Rev. John Lomperis is Director of Education and Development for Petros Network

Amidst Lutheranism’s many recent challenges, we must celebrate where faithful Lutherans continue making a great difference for Jesus Christ. 

The world’s largest, reportedly fastest-growing Lutheran denomination is the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY).  Its membership of 12 million is roughly twice as large as all American Lutherans and many more than all Lutherans in the historic strongholds of Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Iceland, and Latvia combined. The EECMY, also known as the Mekane Yesus Church, is in full communion with the North American Lutheran Church, and hosted the 2018 Global Confessional & Missional Lutheran Forum, where leaders of the EECMY, NALC, Lutheran CORE, and other faithful Lutheran bodies developed a declaration of shared orthodox Lutheran faith.

Meanwhile, Petros Network has developed a proven methodology of working with theologically orthodox Protestant denominations in Ethiopia to train and equip their church planters to make disciples and establish denominationally connected, financially self-sustaining congregations, entirely in “unreached” areas.  These are often places where people have never heard the Gospel.  On average, these new churches each plant 2.5 additional “second-generation” new congregations within a few years. 

Petros Network has launched some 200 church planters with the EECMY, one of our strongest early partners.  Together, we are seeing many members of Ethiopia’s large Muslim population come to Christ and become Lutherans.  Some Mekane Yesus church planters are themselves former Muslims.  One of this partnership’s female church planters, Kutebe, lost everything when she left Islam.  But she boldly spread the Gospel in a very difficult location, dominated by Islam and devastated by civil conflict, so that her Lutheran church plant grew from zero to 18 baptized members within just two years! 

The Mekane Yesus Church requires all of its church planters to affirm standard Lutheran doctrine (the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds plus the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, Book of Concord, and Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms). 

Bringing the Gospel into long-unreached areas means working in contexts of extreme poverty, malnutrition, isolation, and civil unrest.  Petros Network’s holistic approach alleviates both spiritual and physical poverty.  Through sustainably productive gardens and livestock projects, church planters are trained to multiply food security and income, training others and transforming entire communities.  For example, one Mekane Yesus church planter has led neighbors to start 16 new community gardens, through which 14 men, 18 women, and 11 children are now being trained in sustainable farming practices.  With the Mekane Yesus Church and other partners, Petros Network has trained over 17,622 individuals in sustainable farming, bringing holistic uplift that ripples through impoverished villages.

Church planters work in close connection with Petros Network’s humanitarian initiatives bringing micro-economic development, sustainable agriculture, health care, clean water, and provision for children in areas of desperate need.  One EECMY church planter helped establish a benevolent association to provide for elderly neighbors who often have no means of support.  One Petros Network women’s economic empowerment program meets in a church of the EECMY’s North-Central Ethiopia Synod.  This program benefits the whole community by equipping and training women to start successful small businesses so that they can sustainably provide for their families.  While there was much distress over the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently pulling back from this impoverished border region, Petros Network has remained there with our Mekane Yesus and other partners. 

The EECMY has further suffered severe financial limitations after its faith-filled decision to break longstanding ties with the national leadership of the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), over these former partners’ unrepentantly liberalized approach to Scriptural authority and marriage. 

Despite many challenges, our Mekane Yesus brothers and sisters remain eager to make the most of what resources are available to continue spreading the love of Jesus and growing confessional Lutheranism among some of the poorest, remotest corners of the planet.  As they pursue their holy mission, they welcome greater connections with North American Lutherans who have remained orthodox. 

Rev. Wagnew Andarge shares that the aforementioned North-Central Synod, of which he is president, “is profoundly grateful for our partnership with Petros Network, which has been instrumental in helping us to advance God’s Kingdom and make disciples among unreached people groups,” but that “a great need remains, especially among those who have not yet heard the Good News, including many Muslims and practitioners of traditional religions.” 

To learn more about the Mekane Yesus Church’s fruitful partnership with Petros Network and how you can get connected, please visit www.petrosnetwork.org/Lutheran

Many thanks to LCMC pastor Daniel Ostercamp for his video review of “The Big Relief” by David Zahl.  A link to Daniel’s video can be found HERE.  A link to our You Tube channel, which contains sixty-two reviews of books and videos on topics of interest and importance, can be found HERE.    

