Heart

Struggling for Identity
From Pastor Rick

Since before the reformation there were in the church, men and women who desired a primal experience with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. After Martin Luther instigated the split from the Roman church, many began to read the Word of God and discover truths that would change their lives.

In the decades prior to the forming of the Covenant church of America in 1885, these kinds of men and women were known as the Lasare, or ‘readers’. Why, because they read the bible as often as they could and they talked about it. They would walk more miles than many of us drive on any given Sunday to hear someone read one of Martin Luther’s sermons! They would spend a number of days together reading the word, singing, praying and eating. Thus began the movement of the ‘Free church’ and the discovery of a new identity.

From these movements we have denominations such as the Evangelical Free, the Moravians, the Congregationalists, the Brethren, and a host of others. As the days drew near to the birthing of the Covenant, these meetings grew in number and in importance and the ‘Lasare’ would become the preachers. They understood that in order to know the God of the bible they would have to read the bible. Someone wrote “If you read the bible enough, sooner or later you are going to run into Jesus.” That is the beginning of knowing your true identity.

Let me encourage you to be a reader of God’s word. I will guarantee God will speak to you. He will encourage you. You will find in this living word who God designed you to be, and you will never be the same.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12 Read also 2 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 55:11)