JESUS IS YOUR FOREVER FRIEND
HEBREWS 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
In the name of Jesus:
Over 50 years ago 33 families set out to fulfill a dream. Their dream was to begin a mission church on the northeast side of Lancaster which would house a Lutheran Day School. In keeping with Christ’s Great Commission of making disciples of all people, these families, under the leadership of Dr. Walter Moeller set out to keep Jesus Christ as the focal point of their endeavor. Land was deeded to the church, and plans were made to build a practical facility, where classrooms would house students and a multipurpose room would facilitate both school and worship activities for the church.
A school was started, first with a kindergarten, then each year adding two more grades, so that in due course, there would be a school, Redeemer Lutheran School, which would continue through grade six. Under the able assistance of Allen Kebschull, the school opened on September 1, 1959 at Emanuel Lutheran, and on November 24 of that same year, the classes were moved to Redeemer. At that time, the enrollment numbered 25 in kindergarten, and 14 in the first and second grades, with the hopes of a student population of 80 pupils the next year.
Sacrifices were made in order to make this dream come true. The members of Redeemer were behind this concept of Christian education, and in a booklet entitled: “Building for Christ” members were encouraged to continue to sacrifice for the purpose of Christian education. The inside cover of the booklet said: “To properly build for Christ we should do much more. Remember that the children of today are the church of tomorrow, therefore feed My lambs.” Families rallied around the school, believing that children possessed a soul, mind, and body, and that an education which did not address the needs of the soul was an incomplete education. It was of vital importance that the education provided at Redeemer provided the student with a Christian worldview, that the student would be taught to glorify God in their lives, and that the school would be a tool that would assist parents in the training of their children, believing in the promises of Scripture that if you train and child in the ways that they should go, they will never depart from those ways.
And so teachers were called to teach, and parents enrolled their children, all in an effort bring children to faith in Christ, keep children in the faith, so that when they grew older they would remain in the faith and live out their faith in Jesus Christ as their only Lord and Savior. Teachers such as Kebschull, Keller, Fahrer, Leising (Dunfee), Plahs, Wulfeck, and others too many to mention but all vital and important, dedicated their lives to this school and to the children they taught. Their desire was simple, that the children under their instruction would believe in Jesus as the only Lord and Savior.
The children who attended this School learned of Jesus, not as a taskmaster, but as a Friend, a forever friend. In the words of a song that might have been sung: Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world. Bible stories were learned, Bible passages memorized so that the head knowledge would become a heart knowledge and life knowledge. Children learned for certain that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son and that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. They learned that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life, that no one comes to the Father except by Jesus. Teachers taught and children believed that The Lord is My shepherd, I shall not want, and that nothing would ever be able to separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
The very same truths that were taught in that School, and that continue to be taught in our Early Childhood Education Center today, are the same. These truths are the same because God’s truths stand the test of time and God never changes. Children have been taught and continue to be taught that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. The price we pay because of our sinfulness is death, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. For even though we were dead in our transgressions and sins, we have been saved by grace, through faith in Christ, not of works, so that no one may boast. If anyone is to boast, let that person boast of the Lord and what God has done in Jesus Christ.
Jesus has been and continues to be the Forever Friend of Redeemer Lutheran Church and School. For 50 years Jesus has spoken to us His Word of sin and grace, of Law and Gospel, of death and resurrection. Many of the members who have laid the foundation for this Church and its mission have now gone to be with the Lord in heaven, awaiting the resurrection on the Last Day. However, many members remain, taking up the battle cry of the Lord to seek and save the lost, to use the present school and facilities to reach many more children and families with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Much good work has been done in these past 50 years, and much good work remains! This September our school will welcome new students and families into our midst. Opportunities abound to touch these with the love of Jesus. God continues to open doors in the future to share the message that Jesus is the Forever Friend of children, parents, of families, of everyone.
The mission of this congregation hasn’t changed because Jesus has not changed. As we are reminded in our text, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Just as Jesus has blessed in the past, He continues to forgive and bless in the present, and He will continue to forgive and guide in the future. Why? Because Redeemer Lutheran Church and School is a part of Christ’s Church, the Holy Christian Church, and Jesus’ promise is that He will build His Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
Here many have learned of Jesus as their Forever Friend. And that message has not changed. Jesus is YOUR Forever Friend. Some of you may have fallen away from the Church and from Jesus. You learned about your forever friend in Lutheran schools but you have forgotten about Jesus. You haven’t exactly acted as Jesus’ friend. If that is the case, if you have strayed from Jesus and following Him in your life, Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks today. He still is your forever friend. He does not force Himself upon you but He invites you to follow Him. Certainly you have issues to face in your life today. You have lost the innocence of childhood. You have grown, in height, and perhaps weight, the hairs have grayed or have fallen out. You struggle with the recession, health, broken relationships, and ultimately you will face death. But through it all Jesus remains the same, He IS your Forever Friend. He invites you to come to Him, you are burdened of heart and soul, and He will give you rest. He is your forever friend. Take up your cross and follow Christ, learn of Him, for He is your forever friend.
And for those who have been faithful to Jesus, who know of His friendship and seek to follow Christ in your life, Jesus still is your forever friend. You have tasted and have seen that the Lord is good, His mercy lasts forever. Jesus invites you to share His friendship with others. The message that God has placed in your hearts and lives echo the words which the Apostle Paul lived by: “that Jesus died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. [18] All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [20] Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [21] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This message of hope, of forgiveness, of reconciliation with God has been the message of Redeemer Lutheran Church and School for the past 50 years, and by God’s grace, it will continue to be its message. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is your forever friend. For that we give thanks to God, and ask that He will make us faithful to our Forever Friend until the day we die, that He will give us eternal life.
May God grant this in the name of our Forever Friend, Jesus!
Amen
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