Day 193: Mission Focus Norway

DAY 193

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-eight    Wednesday 23 September 2020

Mission Focus: Norway

Norway is one of four northern European nations where, during the Reformation, the Lutheran church became the state church and remained so until 2017. However, the Lutheran church is still the church of the bulk of the population with full freedom of religion extended to all religious entities. Unlike the state churches in the rest of Europe, the Lutheran church in Norway has in the past had many pastors who were soundly evangelical in their beliefs and preaching. As that becomes less the case, Norwegians increasingly reflect the secular worldview of their neighboring Scandinavian Lutheran countries. The Norwegian Lutheran immigrants to the United States in the latter half of the 19^th century brought this Lutheran faith with them and to this day are more religious than their European cousins. 

Prayer Focus

+ Pray for a new wave of genuine revival experienced in the Lutheran church of the past.

+ Pray for Lutheran pastors to be ignited by the Scriptures they read in church each Sunday.  

+ Pray for young people who are disproportionately secular in their worldview.

+ Pray for small groups of immigrants, including Buddhist Sinhalese with only 2-3% Christian.

+ Pray for small non-Lutheran evangelical and Pentecostal churches seeking to bear witness to

   the Gospel, but are looked at warily as they are not part of the traditional Lutheran church. 

+ Pray for the small but faithful missionary organizations seeking to reach out from Norway

   to the world with the Gospel.

+ Pray that as they sing their national anthem, below, Norwegians will truly “praise the Lord.”

Jesus’ Prayer Request each Wednesday:

“’The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest,

therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Jesus - Matthew 9:37-38.

For additional information on praying for the world,

go to: operationworld.org.

Reflective question: What is God putting in your heart to pray for the precious people of Norway? Will you pray that prayer for the next week?

Reflective Scripture: 1 Chronicles 16:24 – “Declare his glory among the nations,…”

Reflective hymn:

Norwegian National Anthem – verse 7 – Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1832-1910)

Men of Norway, be your dwelling cottage, house or farm,

Praise the Lord who all compelling sav’d our land from harm.

Not the valor of a father on the battlefield nor a mother’s tears,

But rather God for us our vict’ry sealed.