JANUARY 2018
FAITHFUL TO CHRIST
Posted by: District Apostle Mark Woll
I wish all of you a blessed New Year. May this year, 2018 be filled with much joy, strength, comfort, peace, faith, love, and hope. As in the year, which is now behind us, we will experience joys, face our challenges, perhaps have our disappointments, and battle against evil. However, we are not alone! God is faithful. We can trust Him, He is constant in His love and keeps His promises.
For this year, 2018, we unite under the motto given to us by our Chief Apostle “Faithful to Christ”. I would like to introduce a few thoughts given to us by our Chief Apostle for the New Year’s service. Let us be faithful to Christ:
1. By following His example
- to be faithful to Christ is to follow His teaching and His example
- we have decided to conform our lives to the gospel and we will stay on this course
- let us examine ourselves regularly to see if we are still faithful as much in the little things as in the big things
2. By being constant in love
- let us remain constant in our love for Christ, even when we have to share in His sufferings
- God is faithful
- He will give us the strength to overcome our temptations
- by loving one another as Jesus has loved us
- let us not allow ourselves to be discouraged by the differences and faults of others!
3. By serving Him faithfully
- our faithfulness to Christ implies that we want to serve Him
- Jesus calls us to be His faithful witnesses
- this requires us to watch over the words we speak so that they conform to the will of Jesus Christ
4. By keeping our promises
- the faithful keep their promises. At our baptism, we promised to follow Christ by taking up our cross
- are we still just as determined to renounce all things God does not agree with?
- the promises we made at the baptism and sealing of our children; to sow love for Christ into the hearts of our children!
- couples who have received a marriage blessing have committed themselves to building their union on the foundation of the gospel