A Lenten Greeting to New Visitors to Grace

Dear Neighbour,

A blessed beginning to Lent to you!  Lent is the major penitential season of the church year, that is, it is the time in which we seek to examine our lives and our actions and how the ways we live are not loving and caring toward our neighbour and not faithful to God.  It’s a time for repentance (a theme of our Wednesday evening services which start at 7PM during Lent), amendment of life, and most importantly turning God for his forgiveness and mercy.

Here at Grace we are continually getting a stream of mostly young male visitors.  Some are members of our sister congregations in the K-W area who enjoy the company of the many youth and young adults at Grace.  Others are young men or older teens who are not Christian or come from families who are culturally Christian but not practicing their Christian faith.  They often ask me to help them become members of the church which I’m only too happy to do.  The process is not quick and easy.  I ask all prospective new members who come to us outside Lutheran Church-Canada to read the entire Holy Bible once if they have not done so already and to go through about 20-40 hours of instructional classes with me.  It’s a blessing as they deepen their knowledge of God’s Word and basic Lutheran doctrine and we get to know each other well.  Those who are not yet 18 are required to get their parent’s permission to begin this instruction or to wait to begin until after they legally become adults when they turn 18.

I think it’s fair to observe that these young men are looking for a foundation of Christian faith in their lives that is traditional, substantial, and calls them to live in a way that is radically different than the world.  They are certainly finding that here.  Most, if not all, are also looking for a group of friends who have shared Christian values.  They are finding that at Grace and are enjoying spending time together including playing sports in our gym and working out in the weight room we currently have in the church’s basement.  I imagine that many of these young men are also looking for a potential Christian wife, one who lives according to biblical values and rejects the non-Christian tenets of modern feminism.  Marriage is a good thing to have on your mind when you are young so that is a good intention.  As a Christian we are called to marry a Christian spouse (1 Cor 7, especially verse 39) and so finding a suitable Christian spouse is a good thing to have on one’s mind.  There’s lots of time to get to know all the young adults each week before and after worship and at our young adult’s group which meets the third Saturday of every month from 7-9PM.

But more than all of that, I hope you consider visiting Grace to get to know your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  He is your Creator and Saviour.  He gave his life unto death to redeem you of all your sin and to call you into his holy and eternal Church.  His desire for you is to find new meaning in life as you follow him and to have unshakable hope in his promise of a resurrection from the dead and eternal life to follow.  The best thing you can receive at Grace, better than fellowship, learning, even a Christian spouse, is the love of God that is freely yours in Jesus Christ and the fulfilment of all of his promises for you.

Sincerely,

Pastor Korsch