Daniel writes – “The Big Relief” is a helpful reminder that our congregations and our lives need to be centered upon the wondrous grace of Jesus Christ.  This difference sets us apart from the cacophony of so many religions and voices that do not set us free from the desires and schemes of our hearts to justify and prove ourselves.

David Zahl is a licensed lay minister at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, VA.  In 2007, he founded Mockingbird Ministries, an interdenominational parachurch organization that aims to reach out to younger adults who have become alienated from the institutional church.  The endeavor has grown to include a robust website and two annual conferences.

As church people, we may have fewer and fewer opportunities to preserve our heritage.  David Zahl confesses that if he had time to rescue just one thing out of the edifice, “Grace is what I would grab every time.”

Note from our Executive Director: Many thanks to Paul Borg, LCMS pastor and friend of Lutheran CORE, for his report on the recent gathering of the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum (Global Forum) in Nairobi, Kenya.  This is an international gathering of Lutheran church leaders and representatives of Lutheran reform and renewal communities throughout the world.  Many of them are from Western Europe and Africa.  The NALC was very instrumental in the formation of the Global Forum.  On several occasions the Forum met in conjunction with the NALC’s Lutheran Week.  More recently it has met in Africa.  We are very grateful to hear from Paul about how the Spirit of God is moving mightily in the Lutheran Church throughout the world. 

Pause and ponder with me for just a moment. There has never been a time in all of civilization when so many unbelievers are discovering and embracing the Creator of the universe, Jesus. Never. And because of the financial support of CORE, I was gifted with a wonderful five day opportunity in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. I lived with, listened to, and learned from many global Christian leaders. They are being empowered and used by Jesus to reach those who do not yet know Him.

Many of us know the statistics of this unique moment of Christian history: a greater number of people are coming to know Jesus as Lord, than centuries past. Therefore, during this week, we sat together, ate together, became friends with each other and prayed with so many of these leaders whom Jesus is using to reach the unreached.

This particular gathering includes close to 50 Lutheran pastors and leaders from 14 different countries. We, in the global North, asked those from the global South, to teach us and be missionaries to us. There were many fascinating revelations that were, in the end, a call back to the basics: the core of sacred Scriptures, the essential act of reaching the lost, and prayer as a constant, life-sustaining heartbeat.

Here are three examples of their encouragement. They lovingly said to us:

1) Hold on passionately to the power and authority of sacred Scriptures. It is indeed “True Truth,” accurate and true as it describes history, life and faith. This is what the missionaries taught us! The Bible brings us out of darkness and evil, into light and into the presence and joy of Jesus. Maybe we simply need to remind you of what you, in the past, had profoundly taught us: Many of you in the North are diminishing that power of The Scriptures. 

2) Ask Jesus for a passionate zeal to reach the lost. May that zeal not be a part of, but the very heart of every breathing moment of life. This is more than reading books and listening to lectures. And always have a couple of unbelievers as personal friends. Those growing relationships with unbelievers empower not only growth in faith but transformation of all of life, both for the Christian and for the one who may not yet know Jesus.

3) Personally talking with our Creator of the universe, Jesus. Consider prayer as more than quick sentences for appropriate occasions. Instead, consider prayer as breathing. That intimate personal conversation becomes life giving, like a courtship with our Creator. Such intimacy results not only in profound joy but also in profound power. Jesus asks us to do what Jesus did. His miraculous life was empowered by His intimacy and continuous prayer with His Father.

Finally, I thank you for your investment in me and the leaders of God’s church. Your generosity has brought about much encouragement, strategic planning and purposeful connection between the Lutheran leaders, globally. Thanks in part to your support, we are bringing forth the Kingdom of God back into the dry bones of the Church. Amen!

“Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”  Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:31-35).

The family of God is made up of the redeemed sheep in the fold of Christ.  Jesus says it clearly.  We should not listen to the world which is always trying to label us by this identity or that, but by the One through whom all things have their being.  In Him alone do we live, breathe, and have our being.  Come to and through the One who has redeemed you to be one of His, now and forever.

