[I presented this paper was presented at the LC-MS Pacific Southwest District Pastor’s Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday, October 5th 2021]
Good morning fellow servants of the Lord Jesus! It is good to be here with you! Let me begin by clarifying the words in our title, “Engaging with The Word in Our Changing World.” First, we will look at the word “engaging,” then “with The Word,” and finally, “in Our Changing World.”
When I say “engaging” as I do similarly in the book Faith That Engages the Culture (CPH, 2021), I don’t mean what some disappointed online Amazon shoppers who ordered the book thought I meant: engagement before marriage; thinking my book to be about preparing for holy matrimony. What I do mean is that sharing the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about living in a preoccupation of our self-conscience efforts to make the right pitch, to sell the Gospel correctly, or find a way to manipulate or at least finesse a situation successfully so that the Holy Spirit can finally be effective to change hearts for Jesus Christ. No, I don’t mean that.