From the Pastor:

In a recent conversation with a member of the congregation we were discussing the difference between being a "follower" of Christ and an "admirer" of Christ. The admirer of Christ is one who very likely loves the Lord. He is one who appreciates all that Christ has done for him. She is one who is more than willing to say thank-you to God for the gifts of love, providence, and forgiveness. The admirer is a Christian who faithfully (and maybe even gladly) attends worship and sings praises to God. All of these things are good and acceptable behaviors for a Christian.

But none of those things make one a follower of Christ. Jesus says to his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

To be a "follower" of Christ is to deny oneself. It is to put God and others ahead of yourself for the sake of the others. It is to daily take up the cross, which means to serve others for their sake as Christ served us by taking up his cross. To be a follower of Christ is to get up and do for the sake of one’s neighbor. That is, in essence, what James is talking about when he writes,

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. (James 2:24, 25)

Have no doubt. We are not called to simply be "admirers" of Christ. We are called by God (and in fact, I believe, created by God) to be "followers" of Christ. The purpose of our very existence is to be more than spectators of Christ or cheerleaders for the Lord. We are meant to be doers of the Word. To have faith, James says, is to live and act faithfully. The difference between being an admirer and a follower is the difference between sitting in the stands, watching the action, and getting down on the field and participating in the game. We are called to get in the game.

In many ways as a congregation we have been faithful followers of Christ. In 2007 we have

• Offered food and fellowship to members of the community through

  • Senior Saturdays

  • Funeral Meals

  • Thanksgiving Dinner

• Opened up scripture to others through

  • Sunday School

  • Adult Bible study (thank you Deb, Judy, and Don)

  • Pastor’s class

  • Vacation Bible School

  • Confirmation

  • Ruth Circle

  • the preschool

• Fed the hungry through

  • the Foods Resource Bank Project

  • gifts to Helping Hands

  • participation in the CROP Walk

• Gave warmth and needed supplies to people in need with quilts, school kits, layettes, and soap

• Shared the love of God through Word and Sacrament in our worship services

• Through our benevolence to the Northern Illinois Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America we have

  • helped build and supply a hospital in southern India

  • supported a doctor from our synod who volunteered at a hospital in Jerusalem

  • helped educate countless students in our Lutheran colleges and seminaries

  • provided spiritual support for students through local campus ministries

  • helped spread the Word of God around the world through ELCA missionaries

  • provided disaster relief for those affected by earthquakes, floods and wildfires around the country and around the world

  • helped to establish new congregations in growing areas of our region so that God’s love might be shared among the unchurched.

• Shared the joy of Christmas with two local families who had special needs through your generous donations of over $1000.

Indeed, as a congregation we have done much in caring for our neighbors in Earlville and around the world. In many ways we have been faithful followers.

However, there is so much more that should be done and so much more that we could be doing if we had more help. The work that is described above is done by relatively few followers. It seems to me that we have a great many more "admirers" than followers.

And those are just the ministries that we have already established. It is difficult to imagine beginning a new ministry with the few people who actively participate now.

The bottom line for me is that it is important for us to develop more followers of Christ from the number of admirers that we currently have. God has come to us, died for us, gifted us, and called us to the mission of proclaiming his love to the world in word and deed. As you will read in several other reports in this packet of information, many of us believe that the very survival of this congregation may depend on your response to follow, and not just admire, the Lord.

In Christ,

Pastor Knowles