Isaiah 55:11
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it
Gen 1:3
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light
Matthew 26:26
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body."
Malachi 1:11
My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
John 20:23
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 2:14
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Luke 20:38
For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.
Rev 21:27
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
1 Cor 3:15
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
John 3:5
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
1 Timothy 3:15
but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Acts 22:16
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Southern Baptist Ed Stetzer points us to a recent annoncement by the The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod to plant 2,000 new Lutheran churches by 2017. A similar project was attempted by the LCMS in 1979. The 1979 goal was "to plant 1,800 congregations in 10 years, or about 180 a year. The actual number of churches started was less than 100 a year--70 to 80."
As LCMS market share does not exceed 3% in any state, the U.S. will not likely be going Lutheran any time soon. Hopefully the LCMS will target areas of the U.S. with large numbers of non-Christians and make new disciples versus just moving sheep.
Source:
Church PlantingLabels: Evangelism, Lutheran
1 Comments:
The "sexy Anglicans" (Episcopal Church) gets all the pixels and column inches but in point of fact the liberal Lutheran denom the ELCA (formerly 5M+ members) has been hemmoraging members and congregations for several years. They are about 3 years behind the Episcopalians as far as the gay takeover of the denom is going, and each and every year MORE congregations leave and re-align elsewhere.
Time will tell if the LCMS can pick some of these folks up. The congregations that have left that I am aware of have been heading towards the formation of yet MORE new denominations.
The thought occurs to me, how WILL the LCMS staff these 2000 parishes? Do they really have that many in seminary or available?
E-mail me when you get a chance, I have a proposal for you.
ASimpleSinner@Gmail.com
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