Immigration has been a hot topic in the news in recent months. Those headlines stoke fears. They elicit fear over who may be coming to our country and fear of who may be deported from our country. Fear leaves us, as God’s people, guarded, preventing us from extending the love of God in Christ to our immigrant neighbors. In the lineage of Jesus, we find a moving story of Jesus’ own immigrant ancestors. In the gospel of Jesus we find a mystery revealed that all nations, all people, regardless of where they may be in this world’s geography, are partakers of the same promise of forgiveness through God’s love in Christ. This month’s Six Mission Minutes offers a Christ-centered response to immigration issues. It is a few more than six minutes this month, but we hope you find it is “vale la pena” (translated into English, which means “watching it is worth the effort”).
It is also worth checking out the resources below from the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations. They offer a Lutheran Christian perspective on issues of immigration, which seeks to uphold the civil laws while loving our immigrant neighbors, whether documented or undocumented, in tangible ways with the love of God in Christ. Use these for your own personal growth, for small group study, for church leader groups, or for congregational Bible study. Let God’s Word, rather than the headlines, shape your perspective on immigration.
Immigrants Among Us – CTCR Booklet
Immigrants Among Us – CTCR Bible Study
Six Mission Minutes: God’s Love Knows No Borders
