Central Family,

I don’t know about you but for me it has been so fun to read and reflect on the weekly Ephesians meditations from our Church Council members.  This week you will be blessed by Jacki Kritzeck’s , ‘Can I tell you a secret.’  Just before you read it I do want to ask you to participate in two things;

1.       The Orphan Ministry! Presently 269 orphans have been sponsored. 115 still are in need of sponsorship.  Visit www.clcelkriver.org and hit the link orphan to choose an orphan to sponsor. If you are already sponsoring an orphan please invite others to join you in this special ministry of Central.

2.       On October 28 and 29 Central is privileged to host the ANCHORED IN THE WORD conference.  The theme, Why Follow Jesus?, is very timely.  Why do we want to encourage family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers to follow Jesus. Visit www.tdship.org to learn more about the conference and register.

These are exciting times at Central as we live in the final 3 months of the ‘2011 – A Year of Discernment.’  Thanks to Jackie for sharing this week’s council meditation!

Paul Johansson



Can I tell you a secret?  Will you promise not to tell anyone else?

Did I get your attention?  Good!  The words above are meant to do just that, to get a listener’s attention before a revelation is shared.  They serve to proclaim the importance of the information that is about to be given, and to remind the listener that it is privileged knowledge.  In other words, ‘Do NOT tell ANYONE what I am about to say to you!!!!!!’

In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul is telling us a secret.  He is revealing something to us- something HUGE.   But he isn’t prefacing his words with any kind of disclaimer about the exclusivity of this knowledge.  This is a secret that everyone can hear, a secret everyone should hear!!!!

The secret is revealed that we are all heirs to God’s unfathomable riches; we are all invited to sit at the table and the old ways of doing things are no longer relevant.  Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus.  A new life is ours for the taking.   And the coolest part is God has this all planned out in advance.   Gone are the old rules and exclusions.  We are “fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel”.  

Can you imagine the way this information was received?  To be a Gentile, a lowly Gentile and suddenly be told God has had you in His plans all along?  In Paul’s day, this was a revelation revealed.  This was a game changer.  But it’s 2011 now and we live in a broken world, broken in different ways than when Jesus lived.  How do we respond to this information in our current day?  How do you respond to learning about this secret as you read and reflect on Paul’s words written so many centuries ago?

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for revealing your life changing mystery to us.  Help us be reminded that your grace isn’t something we have earned through good works, but by grace we are saved through faith alone.  What an amazing gift you have given to us all!  Thank you for giving us the promise of salvation through your son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.