Lord, clear my eyes to see with simplicity the truth that You have revealed.  Yes, I have my earthly family and You have called for me to love them, but my identity is not there.  You have called me to follow You knowing that You are the Creator who has made me and will make me new with an eternal identity.  Help me to love those around me, but to love You and follow where You lead first.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way for as many as believe.  It is You who knows the way from where I have come to the place where I am going.  Help me to live into the identity which You have always intended and created me to have.  Guide me to give thanks for every circumstance and honor where You have placed me while simultaneously honoring You above all things.  Keep me in my identity as a child of God.  Amen.

Luke 20:27-38 

Script:

Pastor: Good morning boys and girls! Welcome! Let’s say good morning to our friend Sammy. Ready? One, two, three: Good morning, Sammy! 

Sammy: Hey Pastor! What is the special theme this week? 

Pastor: What do you mean, Sammy? 

Sammy: Well, two weeks ago we celebrated Reformation Sunday, and last week we celebrated football Sunday– 

Pastor: No, Sammy. We celebrated All-Saints Day. 

Sammy: That’s what I meant. So we had two big weeks in a row at church. What is the big event or theme this week? 

Pastor: Well, this week we are talking about Resurrection. 

Sammy: Happy Resurrection Day, Pastor! 

Pastor: Not quite, Sammy. It’s not really a feast day or a holiday or a celebration. We are having worship together during ordinary time. 

Sammy: Pastor, these times are anything but ordinary. Have you read the newspaper lately? Watched the news? 

Pastor: Let’s get back to our topic for today: Resurrection. Boys and girls, what does “resurrection” mean? 

[Allow time for responses] 

Sammy: These are great answers.  

Pastor: Jesus did rise from the dead. But we also look forward to our resurrection. 

Sammy: What do you mean, Pastor? 

Pastor: One day, Sammy, after we die, we are going to wait for Jesus to come back. When he comes back, the dead will rise and will see his glory. 

Sammy: Is that going to be a scary day? Like a Halloween day? 

Pastor: No, it’s going to be like Easter Sunday. 

Sammy: Oh I love Easter! We get to sing Alleluia songs to God and there’s an egg hunt and Bartholomew the Bunny comes to worship.  

Pastor: That’s the spirit, Sammy. There’s nothing scary about resurrection. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will not die, but will have eternal life.” That’s a gift from God. 

Sammy: Yes it is. 

Pastor: Let’s pray. Boys and girls, will you please fold your hands and bow your heads? Dear Jesus, thank you for resurrection. Thank you for your gift of new life. Thank you for your love. Amen. 

Sammy: Bye, everyone! 

Pastor: Bye, Sammy! 

“Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him.  A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You” (Mark 3:31-32).

We are born in a time and place.  We are born into a family.  There is deep connection with this world.  Some see their identity in family.  Others in position or status.  Others still make up their own idea of what their identity is.  Who are you?  You are a child of the Most High God, created in His image, made with great purpose, born in a fallen world, but offered redemption through God’s only-begotten Son who showed up in time and place.

Lord, the world tells me to choose my identity.  It is telling me all kinds of things.  If my skin is one color, it tells me that my identity is tied to that.  I am told that my identity is tied to my age, financial status, circumstances, or lineage.  I have bought into these lies and sometime espoused them.  Open my eyes to see that You have offered me an eternal identity in You by grace and through faith.

Lord Jesus, You were alone in the world because You spoke and declared that our identity is in the legitimacy of our Heavenly Father.  You looked to Him alone and followed as He directed You.  Help me to see through the fog of this age in order to know that my identity is as a child of the One who created all things including me.  You are the Redeemer and You have cleared the way for my eternal identity.  Help me to live as one whom You have made me to be.  Amen.

“Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” – because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:28-30).

The Holy Spirit must be the One who leads from the inside out.  Whoever will not listen to the Holy Spirit will be doomed to be guided by the rebellious spirits of this age.  Our sins will be forgiven if we walk the path of salvation made possible through Christ.  Do not be led by the spirit of this age, but by The Holy Spirit of the Triune God.  Only through the Holy Spirit’s leading will you find true life.

