Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

As Christian witnesses, if you had only 30 seconds to share something with someone, what is the one thing that person needs to hear? Deciding what to say wouldn’t be a matter of searching through Scripture to find something that's worthy of taking those 30 seconds. God’s Word is so rich… so full of life-giving, life-affirming, and life-transforming words, that it's difficult to narrow down to just one verse or two verses. 

Ephesians 2:8-10 would be a wonderful text to choose. Pastor Eibel gave a wonderful word with those verses in his sermon this past Sunday. But today I’m not going to choose those verses to share with you. I'm actually going to go to Romans 10:13, where Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes…

‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Today, I chose this verse for our 30 seconds to share the Word of witness upon my lips, because we call on a lot of names. We call out a lot of names, and we put a lot of trust into different men and women. But there is no other name; no other person this side of heaven that can save us.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is saved from sin, from the wrath of God, from the punishment of sin and the day of Judgment. We are brought into communion with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And nothing can separate us from his love. Nothing can take away the gift of righteousness that we have in him.

So there is a 30-second verse that you can have upon your lips to share with someone today. As disciples, we are called to be witnesses; to bring a word of goodness, joy, and transforming love of God to those around us.  

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much that when we call upon you, we are promised that we are saved.   We thank you for your unending love and mercy. We ask that you would put your Word upon our lips, that whoever we may come across today, in those 30 second divine appointments, that we would be able to speak of your goodness, your grace, and your mercy. Lord, let us always call upon your name in the sure promise that we are saved by grace through faith. Lord, we lift this all to you in the saving name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a wonderful rest of your week. I look forward to worshiping with you this Reformation Sunday. 

God bless.

Pastor Malinak