The New Obedience
The LCCP Celebrates the Resurrection!
God is doing His miracles through His powerful work of the Gospel and Sacraments through The Lutheran Confessional Church of Pakistan. Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Over 800 adults (not counting children) follow the cross of Christ in procession with Pastor Dass to praise our Lord for His eternal victory! Glory to God!
A Prayer on Good Friday
This is a prayer for comfort in adversity and true peace of conscience that is recorded in Johann Gerhard’s Mediations on Divine Mercy. A beautiful prayer for the Good Friday. Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” Rest in Jesus’ peace knowing that your sins are forgiven!
O kindest Father, God of all hope and comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), grant to me life- giving comfort and true peace of conscience in all difficulties of life. My heart is full of anxieties, but Your comforts are able to delight my soul (Psalm 94:19). All the comfort of the world is empty and futile. In You along is strength and support for my soul. All sorts of misfortunes weigh heavy upon me, but Your encouragement and comfort lighten the burden. Nothing in all creation can bring me down and sadden me two much that You cannot gladden me by Your Spirit of joy (Psalm 51:12). No adversities can so surround and capture me that my heart cannot be freed by Your grace. The heat of various afflictions harasses me, but the least of Your sweetness brings me cool consolation. The tears stream from my eyes, but Your gracious hand wipes them away (Revelation 7:17). Just as You allowed Stephen, the first martyr, to see Your gracious face even as he was being stone (Acts 7:56), so also You allow me, wretch that I am, the full enjoyment of Your comfort though I am surrounded by misfortune. Just as You sent a consoling angel to Your Son in the most bitter agony of death (Luke 22:43), so also You send me Your sustaining Spirit in my struggle. Without Your strength, I would break under the weight of the cross. Without Your help, I would be destroyed by the attack of numerous adversities. Extinguish in me the love of the world and created things so the misfortunes of the world and the changeableness of created thing will bring me no bitterness. Those who in their hearts cling to the world and created things will never be able to partake of true and undisturbed peace. All earthly thing are subject to the continual variations of change. Those who do not cling with undue love to the thing of this present life will not be tormented by overwhelming anxiety when these things are lost. Please, O God, cast out the love and desire of the world so that as You filled the widow’s jar through the prophet Elijah, the soul forsaken of earthly comfort may be filled with the oil of joy (2 Kings 4:3; Psalm 45:7). All earthly things may be thrown into disorder, changed, and rolled back and forth, but You are the immovable rock and most soaked stone of my soul. Can a beggarly and weak “thing” disturb the peace of the soul that I possess, that is sure and immovable in You (Psalm 73:25)? Can the waves of world, even of its most turbulent seas, overthrow the rock of my heart (Psalm 18:2; 19:14), which I have firm in You, the highest and unchangeable good? Surely Your peace surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). That same peace also will overcome every attack of misfortune. I beg You with humble signs for that inner peace.
Jesus said, “It is finished.” The peace you long for and need is yours through the forgiveness of Jesus He earned for you on the cross. Blessed Good Friday.
Augsburg Confession Article 5
The Office of the Ministry
Augsburg Confession Article V The Office of the Ministry
Augsburg Confession – Article 4
Augsburg Confession – Article 3
Augsburg Confession – Article 1
Augsburg Confession – Article 2
From Bishop Serge Maschewski of Ukraine
Dear friends,
I send some thoughts on Lent from Ukraine.
The Word for the week Estomihi, 2022: Luke 18:31–43
“And taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.’ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
“As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ And he cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me recover my sight.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”
Very soon, on this coming Wednesday, the Church enters into Lent. A time of repentance and prayer, of teaching and self-examination.
Our local ELC entered the Lenten season a little earlier this year. Ukraine is on fire. Trouble has come to our land. On February 24, war broke out. Terrible, horrible, despicable. Automatic rifles shooting, bombing with grenades, bombing with missiles, sirens, curfews—all of this has become our reality.
The dead, the wounded, the tens of thousands of refugees—a terrible reality.
And now, we hear the Lord’s words to His disciples with special clarity and in a whole new way: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.”
The Lord knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew He would be betrayed to the Gentiles, that He would be mocked, He would be insulted, humiliated, spat upon, crowned with thorns on His forehead, and killed. He knew about the Cross of Calvary. Jesus’ heart was filled with fear. But He still goes to Jerusalem. Going to offer Himself as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world. Going to bring peace to men.
Now we, in the Holy Spirit, follow with Jesus the way of His suffering and death. The apostles could not imagine what the words meant: “betrayed, abused, insulted, spat upon, beaten and killed” …
Why does this have to happen? What does it mean? Isn’t there a way to avoid it? Why is God willing to suffer such a fiasco?
The disciples did not understand. Their hopes for the future were crumbling. Fear settled in their hearts, just as our hearts are now.
A war has broken out … And we do not understand God’s ways. Why? Why? How did God allow this to happen? We go through fear, panic, frustration. Why did this happen to us? Why? Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson … Why?
It took the apostles some time to grasp the meaning of what Jesus had said and done.
The Spirit of God had to illumine their minds and hearts. And then they began to preach: This was the only possible way for us to be saved.
