The Kingdom Church

Dr. Robert Schmidt Editor’s Note: For an preliminary article to this one, see Dr. Schmidt’s earlier essay, “Evangelism of the Kingdom,” The Daystar Journal (Summer 2019). Jesus’ Evangelism Message Jesus’ good news was that God’s Kingdom was at hand, it was near. It was good news because the people knew the promises of the prophets….
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Evangelism of the Kingdom

Robert Schmidt* Introduction Yes. there is  the Lutheran “Law and Gospel” approach,”  Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws,” and Evangelism Explosion’s question, “How do you think you can get into heaven”?  But now, hesitant to make evangelism calls, we recently have tried to make the church more attractive to others. If they come, they will hear…
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2,400,000 & Subtracting – 100,000,000 & Adding

David Stein Editorial Note: David T. Stein, a past-president of DayStar, is emeritus and living in Leander, Texas. He continues to teach at Concordia University, Austin. Recent membership statistics produced by Missouri Synod headquarters indicate that we are in a significant downward spiral with losses numbering in the thousands. In round figures our branch of…
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Rethinking Evangelism in America

Robert Schmidt* *Robert Schmidt served as a missionary to Nigeria in the 1960s, a campus pastor at several universities, and a professor of theology at Concordia University in Portland. A fuller treatment of “The Coming Kingdom” was recently published in the Nov. 2013 issue of Missio Apostolica – The Lutheran Society for Missiology.   The…
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The Purpose of the Church

            The Epiphany (Winter) Issue of the Daystar Journal will be devoted to the mission of the church.  It is a very pertinent topic and was the subject of a recent LCMS conference. Our first article addresses the question, “What Is the Purpose of the Local Church?”             The question has particular relevance to small…
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