Lord, never let me deny Your Holy Spirit.  Though I may sin too many times, help me understand that I must be under Your guidance.  Humble me to see the wickedness of this age and instead abide in You knowing that You will abide in me.  I do not need to know the mysteries of the ages, but I do need You to be the One who leads me each day of my life.  You are the Creator of life and apart from You there is no life.  Help me to live in You.

Lord Jesus, the path has been made level and You have come to lead me in the way of everlasting life.  Help me to see the obstacles of this age.  Help me to not fall into the pits and traps of the wicked one.  Lead me not into temptation.  Keep me from ever blaspheming against Your Holy Spirit.  I may not know where that line is, but You do.  Keep me far from that place so that I may humbly learn how to follow You in all of my ways.  Amen.

“But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).

Satan has been bound by the Lord.  He is unable to do anything without permission.  Who is in charge?  The Lord is.  In this age, He has allowed free will for His sake and we see what has come of it.  More important to us is one: the Lord is Lord of all, and two: this world is a mess; and the Lord has come to rescue those who will follow Him and be lifted out of the division and lies of this age.

Lord, I have caused my share of division.  There are things that need to be divided like sin from righteousness, but I cannot discern this.  Only You can discern what is true.  Lead me to be shrewd as a serpent, yet remain innocent in Your goodness.  Guide me in the power of Your Holy Spirit to humbly walk the life of faith which You have set before me.  Teach me so that I may understand with more clarity the reality of this age.

Lord Jesus, You have come to take me from sinfully exercising my free will for my sake, to learn to be obedient to all that You have commanded.  Guide me, Lord Jesus, in the way I need to go and help me this day to be discerning, seeking out where I am able to bring unity to Your bride, the church.  Through all things, be the One who guides me, for I cannot see clearly, but You can.  Lead me in the way of righteousness.  Amen.

“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!” (Mark 3:25-26)

Meditate upon division and how the world uses it to gain control.  The Lord does not seek to gain, for it is all His.  God does not manipulate to control.  Those opposed to God do, and being opposed to God is what the word Satan means.  Yes, it is the devil, but it also the whole rebellion of this age.  This age cannot stand, and it is finished.  The Lord is One and He will make His bride, the church, one.

Lord God, You are the God of unity.  The rebellion of this age is disunity.  Help me to see how division is used to manipulate and how You seek to unite us so that together we may see the harmony in the diversity of Your creation.  You implanted Your image in us and created us to be Yours.  Open our eyes to see the truth of these things so that we may live out life as You created it to be lived.

Lord Jesus, You say it plainly, but I often do not hear.  Satan has been seeking to divide Your house throughout this age of rebellion.  Bless me as a peacemaker that I would seek unity and not disunity through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Keep me from the tricks of the wicked one and lead me in the light of the Gospel to humbly walk in the way that You have set before me.  Amen.

“And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:23-24).

No, this was not Abraham Lincoln who said this first, but Jesus.  This is a simple piece of logic, reasoning, and thinking which tells us a simple truth.  It also tells us that Jesus is fully in control and does not need to use trickery to convince anyone of anything.  He says. “Come to me and I will make of you what the Father has always intended.”  The real miracle is that although the church has been divided, yet it still stands because the real church, of the truly faithful, is one with the Lord.

Lord, You prayed that we would be one even as You and the Father are One.  Help me to live in harmony with those around me.  Help me to confront those who are divisive, for You have stated clearly that division is not from the Father.  Help me learn what it means to be a peacemaker and follow as You lead.  Teach me to hold fast to what is right and true.  Keep me from being divisive.

Lord Jesus, I do not know how to do these things.  You must teach me.  Bring me to the state of being humble, like a child, so that I willingly accept Your teaching.  There is so much I do not know and You, who know all things, are the One who must lead me.  Help me to be one who seeks to unite Your fellowship and keep divisiveness far away.  Lead as You will Jesus, and help me learn how to faithfully follow You.  Amen