Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And so along with Peter, James, and John, Andrew, Philip, and Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddeus, and Simon, Matthias preached this. These words that he had heard from Jesus' lips, and saw Jesus fulfill. For that was one of the requirements of being placed into this office of apostle: he had to have accompanied the twelve all through Jesus' public ministry, and be an eye witness of the resurrected Jesus. For apostles provided first hand testimony of what Jesus said, what Jesus did, and who Jesus was.