The theme of grace permeates Paul’s writings. Paul experienced God’s empowering grace for ministry.  Paul did not feel worthy of the great honor bestowed upon him.  Preaching the Gospel was a wonderful gift, a grace in that it was unmerited favor from God. Paul felt overwhelmed by the pouring out of God’s grace on one who violently persecuted the Church of the Lord.  Paul said grace was given to him; he did not and could not obtain it   on his own.

One  who seeks to tell the  story of Jesus is one will be  one who never forgets his lost condition outside of Christ. We will live as Paul did with a profound sense of humble gratitude to God.  Paul sought to draw attention to the  power of God and God’s willingness to  use  someone like him to preach the gospel to others.  It was  to him an unfathomable gift.

We realize that we  need God’s grace  to  empower us. Paul ties  grace and power together in verse 7. The  might power of God (Eph. 1;19-20) provides sufficient  strength  for  weak, fragile, ordinary people as  they  make the  glories of Christ known.

-Larry Miles, August 17, 2015

Camp Cilca, IL

A song that we learn early in life goes like this, “I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.”  If we are seeking to be a missionary of Christ wherever he has called us, this is the main theme that we will be sharing with the lost.  Telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love will include everything that is needed for one to come to a saving relationship with Jesus.

We have the message of Christ which is the most beautiful message of all. We must, as the early church did, preach the right message. In does not act 4:12 we read these words of the Apostle Peter, “Nor is there salvation in any other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Sharing the saving message of Jesus and obeying it will lead to salvation.  Salvation is by the grace of God, but we must appropriate that grace with obedience.  When one does that he or she will be baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  It is only after we are baptized that we have the promise of the forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit.

Missionaries of the Risen Lord need to have a firm grasp on the gospel and of the great doctrines of the   faith. Our goal is to preach Christ and He crucified. Our goal is to proclaim the   centrality of Christ.

We are thankful for those who have preserved and passed on the gospel to future generations (2 Tim. 2:2). We must always be sharing the simple gospel to a lost world and seeking to strengthen the saved.  Let’s always strive to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus!” (2 Peter 3:18)

-Larry Miles, August 16, 2015

Camp Cilca, IL