At some time, it will also become clear to us why God leads us in such a strange way, and we will testify: “God’s way is for good.”
We have no illusions … Our Church has experienced persecution and pursuit from the state before. We know and remember how, on the orders of the German Embassy, the Ukrainian government services destroyed our congregations. We know the hypocrisy, deceitfulness, and meanness of our state officials … But we clearly distinguish the current government from our people, our country. And now the aggression is committed not against the authorities of Ukraine, but against her people. And we, the Church, with our children, with our brothers and sisters, are on guard and ready to defend our homeland to the last drop of blood.
Are we afraid? Yes.
Do we retreat? No!
And we believe that God keeps and protects us.
And it is no coincidence that in our Gospel passage we encounter two such different stories: Christ’s prediction of His suffering and death and the healing of a sick man! The blind man teaches us to see. He hears Jesus of Nazareth passing by. And cries out, shouts even: “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
The disciples silence him; but he cries even louder: “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Christ is at the center of his life: “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!”The Lord asks: “What do you want from me?” He said: “Lord, that I may see.”
Jesus said to him, “See! YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU!”
And he immediately received his sight and followed him, praising God. This is how the blind, sick man meets the God who has mercy and heals. A God who does not pass by but hears the cry for help.
God, Who, in suffering Himself, hastens to show mercy to those who cry out to HIM. Our crucified Lord is no stranger to our pain, our need, our despair, our fear, our weakness.
Our crucified God overcame death and overcame hopelessness. He did all this for us. He walked this road to become the One who can save, the One who can help. In any situation, at any time.
He gives us a blessing and a future. He rewards us with a full life. And we believe that the Lord will help us in our struggle, the Lord will not leave us, but will overcome everything with us. Therefore, fear goes away, and we look boldly into the present and with hope into the future.
And blindness goes away … The ELCU (Evangelical Lutheran Church Ukraine) is active in volunteer and diaconal work, in the defense of our cities, and in the spiritual care of those in need.
We meet God in the Sacrament. And in it, Christ heals us.
We meet God in the prayer of our brothers and sisters. In the help and care of our Church.
I want to give special thanks to the faithful of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, and personally to President Rev. Dr. Mathew Harrison and Pastor James Krikawa (works at the IC – LCMS, International Center in St. Louis). God bless you!
We, by the power of God, will overcome all things, and the Lord will grant us victory!
Isaiah 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Thank you all for your help and prayers!
In Christo, Serge
The Confessional Lutheran Church of Pakistan!
Here is an update from Pastor Jawed Dass who leads the newly formed Lutheran Confessional Church of Paskistan.
We praise God for this new year and for the new opportunities that we are being given by our Lord Jesus Christ! We are teaching about infant baptism, serving the Sacrament, and we are learning liturgy. We are exceedingly glad to share that we are already running short on space in our church as the local community is coming in large numbers to hear the Good News! All Glory to God! We pray that God will provide a larger space for us to gather and worship. We understand that His timing is the perfect timing.
Two more churches are in progress while I work with my newly ordained Deacon Samson Sohail. He has done his MDiv from a well-organized and internationally-recognized Baptist seminary. We all know that he has to continue to go through extensive Lutheran Theological training and teaching. He has been attending Pastor Droegemueller’s Catechism classes since 2020, and we hold three different classes here as well. We have two classes for Catechism instruction for adults and children. We also have regular Bible Study. Deacon Samson is participating in all of these opportunities. He is so eager to learn Lutheran Liturgy. Liturgy training is in its initial stages with our brother, Dave Koch, who is leading a music class via Zoom, which is entitled “Mondays for Musicians”. We are all learning to sing liturgy, and Dave Koch is learning Urdu to start writing music in Urdu for our non-English services. We are holding two worship services now; one service is in Urdu and the other is in English.
Two of our seminary students, Botham and Mushtaq, have begun Catechism classes in their own homes in Karachi. Ansar is still organizing a Catechism class in Islamabad. All of our seminary students are working diligently to grow in their understanding of Lutheran doctrine and preparing themselves for the mission field.
As a newly ordained pastor, I recognize the need for my own continued learning. I meet every Tuesday morning with Pastor Tim Droegemueller and Pastor Keith Lingsch. During our time together, they guide me, teach me, encourage me and strengthen my faith to serve in this new Mission Field. For this, I am very thankful. We also look for theological training and help from Dr. Art Just and Dr. John Bombaro. Many pastors attend a Thursday meeting, and we would like to offer them teaching through video taped messages on main theological issues such as Distinction between Law & Gospel, Sacraments and Theology of Cross.
We have an LCCP-Mission Board in Cumming, Georgia which includes members from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas. I meet with them on a regular basis for administrative support. They have recently set up an LCCP website which you can find at www.lccpmission.org.
“We are Growing!” Praise be to God! We would like to invite you to come visit us and experience the Holy Spirit at work. We would love to invite all of you to participate in training our team as well! Our weather is good in March, and the harvest is ripe. We are preparing some adults for baptisms and confirmation. What a joy it would be for you to participate in this service as brothers in the larger Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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People reached
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Engagements
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Distribution score
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