epistle – “a letter”
The word is also used to reference a number of books in the New Testament which are letters written by the Apostle Paul to the scattered churches (“the epistle to the Romans”).
ekklesia – a Greek word for “assembly” or “gathering”.
The word is used in the New Testament to describe the “Church”, the communion, or the gathering of the saints in the name of Jesus (for reference think “ecclesiastical”).
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul started and served many churches over a vast geographic territory. These little gatherings, that often met in homes, were called “ekklesias”, a Greek word for an “assembly” or a “congregation”. When Paul was away from these churches, he wrote them letters (“epistles”) to encourage them, comfort them or even rebuke them.
As I begin my new Call as a deployed Missionary at Large to the Tri-County Metro Detroit Area, I thought, from time to time, I’d write some letters to the “ekklesias” that I serve. By no means are these inspired by God or inerrant. I claim no apostleship. I’m simply … “Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus, a missionary called and sent by the ekklesia that meets every Lord’s day at East Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Detroit, MI.”
A Letter to the Church: Remember that You are Called Out, Gathered and Going in the Name of Jesus.
Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus, a missionary called and sent by the ekklesia that meets every Lord’s Day at East Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Detroit.
To the saints scattered throughout the Tri-County Metro Detroit area, partners in the Gospel and fellow laborers in the Lord’s harvest field.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember how the Lord Jesus has called each of you out of the darkness. You no longer belong to the Devil and his works and ways. In your Baptism, the Devil has been cast out. You belong to Christ! He and all of his gifts are yours. Renounce the Evil Foe every moment of every day. Drown the Old Man in repentance. Rise again with Jesus. You have been born again, born from above, and as children of the heavenly Father, with Jesus as your Brother, the Holy Spirit now gives you new desires and many good deeds to do in the Kingdom.
The Lord Jesus has not only called you out of the darkness, He has brought you into His church, the ekklesia, those gathered around His Word and Sacraments. Through these, the Spirit offers to you all of the works of Jesus. Daily and richly you receive the forgiveness of sins. In this ekklesia, repent quickly. Believe quickly.
Because, when you have the forgiveness of sins in Jesus …
you have everything.
Do not neglect this gathering. Remember the Lord’s promise that whenever two or more are gathered in His name, there He is among us. And where He promises to be, we should gather.
Also remember, where He goes, we follow.
And the Lord does go.
He goes ahead of us into the world. He gives each of us vocations, callings that serve the neighbor with the Gospel and with the good deeds of our hands. These vocations are simply the combination of two things: our station(s) in life and our location.
The Lord’s work for us is as direct as this: man your post, know your station in life and live it out wherever He has geographically placed you.
Don’t fret or worry about the results of your labor. The Lord knows how and when and where to get us for His Kingdom work. And He doesn’t leave us alone. He goes and works with us. After all, it is more of a co-mission than it is a mission. Isn’t that what the Lord said to his disciples, and now says to us?
“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go and make disciples of all nations (translate it this way … “in your going make disciples”).
Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely, I will be with you always to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
We are called out. We gather. And we go.
The world waits. It is dying and dark. It sits in sin and it needs to hear the Gospel. But beware, the Devil also waits and he does not give up the territory without a fight. True, he is a Strong Man but the Lord Jesus is the Stronger Man. The One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
Enter the fray well armed with the armor of God and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6). Pray the prayer the Lord taught us. It begins with faith (“Our Father”) and it ends with faith (“Amen.”) But, in the “Thy” and “Us” petitions, this prayer takes the fight to the Evil One.
While we live and breathe, we fight. Remember though, our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6).
Fight the Devil but love the neighbor.
I commend all of you into the Lord’s hands. May the holy angel watch over you that the wicked Foe may have no power over you. In the end, the Kingdom of Jesus always wins! Amen.
To help each of us pray the Lord’s prayer, I’ve prepared an extended guide for focused intercession. It follows the pattern of Scripture along with Martin Luther’s Large and Small Catechisms. You can access it by clicking the button below.
All of the gifts that only the Triune God can give to all of us. As Martin Luther reminds each of us in his Large Catechism,
“The Devil may be the master of a thousand arts but the Triune God and His Word are Master of 100,000 more!
Paul