Encouraging Others in Faith

Dear Weekly Readers!

I am now on a long road trip (almost 6 weeks) with my wife.  We are visiting churches in the USA for the purposes of preaching Jesus Christ, and informing Christians of our work in other countries around the world.   It is our prayer, that by informing the Christians, they will be willing to join in support of the mission.

Please be in prayer for safe travels, and obedience to serve the Lord to His Glory!

During the time I will be traveling, the Weekly Diner will come every two weeks, rather than every week.  Please understand, and I am thankful for your prayers!

May God Bless you and yours!  John R.

Please enjoy the below article by Pastor Orval.

If you knew you had only a short time to live, what would you tell your children, your loved ones? You would share those matters of utmost importance concerning life, namely spiritual life.

In our text of meditation, Apostle Paul, who shortly will be martyred for his faith, is writing from prison (possibly the last letter that he ever wrote) to Timothy, a young man who was converted through Paul's ministry. He is concerned about the Gospel being handed off to Timothy intact so that it may continue to bring salvation through Christ to multitudes. Let us read the first 7 verses of 2 Timothy

:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in

my prayers night and day;

Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Paul, vested with the authority of Christ as one who was sent by Christ, pours out his heart to his dearly beloved son, reminding him first of all that God through Christ has been and is yet gracious, merciful and peaceful toward Timothy. Paul then shares with his son his prayers for him, his longings for him, and his joy in him.

Then before Paul shared of his main concern for the writing of the letter, the source, foundation, guarding, teaching and preaching of the Gospel, he focused on four things

that were instrumental in the bringing of Timothy to where he was now in his Christian faith.

The first was his upbringing. Biographies never begin with the individual themselves, but with parents and grandparents for they bring/have brought/will bring to bear the greatest influence on our lives. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,  which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

The second influence on Timothy was his spiritual friendship. After our parents, it is our friends who influence us most. Through Paul's ministry, Timothy had been led to Christ, and Paul did not desert, forget, or abandon him. Paul constantly remembered him. Three times in our text we see the bond of friendship between Paul and Timothy.

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

The third influence in Timothy's life was a special gift of grace. Even though the gift that Timothy received most likely was a call into the ministry, nevertheless, in general we all have been uniquely gifted by Christ according to His grace and for His purposes, so that glory would be brought to Him and salvation to lost souls. We may not have as of yet fully realized our special calling of the Lord, but in time we will. We are members of His Body, therefore that which He has given us has been and will continue to be used to strengthen, protect, nourish and enhance His Body, the Church.

All gifts and talents that are given to us are for the purpose of bringing glory to God by being used directly or indirectly to gather people to a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

The fourth influence on Timothy was personal discipline. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up (rekindle, stir into flame) the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power (word for dynamite), and of love, and of a sound mind (sound judgment, self-control).

We are called to rekindle, reignite, the gift that is within us/in others so that we/they may

not only live in the benefits of the Gospel, but so that we/they may also teach and preach

the Gospel. We that are in a place of influence need to recognize the Timothy's among us,

such as the younger ones in our congregations, and especially the graduates this year.

May we follow the example of Paul so that the Timothy's among us will be loved, appreciated, prayed for, sympathized with, rejoiced over, challenged, equipped and supported.  May we continue in this training, teaching and transition process that already has begun from our/their infancy so that the Gospel will be taught and preached in the grace and in the truth of Jesus Christ until the end.  May we ask today: Who do we know that we could take "under our wing" in order to bring them encouragement and direction for their life today and tomorrow?

May God bless you. ~

Encouraging Others in Faith

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

Kingston, Minnesota

Dear Weekly Readers!

God’s Peace!   Our article this week reminds us of some very important things.  Please read and share with your friends, congregations, and children! 

May God Bless your Week!  John R.

Christianity Begins at Home

Pastor Wayne Juntunen

Esko, Minnesota

Many times in the Bible we can read how important is the home in the eyes of God. God begins with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:26-3:24) from whom have come all nations, kindred, peoples and tongues. But as they yielded to Satan's lie, the effects of that "fall" infected all of creation and home life became a battle ground. And from there the infection of sin has spread to all peoples. God, the All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and Everywhere-Present Lord of all, provides the blood sacrifice Himself in and through Jesus Christ to reclaim and restore all that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, God in the flesh, is born of a woman.

A new home begins through Mary and a substitute father, Joseph; God, the Father, being the true

Father. Even though Joseph was not the true father of Jesus, it was necessary that he be a godly man. The beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew records a long history of Joseph's godly heritage (Matthew 1:1-16).

