Letter to the Congregations: 19th July 2025

Our Dear Brethren,

As Jesus and His twelve closest disciples traveled from city to city, crowds followed them and individuals went out to meet them. One scribe, who was familiar with the law of God and had kept it to the best of his ability all his life, came up to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go” (see Luke 9:57). Jesus, knowing what was truly in the man’s heart, challenged his level of commitment to becoming His disciple: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (verse 58).

Others came to Him as well, also having their faith tested by Jesus countering each of their excuses with statements meant to make them think about where their true priorities in life were. “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Had these individuals truly counted the cost of discipleship at the feet of the Son of God before they claimed they would follow Him?

Our willingness to truly follow after Jesus Christ is often tested, even after we’ve made the initial decision to fully commit ourselves to being His disciples. We cannot call ourselves His disciples if we look back at how life used to be or look around and wish we could live like the rest of the world. Our challenge, as God’s people, is to maintain our calling by showing up and learning from the only one who can give us the words of life.

For those just starting out in their calling this means turning away from sin and putting into practice the word of God. For those who have been following the word of truth for a longer period of time this means continuing to show up, continuing to strive, continuing follow, continuing to be refined by the presence of God within us. How can God use us if we aren’t even willing to just show up and continue to follow Him? That’s where discipleship truly begins, and it shouldn’t end until our life is complete.

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Brethren, if we are honest with ourselves we still have much work to do. We still struggle with sins and attitudes which separate one another and also put a strain on our relationship with God. Have we given up because we struggle? Have we slacked because someone else’s words or actions have caused us pain? Have we stopped serving because no one else is putting in the effort? Are we tired because God has tested our faith with trials? Have we become discouraged and disappointed because we still struggle with the same old sins which might have plagued our youth?

All of these struggles are experienced by our brethren as well, but that doesn’t mean we can use them as an excuse. We are called to do great things in service to our God, but we must “not grow weary in doing good” (see 2 Thessalonians 3:13). We must remember that we have been called to be disciples of the Son of God! This is the single most important part of life! Our God and His Christ want us to be successful in this calling! We can be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). But we must also be willing to continue to show up and endure in life, striving always to follow after our divine teacher, imitating His steps and speech, and teaching others, through words and actions, how to do the same.

Our love is with you,

Lewis VanAusdle

Pastor, United Church of God

NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe