's description of "People of Christ, with the message of Hope."  Who are the people of Christ?  They are disciples of all ages.  They are people who don't live primarily by philosophies or wisdoms.  The people of Christ live by faith, a faith originated in God's holy scriptures and guided by the Holy Spirit.  In those scriptures we find the greatest hope we could ever hear.  We hear about a Savior who gave his life on a cross for you.  Not a popular concept, but true and a message of hope, none the less.  At the convocation we were reminded of this by the speakers, which LHM, LMCS, and the Wyoming District must always remember.  Telling people about Christ's message of Hope isn't an easy task, it can be a far cry from our enjoyable worship experiences when we are in the presence of Christ, but it is what we are called to do and why we exist as a collection of saints called "the Church." We are the people of Christ, so stand proudly and share the message of hope that comes through Christ alone.