Evangelical Missiological Society, "EMS Southwest Regional Meeting", April 4th 2024

Jonathan Ruehs Concordia University, Irvine

“And Behold, I am with You Always, to the End of the Age” – Sacramental Union and Missions: A Lutheran Approach

Jesus concludes his Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 with the promise that He will be with His disciples always. What does it mean that Jesus is with us? Why is this important to mission work? This paper will examine these questions from a Lutheran theological perspective, which interprets the words of Christ being with us as a sacramental union (i.e., baptism and the Lord’s Supper). Furthermore, the position will be that this sacramental union is how we are called to “Go…and make disciples of all nations.”