THOSE WHO TREASURE THE GOSPEL will make great sacrifices of their God given resources of time, talents, and treasures to empower their spiritual warfare and extend God’s Kingdom on earth.

 

I don’t need to tell some of you about the sacrifices that are made during war.  Some of you remember the gas rationing... the shortage of foods... the long hours at armament factories... the yard turned into gardens... the hart felt goodbyes during World War II.

 

Some of you remember the battlefields... some of you remember the honored dead who gave their lives on battlefields during the Second World War, in Korea, Vietnam and more recently in the Mideast.

 

We may not much like it, but the plain fact is that when we open the treasure chest of the Gospel, we find tailored for us, along with the certificate of forgiveness, the robe of righteousness and the crown of eternal life... we find also the suit of armor.

 

TO BE BORN ANEW is not a birth out of battle, but into the heart of it.  The narrow way to eternal life takes us not only through flowered meadows, but also travels the dark, dangerous, deadly way of the battlefield... of Golgotha and Calvary.

 

My friends, I thank God for some of the most awesome soldiers for the Kingdom that I have come to know right here in the Immanuel family.

 

The sacrifices that I have witnessed in a good number of you is outstanding and

deserving of a medal of honor.

 

It’s sad to say, there are others in our parish as in all congregations, who are along for the ride.  They drift along, worshiping when they will and giving as they might, but they will not put on the armor– they delight only in the robe and the crown.

 

Yes, these people may be saved, but they are also in danger.  Certainly, they are not much help in bringing others out of harms way.

 

THE TREASURES AND THE TRIALS are all part of the Christian life.  But here is a mystery and message of encouragement for the mighty Christian soldiers in our parish family–those who have seen trials because of their Gospel living.

 

If C.S. Lewis is correct (and I think the Bible supports his view), than even what felt like trials in this world, will become precious gems within the kingdom of heaven.

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