THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
Vol. 1, Issue 4 (December 2012)
EDITORIAL
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your
land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall
treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the
native among you, and you shall love him as
yourself, for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus
19:33-34 ESV). This was a lesson Israel had to
learn the hard way in Jesus' day. They
regarded their neighbors as those who were
fellow Jews and came from their immediate neck
of the woods. But to show them their error,
Jesus spoke to them the parable of the good
Samaritan. Our neighbor is anyone who comes
within our sphere of influence, and we are
obligated to love them as ourselves. Today's
newsletter features some ideas on how to love
the stranger as ourselves.
PASTOR'S LETTER
Greetings, Calvary Church!
I remember a dear saint of this church
before going home to the Lord having a great,
and even comical, moment one Sunday. We had a
visiting family walk in and sit down. This
dear saint was so excited to see visitors, he
called over to another dear saint. And in the
quiet of the pre-service atmosphere, our dear
old saint said to his brother: “Look!
Strangers!” And since both men were hard of
hearing, he said it loud enough for all to
hear!
I think this dear saint intended to say
“visitors, not “strangers.” But his word
choice was not inappropriate. In our culture
today the word “stranger” tends to have a
negative connotation, being associated with
shady characters about whom we warn our
children. But in Bible times the word did not
have that sense. In fact, it meant
“visitor,” as in the above passage from
Leviticus. The instruction is to the people of
Israel on how they are to treat visitors who
come into their sphere of dwelling. They are
to love the visitor as their own selves.
And you can imagine what kinds of people
would come blowing threw town! Pagans and
unbelievers of all sorts were the order of the
day. Think of it! Dirty, camel-riding, desert
wandering people who worshipped false gods
walking into your town, and you have to love
them and show them hospitality!? Yikes! You
can imagine their initial reaction! Yuk! They
are unclean! They are pagans and unbelievers,
and dirty to boot! Forget it! But if the
visitor was a priest, maybe, who was clean and
had his act together, then you can imagine such
a visitor would be warmly welcomed. Well, that
was certainly the mentality of the Pharisees
and the common Israelite of Jesus' day.
I think that there is a powerful lesson
in all this for the church of Christ today.
Often the types of people we hope will walk
through the door are not the ones we would hope
for. In a very real way, they may be
strangers, with the emphasis on “strange!”
And we may be tempted to receive them with less
love than others. Or, perhaps, to just ignore
them altogether.
Let's face it. What we would love is if
God sent us nice Reformed families with their
act together. People who know how to dress,
complete with a mother and father. Most ideal
are folks who know the lingo, and how to parent
their kids in the pew. We don't want
“strangers,” we want nice, have-it-alltogether Christians. Wouldn't it be nice if
God sent us a bunch of people who have all
their ducks nicely lined up in a row!? Not
“strangers,” but people like us!
But God doesn't always send us people
like us. He often sends us strangers. Yes,
and sometimes, strange people. We do not live
in a Reformed, Christian world. We live in the
real world. And the real world is broken in
sin. Which should lead us to ask: should we be
looking for the family that has it all
together, or should we be looking for and
expecting those who are “the least of these?”
What is our response when a broken person, or
broken family, walks into the church? What
happens when someone shows up who is obviously
clueless? Maybe he's got long hair, or she has
a short skirt, or the guy has tattoos and
earrings? Do we look at them as objects to be
scorned, or potential people to whom we may
minister? We would do well to remember that we
too were once strangers in the Egypt of our own
sin.
As a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have a mission. It is contained in Matthew 28.
We are to make disciples of the nations. Now,
we need to understand the shock value of that
commission to Jewish ears when Jesus declared
it to his disciples. The nations! The
Gentiles! Ewww! Unclean! Strangers! Jesus
calls us to preach the Gospel to all of
creation, without distinction or
discrimination. That's our mission. And as
such, no one who walks through our doors should
be turned away. No one who comes into our
lives should leave them without hearing about
the wonderful grace of Jesus.
No rocket science is needed to fulfill
this mission (though we do need great grace!).
When a stranger walks through the door, we
should seek their needs and minister to them.
Love them as you love yourself. Think of how
you would want to be received in a new church
if you were a visitor. How can you meet their
needs? How can you welcome them? Will you
invite them to sign the visitor's book? Offer
them assistance if they need it. Sit with them
at a fellowship meal. Engage them in
conversation learning more about them. Where
do they live? How did they hear about our
church? What do they do for work? Simple
stuff. Welcoming the stranger is the work of
the whole church.
Are you ready? Ready to welcome in the
stranger? Are you ready to be used of Christ
to carry out his mission through us? Will we
honor him with Gospel love and ministry to all
who come into our lives? I trust Calvary
Church is up to the challenge!
IN SESSION
The session would like to report that the adult
Sunday School class will be meditating upon the
subject of Christian joy for the next quarter.
Actually, we should reflect upon the reasons
for joy on a moment by moment basis. However
we thought we should delve into God's Word to
see what it had to tell us about joy. It might
be good to remind ourselves that our goal for
the adult SS class is cover a range of sound
and helpful topics. Please feel free to share
with the session if you think there is a topic
that should be covered in the adult SS class.
IN TRUST
It is hard to believe 2012 is gone! We are all
a little closer to seeing Him face to face.
AMEN! Again, the Trustees thank you all for
your cheerful giving and as usual unexpected
events have taken place. We have lost shingles
on the church building, and the manse, causing
ceiling damage in the interior. The furnace
needed to be repaired as it was spewing black
thick smoke. The dishwasher needed repair. The
pulpit microphone needed rewiring. The good
news is all is under control and provided for.
The dish washer must be run at least once a
week to keep it in tip top shape. All these
items have altered our budget somewhat, but the
Lord will provide. Please pray for your
Trustees as we plan our budget for 2013.We are
of course about the Gospel of Christ and the
above earthly items are for the support of the
Gospel. Also we thank you for the special
offering for the dishes which have been
purchased. - Jerry Sisto, President
ADULT CATECHISM MEMORY
This quarter, try to memorizes this questions
and answers:
Q. 11. What are God's works of providence?
A. God's works of providence are his most holy,
wise and powerful preserving and governing all
his creatures, and all their actions.
Q. 12. What special act of providence did God
exercise toward man in the estate wherein he
was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a
covenant of life with him, upon condition of
perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon
the pain of death.
Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the
estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom
of their own will, fell from the estate wherein
they were created, by sinning against God.
Q. 14. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or
transgression of, the law of God.
Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first
parents fell from the estate wherein they were
created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from
the estate wherein they were created was their
eating the forbidden fruit.
Q. 16. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground,
and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
Q. 18. What did God give Adam and Eve besides
bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
Q. 19. Have you a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
Q. 20. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Please note that The Armor of Light will be
published four times a year in March, June,
September, and December. If you would like to
place an ad in the newsletter, please forward
your ad for approval to the pastor by way of email by the end of the first week of those
months. Thank you!
CHILDREN'S CATECHISM MEMORY
YOUR QUARTERLY QUOTES
Parents, challenge your children to memorize
the following questions and answers this
quarter:
Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey
God?
A. In the Bible alone.
Q. 15. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.
"Religion cannot be made joyful simply by looking on the bright side of
God. For a one-sided God is not a real God, and it is the real God alone
who can satisfy the longing of our soul." ~ J. Gresham Machen
“Seeing, therefore, that Christ, the beloved Son, being in so great favor
with God in all things that he does is yours, without doubt, you are in the
same favor and love of God that Christ himself is in.” Martin Luther