May God draw us all to Him
Dear LTCC Family,
Graduation parties and ceremonies are coming up this weekend for our high schoolers. As our youngest son, Luke, embarks on this milestone, I can’t help thinking about all of the people who have poured into his life over the years. From teachers to coaches to mentors to friends of the family, he has been “discipled” well. He can tell you what a verb is, how to say cat in Spanish, when to use your turn signal when driving, and who won the 4A state boys’ soccer title this year (unfortunately, not his team!). He knows about the creation story, the fall of mankind, the redemptive work of Jesus, and the future glory to be had with God in heaven. But is this all just information to be “passed along”?
As one friend told me last night, growing up he was able to remember everything everyone taught him about the Bible. But it wasn’t until he was 18 that he came to the realization that he had to believe what he knew. There’s something different between “knowing about” and “believing in”, particularly when it comes to Jesus.
So, how does this belief happen? What do we have to “do” with the information that we’re taught? Jesus tells us in John 6 that we can’t “do” anything to move from knowing about to believing in. He says, “This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent” (vs 29). A few verses later he adds, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (vs 44). And finally, at the end of the chapter he states, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (vs 63).
Praise God that it is not up to us to change a person’s heart! And at the same time, praise God that He calls us to join Him in this incredible transformation process by being faithful to share what we know, to disciple those He has put in our path, and to pray that His Word does not come back void.
Many of you have participated in the faith journey of the kids here at LTCC, as well as outside our church. I thank you for blessing those children, now young adults, and pray that you have been blessed along the way as well.
Please continue to pray for our graduates that if God hasn’t already drawn them to Himself, that He would do that soon. If you have a relationship with any one of them, would you continue to disciple them in word and deed? As our next generation of kids are growing up here at our church, would you consider ways in which you can encourage, teach, and disciple them?
And “may every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11)!
For the elders and deacons
Special Note: At the Senior Sunday service I forgot to highlight Kaleb Eskridge who will be graduating from Central Washington University this weekend. Kaleb went into CWU with his AA degree, so he was able to finish in just two years with a B.S. in Business Administration specializing in Business Analytics. He plans to come home and work at the Tapps Island golf pro shop for the summer before looking for a job in his field.
Quick Interim Pastor Update: Pastor Bob Slack has accepted the call to serve as our interim pastor here at LTCC! His housing is secured, thank you to the Goodsells! And the final contract is in place with IPM (Interim Pastor Ministries). Please be in prayer for him and for our church family as we welcome him on July 2nd.
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· Check out our Announcements page and/or our Events page to find out What's Happening at LTCC this week and beyond!
· Read about this week's Missionary Spotlight, Sergio and Alejandra Herrera.
· Joining us via Livestream this Sunday? Click here to get the link for the Livestream.