Christ
the King Lutheran Church
Pastor Nate's Corner
Bridging the Gap
A few weeks ago Vicar Ted and I drove over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on our way to a pastor’s retreat in Bradenton. The view from the world’s longest cable-span bridge was incredible!
My first year of as a
pastor has been an exciting bridge from the seminary to full-time ministry! It
has been an awesome experience to get to know you all as I serve as assistant
pastor here at Christ The King. You have made my transition into ministry a
great one.
My call to Christ The King has two main emphases: discipleship and
outreach. So far this year, I’ve had the opportunity to focus my energy on
discipleship. I work with the Discipleship Team (formerly the Adult Education
Committee), which is tasked with the responsibility to create opportunities for
you to experience the Word of God and grow in your faith. As my first year wraps
up, I now have the opportunity to enhance my focus by increasing my
concentration on outreach.
My approach to outreach is guided by the assumption that you have a heartfelt desire that the unchurched people in your life come to know Jesus as their Savior. I also believe that you wish to participate in the work of God and serve the people around you.
My role is to create bridges between your desire and the unchurched people in our community. We’ve already laid a foundation for the bridge by continuing to equip you with Scriptural teaching, such as “Walk Across the Room,” the outreach-oriented series we learned from during Lent. Each Sunday, we continue to pray for God to shape each of us with a heart for the lost.
But now the time has come to put our desire into action and build the bridges. As pastors, our vision is that the light of God’s love in Christ will be extended without condition to those beyond the shadows of our sanctuary in deliberate and meaningful ways, that they, too, might know the love of God in Christ, and be used of God to share it with others, as well.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. If you were to plot these areas on a map of ancient Palestine, it would look like the Target logo, with concentric circles extending wider and wider from Jerusalem. In the same way, our outreach efforts will be focused in similar zones, in Largo, Pinellas County, our state and nation, and internationally to the ends of the globe.
Right now we’ve got a lot of bridge-building ahead of us. The view from this side of the bridge seems long. But as we enact plans to serve and meet the needs of our community, country and world, God’s kingdom will be built! I have plans for many bridging opportunities in the near future: from service projects to mission trips as we bring the hope of the Gospel to those who don’t yet know Christ!
I invite you to join me as we build a bridge to the world around us. I welcome your ideas, passions, connections, and knowledge to our team. Imagine the impact we will have as we create a road for someone to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. What an incredible view that will be!
Pastor Nate