Mary, too, came from a godly heritage being a relative of Elisabeth (Luke 1:36), the wife of Zacharias, a priest, whose genealogy would go all the way back to Levi from whom the entire Old Testament priesthood started. While it was important that the home was a godly one into which Jesus was to be born and in which he would be raised to manhood, the timing of Mary's conception was also important.

Engagement in Bible times was as binding as the marriage itself. It was important that Joseph and Mary were engaged before the angel brought the message from God that she was to conceive a son through the power of the Holy Spirit. Had it occurred before Joseph and Mary were engaged, Joseph could simply separate from her and have no further connections. He would be breaking no law but Mary, quite likely, would have been stoned to death—the punishment for adultery (Deuteronomy 22:23-24).

At best she would have been left to raise Jesus outside of marriage. God waited until they were engaged to guarantee the marriage, although an angelic message to Joseph was necessary in order for him to understand the reason for Mary's pregnancy. Mary was not to raise Jesus as a single parent. Beginning with Adam and Eve, the blueprint for marriage is one man with one woman for life. Children need both a mother and a father for proper nurturing. As Jesus began the work of saving creation and mankind from sin, death, hell and the devil, the first miracle He performed was at a wedding (John 2:1-11). Why? Because only a home where Jesus Christ is present can mankind's history and civilization itself survive and flourish. In every home where Christ is not enthroned as Lord, there the fruit of our fallen nature will reign. Since the original home from which God was to build humankind had departed from the Word of the Lord, Jesus, the Word made flesh, began in a home at a wedding to reveal both His human and divine nature that was needful not only for life after death, but life before death.

For, as the Apostle Paul said in his sermon to the gathered crowd on Mars Hill in Athens, "In Christ we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28)."  While Christ, through His life, suffering, death and resurrection, has finished the work necessary to save man-kind from his destructive course, each of us is still responsible to be the "doers of that Word (James1:22).

And the Bible is full of instructions as to how marriage and family life is to be carried out in the home. Each of us has a responsibility to live in harmony with God's Word as parents, children, brothers and sisters within a household. It has been said, "The light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home." May the light of God's Word, the two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), penetrate into our hearts. And as it reveals our thoughts and intentions, may each of us yield to its truth.

The only way Christianity can spread is from heart to heart, from house to house because the church, as a body of believers, is only as strong as each household within it. Then out of each heart and out of each home, Christianity can then spread to the neighborhood, the community, the nation, and the world. ~ 

We Just Have Today

Dear Weekly Readers,  

I pray that all is well with each of you today!  The below is a good reminder for all of us!  Sometimes we can miss the point and while we think we are doing the right thing, we miss what is right in front of us.  May God help each of us, and give us wisdom and fill us with His Love, so we would do what He would have us to do!

May God Bless your week!  John R.

WE JUST HAVE TODAY

by Mother Teresa

I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us, what matters is the individual To get to love the person, we must come in close contact with Him. lf we wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in numbers, and we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person. I believe in person to person.

Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, there is only one person in the world for me at that moment. We talk about the poor but very little to the poor. There is so much talk about the hunger and ail that, that we'll have food after ten years, so much food--in the meantime, somebody's dying for a piece of bread and we don't even look at that person.

When they were having a very, very big conference in Bombay and they were calculating in fifteen years' time, how much food they'll have and right in front of the house, there was a man about iwenty-five, twenty-six years old actually dying of hunger. so I took him, put him in the car with me, By the time I reached our house, he died and he died purely of hunger.

This opened my eyes-they are calculating for tomorrow and the meantime, today, many people are dying for a piece of bread. I have never experienced saying to the people, I don't have, I can't give you. There's never been a time when we didn't have one more plate of rice, one more bed, or more dose of medicine.

We are for today; when tomorrow will come we shall see what we can do. Somebody is thirsty for water today, hungry for food today. Tomorrow we will not have them if we don't feed them today. So be concerned with what you can do today. The future is so much in the hands of God. I find it much more easy to accept today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow has not come, and I have only today. So very often if I have to be busy with tomorrow, I may neglect my people today.

And so, since we have just that one day, I prefer to put all my love and care and energy to that individual.....because I believe in loving just one person that is with me at the time. And, tomorrow may never come, that's in the hands of God, no?

And that is the wonderful gift of God that he has not given us--that is His great love for us that He has not given us to know the future. We fear the future because we are wasting the today. From Where There is Love, There ls God.

edited by Brian Kolodieichuk, MC.