Pastor’s Perch
John 2:19- 19 Jesus answered them,
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
How do you measure the time it takes to build large mega structures? Weeks, months, years…but I think we all would agree that days would not be used to measure the time to build large mega structures. Even with our technological advances, it still takes months to build skyscrapers. It took years to build ancient mega structures like pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the Roman Colosseum which still stand tall today. In our bible passage Jesus is standing in the great temple complex in Jerusalem. It took 46 years to get the temple to the level it was, and Jesus talked about raising it in 3 days! You can imagine many people scratching their heads in disbelief. Even if Jesus had access to all our modern equipment, and unlimited manpower, there would be no way to rebuild the temple in only 3 days to the way it was before being destroyed.
Unfortunately, the people did not understand what temple he was talking about which also showed that the people did not understand who Jesus was. Jesus was not referring to the physical building, but rather his body. Many of the people, he was talking to, were going to hate Jesus so much that in three years’ time, they would call for his crucifixion. They would approve of his body being destroyed. They would think that they got rid of him once and for all. But they did not know who he was. He is God Almighty. He had the power to raise his temple in three days! That is exactly what he did on Easter morning.
Jesus rebuilt his dead and broken temple to shine with the glory of Lord. He finished the work of bringing life to those who are dead in their sins. His rebuilt temple is the guarantee that he can rebuilt all dead and broken temples of the Holy Spirit. This is good news for all of us. The wages of sin is still destroying temples in death. We have all earned the grave by being born in sin and displaying sin in our lives. But thanks be to God! He sent his Son to rebuild his temple in three days so that he can do away with sin and death for all of us. You need not fear that which Jesus can and will rebuild. Life has defeated death. Your bodily temples will rise from the dead and inherit eternal life all because the Jesus raised his temple in three days!
Dear Gracious Savior! Thank you for fulfilling your promise to rebuild your temple in three days. Through your resurrection, you promise to raise us from the dead and give us eternal life. Help us find comfort in the face of death, that our bodily temples will rise on the last day when you return and live with you in glory forevermore! In your name we pray. Amen.
A Servant of Christ,
Rev. Patrick Feldhus
Grace’s News
We are offering a Family bible study on familiar Sunday school stories, after worship on Sundays.
Please note that Pastor is offering an online topical bible study on Tuesday nights at 7:30 pm. If you are interested, please let Pastor know. He is also looking for topics that are interesting to you.
Lent worship continues Wednesdays at 7 pm until 4/9. The focus on the catechism’s teachings on the Ten Commandments which shows our need for God’s mercy.
Holy week starts off with Palm Sunday on April 13th. Maundy Thursday worship is 4/17 will be at 7 pm and Good Friday April 18th will be at 7 pm. We will gather on Easter Sunday April 20th at 8 am for breakfast with worship to follow at 9 am.
The Spring LWMS circuit rally will be on April 5th at Frieden’s in New Prague starting at 8 am.
Our next Jesus Cares program will be Thursday, April 10th at 6:30 pm.
The Women of Grace will next meet on April 16th at 10:30 am. All women are welcomed to join us.
Synod News
God’s plan flourishes in Vietnam
It has been 14 years since Hmong church leaders in Vietnam invited WELS to train their pastors in the truth of the gospel. It has been seven years since the communist government in Vietnam invited WELS to build a theological education center in the capital city of Hanoi. From the very beginning, we knew that the Lord had opened a door to reach the more than two million Hmong people who live in Vietnam and the surrounding countries. We also knew that this door could close at any time. Our WELS World Missions team worked quickly to ensure WELS took full advantage of the time the Lord had provided. And God’s work moved forward in ways we could have never predicted.
With the generosity of faithful donors, we built a sturdy building—complete with classrooms, sleeping quarters, and a kitchen—meant to house 60 students at a time and train pastors for Christ’s service. Almost two years ago at the dedication, it stood ready, a beacon of hope. But government regulations have kept us from using it for now. The paperwork continues, and the delay has a story of its own. A local church body that once supported us began demanding practices contrary to Scripture—insisting we stop baptizing babies and allow non-Lutheran teachers to train our pastors. In a Martin Luther-esque stand, our partner church broke away, choosing faithfulness over compromise. Since then, they’ve lost government recognition, which has slowed the process for gaining occupancy of the theological education center. Yet we trust that access could come any day, because God’s timing is not ours.
Some might see this as a delay, a plan stalled. But God has provided paths we never expected. Since we began, our sister church has grown to over 160,000 souls, hungry for the Word. Fifty-five pastors have been trained—not in that building but in rented spaces and internet classrooms where God gathered them to learn. Another 120 seminary-level students are studying now, their hearts set on preaching the gospel. Catechism classes, led by trained leaders, echo through every congregation in the rural training program that was developed by WELS missionaries and is now being supported by 12 fully trained Hmong pastors. This flock proudly calls themselves Lutheran, not because of a building but because of the truth they’ve learned through WELS training.
Take a pastoral student and his brother, for example. When they feared funding had faltered, they sold their family’s water buffalo—a sacrifice that cut deep in their rural life—so one could join the biblical training they feared might pass them by. Today, that student is a pastor, shepherding souls, his brother’s faith beside him. What earthly hurdles could stop God’s Spirit at work?
These twists and turns and extra red tape have given us more time—time to train, time to grow, and time to stand firm without interference. We thought we needed that building. God knew we needed him—and him alone. In his hands, this work triumphs, brimming with hope for tomorrow.
In Christ,
Rev. Larry Schlomer
Administrator, WELS World Missions
A Lutheran church body in Tanzania is recommended for fellowship with WELS
The WELS Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR) has the responsibility of overseeing our synod’s relationships with other Lutheran church bodies in the United States and around the world. The vast majority of the commission’s time is spent strengthening the bonds of fellowship with our sister church bodies. But the commission also monitors what is going on in other Lutheran church bodies with which we are not in fellowship.
The CICR also communicates with Lutheran church bodies that are seeking fellowship with WELS. In recent years, discussions with such churches have led our synod to declare fellowship with Lutheran churches in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.
This beautiful trend continues as the worldwide fellowship expands. After several years of detailed doctrinal discussions between WELS representatives and the Africa Mission Evangelism Church of Tanzania, the CICR is recommending that our synod publicly and officially declare fellowship with the Africa Mission Evangelism Church at this summer’s synod convention. Such celebrations of newly established fellowship are always one of the highlights of a synod convention.
The Africa Mission Evangelism Church is a growing Lutheran church body that separated from its previous affiliation because of doctrinal reasons. It consists of 12,000 members in 78 congregations and is served by approximately 65 pastors. The head of the Africa Mission Evangelism Church is Bishop Baltazar Kaaya. Bishop Kaaya will be attending our convention this summer to tell us more about our new partner in Africa.
We thank God that he continues to build his church.
Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder