Spotlight 9/2021: Christ will help His church
Ultimately it is His church, District Apostle Rainer Storck of Germany says. Therefore, the Son of God will look after the future of His church. What a comforting thought!
People have always wanted to know what the future holds. If possible, we want to know what is going to happen next so that we can prepare for it. Scientists are investigating the future in the context of technological development, the social environment, and the economy. Often, the results are inaccurate and rarely verify themselves.
There are, however, basic truths for us Christians that are based on the gospel. One of these is Jesus’ statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14: 6).
Similarly, He said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14: 3). The Lord Jesus will fulfill this promise. Nothing can stop or prevent His return. Christ is our future!
“Christ, our future”: this thought is important in the here and now already. For example, we ask ourselves: what will our congregations look like in the future, what about the gospel values, and the possibility of professing these? One clearly senses that there are many regions in the world where the gospel values hardly play a role. We also make the observation that in many regions the congregations are becoming smaller and can hardly support themselves.
We can counter this by saying: Christ is our future for our congregations and for our church. If we take what Jesus gives us in His being an example in terms of Christian love and live this in our congregations and do not put our own self first but are prepared to serve and help, Christ will also be our future here on earth. For this is His church!
Photo: Jessica Krämer