Updates from congregations around the Church of the Lutheran Confession
Being sick with the flu or having a throbbing wound can be downright unpleasant. The Bible shows us that, since the Fall, all sorrow and suffering in this world is the result of sin. And just as the sin that we see in the world and in ourselves makes us anxiously aware of our need for our Savior, Jesus Christ, so also the unnatural experiences of illness and injury make us eager for both physical healing from sickness and relief from pain. We can relate to the Old Testament people desperately seeking healing: “Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.” (Hosea 6:1)
For seventy years, members and friends of Grace Lutheran Church in Fridley, Minnesota have eagerly sought the powerful healing treatment from their therapeutic Savior, the Great Physician of souls. They have sought the truth of God’s Word to bring them this treasured Gospel message of such restorative healing. Grace will be observing its seventieth anniversary this coming July. In addition, in the fall of 2026 the congregation will be commemorating its fiftieth anniversary of the opening of its Christian day school. Plans are already underway to invite former students and teachers to a special service in celebration.
Over the many years, about half the student body in Grace’s school has been non-members who have been exposed to the remedial balm of the Spirit, the Word of God. This has worked positively in leading young souls to find comfort from the spiritual therapy the Lord God provides. Even parents have been led to such restoration. Currently our pastor is leading four adult instruction classes, three which have connections to our school. In addition, there are two former members who attended the school some years ago who are now eager to return to Grace Lutheran so that their children can have the same medicinal upbringing that they once did.
Chancel and altar of Grace Lutheran Church
Grace Lutheran Church is also connected with mission work in the West African country of Liberia. The first contact came through our member, Alvin Jask, in 2015. Since then, our pastor has served as a part-time missionary under the auspices of the CLC Board of Missions. The work has flourished, especially by the local training of pastors there in Liberia. Pastor Joseph Kwiwalazu of Grace Evangelistic Lutheran Church (GELC) in the Monrovia area has conducted much of this training, aided by his various travels, and by connections that have arisen in many amazing ways. In the past year, his own congregation has been constructing a new church facility. Our pastor was asked to preach for its dedication, recognizing that the GELC now has a home where it can go regularly for the same kind of salutary healing we also enjoy from the Word. To accommodate this, Grace in Fridley and GELC had a unique worship service held at the same time in which each congregation’s worship was projected into the other congregation’s via video, each exchanging sections of the worship service in their own distinctive styles. Both congregations found this experience very uplifting and inspiring. One parent at Grace commented later that his children would remember that worship service for the rest of their lives. To see how this service was conducted, one may find it archived at: clcgracelutheranchurch.org/20240107/.
One of the unique things that has dramatically changed the ministry at Grace in the past two years is the startling news that our Pastor has a very rare cancer called thymic carcinoma, something that is considered to be incurable and challenging to treat. We have been praying for his healing, trusting the Lord God with His gracious assertion that “with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) The congregation was reminded at the very start that, although their pastor didn’t want to burden them with his own health issues, he realized that this “burden” could be beneficial for them all, as both pastor and congregation were led to look to God, and to trust His Word. In essence, this has not been a burden to anyone but an opportunity that the Lord God has certainly used to His glory. The words of our Savior, speaking of His friend Lazarus, ring true: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)
Several witness opportunities have made our ministry unique. There have been some in-person and online visitors who, knowing about the cancer, have attended to receive the palliative salve of the Gospel. Some have had cancer themselves. In one case, one of our members had a former co-worker who was on her deathbed with inflammatory breast cancer. She learned about the cancer a month after she learned she was pregnant. She balked at the healthcare professionals who pressured her for her own health to get an abortion. Given the distance and Pastor’s inability to drive, the member drove him (being in the middle of chemo treatments), to meet with her. For an hour they both had a vivid and intimate heart-to-heart talk about salvation through Jesus Christ and the promises He makes in His therapeutic Word. Both were uplifted and moved by the mutually beneficial conversation. A couple of weeks later this woman died and the husband asked our pastor to conduct the memorial service. Again, there was another amazing opportunity the Lord God gave to provide the spiritual relief souls were eager to hear about.
Another positive outcome which has become manifest among us at Grace is how our congregation has reacted to our pastor’s illness by assisting with many and various things in our congregational life. Our elders have been very engaged with ensuring things are covered in our day-to-day activities that our pastor is normally involved in. The teaching staff at our Christian day school has been fantastic in gauging when help is needed in certain areas, but also at keeping our pastor engaged, as he is able, in providing spiritual leadership and counsel to our students and parents. One of our members is a former pastor and another is an experienced Christian day school teacher. These gifts have been used when there’s a last-minute need for someone to step in for either Bible class or leading our regular worship service. There are numerous “unsung heroes” who have quietly stepped up to fill in the gaps for things that are needed, bringing our congregation even closer to one another and more alert to the shepherding needs within our flock.
We rejoice in how the Holy Spirit has been actively nursing us all with the therapeutic means of grace which brings about His mending response. While the illnesses of this world are unnatural, we rejoice in how our majestic Lord can overcome with the curing power of His medicinal Word. Coming to Grace is like going to the hospital. It is our haven from the rest of the world where the focus is on our Great Physician providing the spiritual mending we all need. It takes our breath away as we consider the amazing care and cure He provides us. In grace He comes to sick and ailing sinners to address their spiritual maladies. He never fails to bring the restorative treatment found in Him alone: the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. As a result, our desperation for healing evaporates as we find full spiritual recovery in Christ Jesus.
is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Fridley, Minnesota, and chairman of the Board of Regents of Immanuel Lutheran College.