Monthly Archives: September 2019

Book of Concord Bible Class, Pt. 1: Introduction

Posted on by

This Bible class is the beginning of a 9-month course on the Book of Concord, the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.  A creed is a summary statement of the religious belief of a certain group of people. We begin this course by responding to five common reasons which groups give for being non-creedal (or even anti-creedal). After that, we examine the five ways in which creeds have served the church.

Note: At the beginning of each class, there will be a 5-minute quiz, which will be included in the links below. Immediately after the quiz, we will go over the answers to that quiz.  If you don’t want to hear the answers, take the quiz first, then start the audio of the class.  Written answers will be included in the second link, which is present class outline.

Non-creedal (or even anti-creedal):

  1. The Bible alone: No creed but the Bible
  2. Sinful man is incapable of making a sinless statement of faith.
  3. Experience: No creed but Jesus
  4. Creeds impinge on the individual Christian’s freedom of conscience by establishing a “binding authoritative confessions of faith”
  5. Creeds divide, rather than unite people

 Why have creeds?

  1. Liturgical: Profession of catholic faith (i.e. universal, the faith of the Christian church), Standard to the World
  2. Ministers: A guide for preaching/instruction, Principle of Interpretation, Meaning of Scripture.  It tells what is most important or the guiding principles.
  3. Discipline: State the truth in response to heresy. Serves as signposts to Heresy – shutting out the heretic, and setting boundaries for authentic Christian theology and life.
  4. Baptism: Teaching for conversion to the Christian faith (into which one is baptized)
  5. Holy Communion: Catechetical teaching for the baptized, Catechism

Quiz #1 (Green sheet):  Quiz-for-Sep-1-Book-of-Concord-Introduction.pdf
Handouts (white sheet with answers to the quiz on the back):  Book-of-Concord-Intro-Student-Guide.pdf

The following is a reading guide (through December) for those who would like to read along with us.
Reading Guide for Tappert, Kolb, English only of Triglotta, Concordia Reader’s Edition: Book-of-Concord-Reading-2019-2020-Chart-1-Page-1-2.pdf
Reading Guide for Triglotta, Jacobs, Henkel, Die BekenntnisSchriften, Tappert, Kolb: Book-of-Concord-Reading-2019-2020-Chart-2-pages-1-2.pdf

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

39A Creation: A Growing Chasm

Posted on by

“Many of our Christian leaders, Sunday school teachers, and parents have got a foot on both side of the widening chasm—straddling between the ‘Greek’ side and the ‘Jewish’ side….
They are all really ‘Greek’ in their thinking about this topic.  And I find the pastor is ‘Greek’ also because he went to a ‘Greek’ seminary….     Actually, the whole world is really ‘Greek’ to one degree or another.  All of us, to some extent, have been influenced by this ‘Greek way of thinking.
If you want to deal with this growing chasm in the culture, then the only solution is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.  However, for this to effectively happen, the gospel must be presented in a way that those hearing the message will understand” (Gospel Reset by Ken Ham, p.88-91).

#54 Undisciplined Children Because of “Natural Love” Dishonors 4th Commandment

Posted on by

3. There is still another kind of dishonoring of parents, much more dangerous and subtle than this first, [a dishonoring] which decks itself out and lets itself be regarded as a true honoring of parents. That is when a child has its own way and the parents allow it to do so out of natural love. In this case they honor one another and love one another. On all sides it is a precious thing; the mother and father are pleased and the child is pleased.

This plague is so common that instances of the first kind of dishonoring are very rarely seen. This second kind of dishonoring arises from the fact that the parents have been blinded and neither know nor honor God in the sense of the first three commandments. For this reason they cannot see what the children lack, or how they ought to teach them and bring them up. It is only to please men and to get ahead that they train their children for worldly honors, pleasure, and possessions. The children like this, and, of course, they obey very gladly without any back talk. (Luther’s Works, v. 44 p.82-83).