The Lord be with you
Pastor Frank Ciampa is the
called ministers at Christ our Savior Lutheran Mission in Camden, SC (KershawLutheran@gmail.com). Like so many of us
pastors, he has a regular newsletter. This is the lead article for their January/February
newsletter, that I thought I’d share with you.
“Serving Our Lord and His Church with Gladness: Those who serve God
miserably or mechanically or reluctantly, are obviously doing something they
find unpleasant. Such people mechanically do what outwardly appears proper, but
inwardly there is no joy, no sense of mission, no presence of the Spirit. They
serve God like slaves. But God does not want slaves to grace His throne; He is
the Lord of love, freedom and joy. God has invited us to the Feast of Victory,
not to the bottom of a galley to row in darkness and misery. We have from
knowing our sins are forgiven and that we are loved children of God. The angels
serve God with songs, not with groans. Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote,
“That obedience which is not voluntary is disobedience, for the Lord looketh at
the heart, and if He seeth that we serve Him from force, and not because we
love Him, He will reject our offering. Service coupled with cheerfulness is
heart-service, and therefore true. …If a man be forced into battle, he is no
patriot; but he who marches into the fray with flashing eye and beaming face, singing,
"It is sweet for one's country to die," proves himself to be sincere
in his patriotism.”
Some days serving God may
not be (or feel) very joyful, our faith is not perfect, but in good times and
bad the Joy of the Lord is always there to provide us strength and protection
from the friction that robs us of divine joy. In the joy of the Lord we are
strong – God’s joy can remove mountains of difficulties and His joy in us is a
witness to the world. So, when the world looks at your service or your giving
to the church – do they see joy and freedom or do they see sad compulsion and
slavery? By the power of spirit and faith, I pray that our service at Christ
Our Savior Lutheran is also done in joy and always brings us joy.”
If you are in the
Lugoff/Camden/Kershaw area, I encourage you to join the members of Christ our
Savior for worship. They meet at Patterson Plaza, 1053 Hwy 1 South in Lugoff, on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Christian Education begins at 9:30 AM.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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