Audio version of "Purpose and Mission".

 

Dear Friends and fellow German speaking countrymen,

 

       Welcome to a web-site, through which we will attempt to look at the

roots that is the foundation of the faith of which we are partakers since the

time of our infancy.

 

Most of the German speaking people in the World are either of the

Lutheran or the Catholic persuasion. Even those who have dropped out of

these denominations often seek no other involvement.

 

I myself was made a member of the Lutheran Church through my

parents. When I was only 8 days old I was christened in that church. My

Lutheran ancestry goes back to the days of Martin Luther’s Reformation.

Since the rulers of the state of Baden became his followers, all their subjects

became Lutherans.  His Reformation was solidified in a 30 year war against

the ruling Catholic Church.

 

In grade school we learned about what Martin Luther and his associates 

had taught. We learned about the 10 Commandments and how to live a good

moral and social life. I always had an A or an A+ in the religion class. At

14, we were good enough to be confirmed as Lutheran church members.

 

Our Catholic classmates were of course not of the true faith like we.

Also, all others, we were told, were sects with evil intentions. They were all

after our money because they did not get any of the payroll deducted church

tax. We compared our godly goodness with theirs and knew we were better.

 

Today this situation has not changed very much except for the fact, that

these two groups of believers have moved closer together in their doctrines of

faith and practice of rituals.

 

With this web-site, its Questions to think about and its audio-sermons,

we will examine the faith of our Lutheran and Catholic heritage. We will

search together if, what we have been made to believe from childhood, is the

will of God and Jesus or just the teachings of men.

 

Jesus declared : “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the

 kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in

heaven.” (Mt. 7:21)

Another time He said: “These people honor me with their lips, but their

hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but

rules taught by men.” (Mt. 15:8 and 9)

We will think about the meaning of texts like these. As Lutherans or

Catholics we have to really open our minds by shear willpower to give the

Holy Spirit a way to teach us the difference between human commands and

the Will of God and Jesus Christ.

 

Many times the Bible declares that God is no respecter of persons. He

does not show favoritism. One text is in Col. 3:23-25 it states: “Whatever you

do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a re-

ward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be

repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.”  

 

Many I have talked to don’t want any proof over the truthfulness of

what we have heard since the days of our youth. They say that the two faiths

have always been the faiths of Europe and the German speaking countries

there. They cannot be false faiths they say. Because they are our culture they

are a part of our daily lives. To call them false faiths would make our culture

a farce. It can not be untrue what we and our ancestors have been taught and

have come to love and have believed to be God’s Word.

 

Because of this mind-set it will take all your courage, dear fellow coun-

tryman and woman, to overcome yourself and study the Bible.

 

Even my fellow Countryman the Pope will not find God’s approval if

he continues to live outside of God’s revealed will. I challenge you Mr. Jo-

seph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI to join us in this effort to bring the Truth

of God’s will to the German speaking people and please discontinue to abuse

the true faith. It could even be that you don’t know the true faith. That would

be another reason to join us in this outreach to mine and your fellow Germans.

 

There are many more Bible Truths we will examine and compare with

what we have been told. We will study the New Covenant of God through

Jesus Christ in detail.

 

We will examine the mediatorship of Jesus. Is His mother Mary also

a mediator? Are those dead whom they call saints mediators?

 

We will discover what it means to be “in Christ”, to be born of the

Holy Spirit or born again.

 

Of course, if one doesn’t believe that the Bible is the only Word of 

Truth from God, all the above studies will be meaningless to him or her.

 

But dear countryman and woman, do you think Christianity started

with Martin Luther’s Reformation or translation of the Bible into the German

language over 500 years ago? Or do you think it started with the ideas of the

first Pope in Rome about AD 400? This too we will discover.

 

German speaking people need a revival, an awakening to godly spiritu-

ality and Truth. Jesus has done His part. He opened the way of salvation for

anyone that believes His will. Now it is up to each one of us to do our part

and obey Him with all our love and devotion.

 

Love and obedience are one work of faith. One is not true without the

other. John the Apostle declared: “We know that we have come to know him

if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him” but does not do

what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys

his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we

are in him.” (1. Jn. 2:3-5)

 

Can anyone obey a command of Jesus if they have never heard it? Is

anyone who has His Word, the Bible not held responsible to obey its instruc-

tions? We will think about this.

         If you have German speaking relatives, neighbors or even family

members, please make them aware of this web-site. If they don’t have a

computer but are interested, invite me to your area and we will sit down

together and discuss these matters. We will look them up in your Bible.

 

If you are a member of a church and would like to participate in this

call for an awakening to the Truth of God among the German speaking

people, please contact us and we will talk about how you may help.

 

There are about a 100,000,000 German speaking people in the World

today. If you think they are worthy of your prayers and concern let us hear

from you. Many of these folks live right here among us in the USA.

 

If you say you have the love of Jesus, you should take care to keep 

them from going to hell.

 

I am not only asking for your support I am also asking for your daily

prayers in this mission effort to my lost countrymen, the German speaking

people.

 

Can you see the need for this effort? God did. That is why He sent His

Son who is now sending those who are willing to go for Him.

 

Are you willing?  Then please respond!

 

In the love of Jesus

 

Pastor Bert