Newsletter – June 2009

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

      Life is filled with many patterns.  Some patterns are pleasing to the eyes because of their shapes and colors.  Other patterns may give you a headache if you look at them too long.  Think for a moment about the patterns that bring you pleasure and the patterns that are not so pleasing.

      St. Paul reminds us of patterns, too.  These patterns may be pleasing or not so pleasing to someone far more important than you or me.  The unpleasant pattern about which Paul speaks is the pattern of this world.  It is not paisley, or plaid, or stripes or flowers.  No, the pattern of this world is confused mixture of any and every sinful thought, word or action that can be devised by the heart and mind of man or thought up in the sin-twisted mind of Satan to tempt us.  The pattern of this world is to serve your self and to sacrifice everyone else so that you may do and have what you want. 

      However, as Paul reminds us, the pattern which God desires begins with His mercy and conforms to His will and desire for us.  This pattern of God includes Baptism, worship, transformation of thought and action, and discerning the will of God for His people.  Such a pattern is further described by Paul later on in this same chapter as being a body, or rather the Body of Christ.  Made up of different parts, this body acts as a unit having one will, one goal, one desire – to please the God who created it by grace.

      We see this same pattern of God displayed for us in the members of Our Saviour congregation.  God has transformed our hearts and minds by His Gospel so that we no longer follow the pattern of this world.  Instead of serving self, we are moved to consider the needs of the Body of Christ first.  We are moved to address those needs as one, seeking not our own will but the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.

      As a congregation, we have begun a process of self-study.  Self-study means that one looks at oneself and determines strengths, weaknesses, and goals.  We are going to look at the pattern we have adopted as a congregation and see whether it conforms to the pattern which God has given us.  Are we acting as a body of Christ?  Or are we acting according to the pattern of this world which says go your own way?

      This will be a good and perhaps even somewhat painful process.  We will rejoice in our strengths and hold fast to those strengths which conform to God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.  Yet, we will have to confess our weaknesses and see wherein they do not conform to the pattern of God good, pleasing and perfect will.  By God’s grace, we will turn those weaknesses into strengths.  We will leave behind the pattern of this world for the better pattern of God’s mercy.

      Through this self-study, our eyes will be directed to the pattern of God which shows us His will.  It is in the shape of the cross and an empty tomb where Jesus sacrificed himself to overcome the pattern of sin and death.  Through our baptism, we lay hold of that divine pattern with the hand of faith.  The Lord strengthen our grip and conform our minds to live His good, pleasing and perfect will.  

In Christ,

Pastor Schneider