November Bishop’s message
God invites us to be involved
As a Christian, a pastor and now a bishop occasionally the question is asked, Why? Why are you passionate about being a Christian, pastor and bishop?
I have two simple answers to this:
- What God offers, is something far greater and far better than anything else!! A skim through the bible, especially the New Testament, makes this very clear…for instance in Revelation 21 God promises us a new future, a future without sin, pain, death and crying…
- God has invited me (and everyone else) to be part of what He calls His kingdom and His community….and being part of His kingdom and community is about receiving from God, and sharing with others what we have received….especially his Good News and the love shown through Jesus…
And as the Lutheran Church of New Zealand is working through our Mission Directions, it is very encouraging that I am part of a church that sees our number one purpose being to Connect people with Jesus.
I pray that you will be part of this focus in the Lutheran Church of New Zealand…encouraging others to connect with, meet and follow Jesus through our communities…And on my last visit the encouraging sign was in nearly all our congregations new people were connecting with Jesus through our communities….
So, I leave you with this encouragement:
- Everyday spend time connecting to Jesus through bible reading or devotion (if you need help with this send me an email)
- Who in your life do you believe would be blessed by connecting to Jesus and His love?
- Invite them to connect with you, then some of your Christian friends and then Jesus and his Good News
Bishop Richard Schwedes
Syndney, NSW
November 2025
