A dust covered jeep winds its way down the barren, yet beautiful, two-lane road. Hitting a never-ending series of potholes, the car jostles and jumps. The missionary driving grabs a tighter hold on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as he attempts to keep his trusty car on the road while also protecting his body from the constant jerking.

The town, though it can hardly be called one, is nothing more than a speck on the map. An overlooked village with a haphazard grid of dirt roads and mismatched houses - small, pre-fabricated houses that sometimes house extended families vying for space and resources. A dilapidated old mill stands on the edge of town, a reminder of an effort to pull the community out of poverty, now overrun with grass and dust.

In the wide sense, the visible church includes all who are seen together around the sacred Word of God and the Sacraments. This, of course, includes hypocrites and evil persons who mingle with believers, including (it is sad to say) some pastors and leaders of the church organization.

In the narrow sense, the invisible church includes all who genuinely have faith in Christ, an aspect of church that cannot be seen. Fellowship around, in, and through the Word and Sacraments define unity in the faith.

It is true, hungering and thirsting are no blessings, but neither are they curses to a truly righteous soul, or a soul that truly seeketh after and studieth righteousness. 

All true subjection to the kingdom begins with that accurate, because lowly, estimate of ourselves. Humility is life, lofty mindedness is death. The heights are barren, rivers and fertility are down in the valleys.

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Jesus called his followers to work in teams of two. We should not overlook Jesus' wisdom.

[In performing miracles of healing], Christ showed His message of mercy to man, and revealed the nature of that redemption of the race which He began by living and dying for the world. In no other way could He so deeply have impressed the world with the distinctive character of His redeeming power.

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