When we confess our faith using the Apostle’s Creed we confess the identity and work of God. In the third article we say what we believe about the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Holy Trinity saying: “We believe in the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints…” These confessions mean that we believe that God has not only made us his own, but that God has made us each other’s.
In the Small Catechism Martin Luther explains the third article of the creed this way: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.” We believe that God, of his own will and for our blessing calls each of us to him, and then calls all of us together. That means that we are God’s gift to each other. Our fellowship is not happenstance, it is God’s work and God’s will. Do you treat all of the people in your life as part of God’s plan for you? Do you see them all as God’s gift to you? This is what we confess as God’s people.
We are seeing some new faces crop up lately at Trinity. Rae Harris our new Communication Coordinator is a gift of God to help us get and stay connected with each other and our community here in Ashland! Rev. Georg Warneke will be arriving very soon from Germany to share the Gospel with us, to work alongside us and help us to grow and understand how we fit into the bigger picture of Christ’s Church on Earth. He is a gift from God for us! We are preparing to welcome a number of new members to our congregation, and look at all of the baptisms lately. These people are God’s gifts! Let us be sure to welcome and treat each other always according to our faith in Christ. It is after all the Holy Spirit who has brought us together.
It isn’t just the new faces that are God’s gift. You are a gift from God. Your presence, your help, your love, your humor, your kindness, even your struggles are a part of what God desires to be shared for the mutual blessing of all of us here at Trinity. I, for one, am thankful for you. You are God’s gift to me, and I want you to know how important it is for me to live as a blessing to you. Let’s celebrate this Easter season by rejoicing in the gifts God has given us and sharing our lives with each other.
In Christ,
