Why God Gave Us Muslim Neighbors

Today we had the privilege of hearing Pastor John Spaulding as our guest preacher. A former missionary in Senegal, West Africa, Pastor John now serves in the Twin Cities. He gave a great sermon and a very helpful seminar on how we can share the Christian faith with Muslims.

Did you know there are about 100,000 Muslims living in the Twin Cities and 100 mosques there? God knows about that, and God is not surprised! In fact, if John is right, God may very well have had a hand in bringing them here! We are called to love these new neighbors as we love ourselves, to not bear false witness against them,* and to share with them, as we are able, the good news of God's love in Christ.

*There are two senses in which we can violate the commandment about "not bearing false witness" in regard to our Muslim neighbors. We can spread rumors about them and assume every Muslim is allied with terrorism, or, on the other hand, we can deny or ignore the real differences between our communities and resist the idea that Christians have a message that Muslims need to hear.

If you would like to hear Pastor John's entire sermon, contact the church office at 320-286-5964 or email me at sthorson@elchome.net. Or, you can listen to part of it by clicking here.

Here is some information from the organization that Pastor John directs:

Christians Meeting Muslims seeks to promote relationships of understanding, respect and friendship between Christian and Muslim people, and to encourage and
equip Christian congregations and individuals to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ to their Muslim neighbors.

Rev. John Spaulding served as a pastor in Senegal, a predominantly Muslim West
African country, and has an M.Th. degree in Islamic Studies from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

He is able to serve your group or organization as a resource in a variety of ways:

• Introduction to Islam and Christian Witness to Muslims
• Presentations on “Islam as a Challenge to Christian Faith, Hope and Love”
• Specially-tailored presentations on Christian-Muslim topics
• Longer courses on Islam, Muslims and Christian Witness
• Facilitating mosque visits or other dialogue opportunities
• Small-group mentoring / training

Call or e-mail for details, references, suggestions for your situation: 612-669-1058, email spaulding.john@yahoo.com.

Tax-deductible gifts to this ministry may be made to: St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1901 Portland Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404. Please note “Christians Meeting Muslims” or “CMM” on the memo line.

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