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August 2022,
Dear Friends,
“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou
sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the
truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? …” John
18:37-38
Pontius Pilate asks Jesus a question that certainly resonates with us today. In
an age where there is great mistrust in the common sources of information, such
as the media, government and the academy, we are quite interested in hearing the
answer that Jesus might give. While Jesus does not respond to Pilate’s question
during that interrogation, we can hear His answer throughout the Gospel of John.
There are, in fact twenty-two references to the word “truth” in John’s Gospel.
Jesus Christ is not merely interested in the truth. He is the embodiment of
truth.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth….17 For
the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John
1:14, 17 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
As Christ prepares His disciples for His departure, He promises to send the
“Spirit of truth” to guide them. The Spirit will do so by directing them to
Christ.
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me…”
John 15:26
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:13
To come to a proper and truthful understanding about ourselves, the world around
us and even God Himself, we must hearken unto the voice of the Spirit of truth
as He reveals Christ through the Holy Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the prism
through which we can more fully see and engage the world. The author Paul Little
writes, “Throughout the ages, and perhaps especially today, it has been a great
test of faith to believe that God is good. There is so much which suggests the
contrary. Helmut Thielicke points out that fabric viewed through a magnifying
glass is clear in the middle and blurred at the edges. But we know that the
edges are clear because of what we see in the center. Life, he says, is like the
fabric. There are many blurred edges which we do not understand, but they are to
be interpreted by the clarity we see in the centre—the cross of Christ.” It is
in the Cross that speaks to us of the truth of God’s forgiveness, life and
salvation.
May God grant us grace to continue to fix our eyes and hearts on the center of
the fabric of our existence, Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never
in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of
sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth
ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
John 8:31-36
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Chuck Bylkas
DONATIONS RECEIVED...
In memory of Pastor Wayne Juntunen
From Richard & Renee Riemersma
In memory of Pastor Rodger & Aila Foltz
From Joyce Tibbs
In memory of Emil & Taimi Lahti
From Mike & Margaret Laurin
In memory of Andrew & Elizabeth (Eskola) Severi
From Mirko M. Hall
FALL CLASSES OFFERED
The following daily classes will begin on Wednesday, September 7th. The Monday
night class at 7PM in Hancock would begin on September 12th. For additional
information or if you are interested in taking a class, contact the office at
906-482-3337 or email: cilseminary@ilseminary.com.
Daily Classes:
Ephesians/Colossians (1 credit) – An exegetical study of the Apostle Paul’s
letters to the congregations in Ephesus, Colossae.
Evangelism (2 credits) – A study of the principles and methods for Christian
outreach in one’s own church and community, including home visitation.
Isaiah (2 credits) – An exegetical study of the book of Isaiah, theories of its
development and its impact upon the New Testament.
New Testament Greek (6 prerequisite credits) – A course in the rudiments of the
language of the New Testament.
New Testament Introduction (2 credits) – An introductory study of the origin,
authorship, purpose and reliability of the New Testament writings with special
attention devoted to their literary design and individual and corporate unity.
Monday night class:
Gospel of Mark (2 credits) – An in-depth analysis of the most concise Gospel
with an emphasis on sound and segmentation.
ATTENTION: SUPPORTERS
THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SEMINARY.
Have you ever have used Amazon.com to do your shopping? Now AmazonSmile offers
the same products, same prices and same service and will also donate 0.5% of the
price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Inter-Lutheran Theological
Seminary whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
Simply log use in by using this link….
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/41-0918317
which will bring you directly to smile.amazon.com in support of our
organization.
The Thrivent Choice® program offers a way members can recommend where Thrivent
Financial distributes some of its charitable outreach funds. As a benefit
member, your ownership of Thrivent Financial products and services help make
this support possible.
Remember….If you are an eligible member 16 and older you can recommend how to
distribute Thrivent Financial charitable grant funds thought Choice Dollars®.
Member eligibility and the Choice Dollars designated are based on:
• Holding a Thrivent Financial volunteer leadership position; or
• Having $750 or more in annual premiums of qualifying
insurance products; or
• Having $20,000 or more in contract value of qualifying products.
For more information about Choice Dollars, visit http://www.Thrivent.com/thriventchoice
or call 800-847-4836 or contact your local Thrivent Financial representative.
THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING
The Inter-Lutheran Seminary has established an Endowment Fund through Thrivent
Charitable Impact & InvestingTM (formerly InFaith Community Foundation). All
earnings of the endowment will be used for the seminary’s needs thereby ensuring
the continued existence of this funding source. This is the preferred method
used by many non-profit entities, especially ongoing religiously focused
organizations such as seminaries. To learn more about this organization, go to
www.thriventcharitable.com.
We would love to grow our endowment into a major source of ongoing seminary
support. Although the seminary still needs the financial ongoing regular
contributions of our supporters, please consider the endowment fund for your
planned giving needs. For more additional information, please contact Kirk Otto,
Jr. at (715) 821-8574 or Cheryl Hendrickson at
(906) 482-3337.
PAYPAL OPTION
As always, the Inter-Lutheran Theological Seminary appreciates your continued
support.
To make it more convenient for those that prefer online donations, we have just
added a feature to our website to do just that through PayPal.
Simply go to our website (www.ilseminary.org) and click on the HOW TO CONTRIBUTE
page and then it is as simple as pressing the “DONATE” button. It will direct
you to the seminary’s PayPal form to complete. There is also an option to offset
the cost of our processing fees (1.99% + $.49) per transaction.
**PLEASE NOTE**
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the mailing list, please complete the form below and mail to: P.O. Box 449,
Hancock, MI 49930.
Or call 906-482-3337 or email: cilseminary@ilseminary.com. Thank you!
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Theological Seminary
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P.O. Box 449
Hancock, MI 49930
administrator@ilseminary.org
Phone: 906-482-3337
FAX: 906-482-0694