VISIT, O Lord, this Vine, which Thou hast brought out of the Egypt of troubles with Thy strong right hand; that quickened by the light of Thy countenance, it may be glad with the plenteousness of good fruits in Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. (Oremus: Collects, Devotions, Litanies From Ancient and Modern Sources, Edited by Paul Zeller Strodach, Augsburg Publishing House, 1925).
Author Archive: luther
#1 A Communion of Saints
Well then, setting aside various writings and analyses of the word “church,” we shall this time confine ourselves simply to the Children’s Creed, which says, “I believe in one holy Christian church, the communion of saints.” Here the creed clearly indicates what the church is, namely, a communion of saints, that is, a crowd assembly of people who are Christians and holy, which is called a Christian holy assembly, or church…. . Now there are many peoples in the world; the Christians, however, are a people with a special call and are therefore called not just ecclesia, “church,” or “people,” but sancta catholica Christiana, that is, “a Christian holy people” who believe in Christ. That is why they are called a Christian people and have the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies them daily, not only through the forgiveness of sin acquired for them by Christ (as the Antinomians foolishly believe), but also through the abolition, the purging, and the mortification of sins, on the basis of which they are called a holy people. Thus the “holy Christian church” is synonymous with a Christian and holy people or, as one is also wont to express it, with “holy Christendom,” or “whole Christendom.” The Old Testament uses the term “God’s people. (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.143-144)
Picture: In June of 2019, our congregation took a road trip to St. Louis. This year’s pictures are from a tour of Historic Trinity Evangelical Lutheran in the Soulard Market area. The first records of this congregation date to 1839 establishing it as the oldest Lutheran congregation west of the Mississippi. O.H. Walther was installed as her first pastor on June 9, 1839. The present structure is third church building and dates to 1864. There was a building restoration in 1980, but the pulpit, baptismal font, etc. still date from 1842. C.F.W. Walther was the congregation’s second pastor.
Sermon Thanksgiving Day Nov 28, 2019
Sermon on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 2019)
The sermon text is Psalm 100 and the title is “Godly Contentment.”
Picture from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Des Peres. This sermon wasn’t delivered there. I visited there for an American Kantorei concert on November 17, 2019 and heard four Bach cantatas, one of which was BMV 156.
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Book Of Concord Bible Class #10: Article XXI
We remember the saints, but we do not invoke them. This Bible study examines article twenty-one of the Augsburg Confession.
Quiz #10 (tan sheet): Quiz-10-for-Nov-24-Augsburg-Confession-Art-20-21.pdf
Handout 1: Handout-Articles-of-the-Augsburg-Confession-Overview-Nov-3.pdf
Overhead: AC-articles-18-21.pdf
(Picture: It is never too early to begin studying God’s Word.)
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51A Creation: “Baconian” Philosophy
“The influence of ‘Baconian’ philosophy has progressively caused the Church to disconnect the Bible from the real world—it is relegated to a book of stories, albeit with wonderful teachings about salvation and morality…. Each generation, though, became more and more consistent—if the Bible’s history is not true, how can the rest of it be true? If the earthly teachings can’t be trusted—how can the spiritual teachings be believed?
The result today is that increasing numbers of people no longer see the Bible as relevant, and so they reject its morality and salvation” (Gospel Reset by Ken Ham, p.123-124).
#72 Temporal Government Needs Wise Men to Rule
After all, temporal government has to continue.18 Are we then to permit none but louts and boors to rule, when we can do better than that? That would certainly be a crude and senseless policy. We might as well make lords out of swine and wolves, and set them to rule over those who refuse to give any thought to how they are ruled by men. Moreover, it is barbarous wickedness to think no further than this: We will rule now; what concern is it of ours how they will fare who come after us? Not over human beings, but over swine and dogs should such persons rule who in rifling seek only their own profit or glory. Even if we took the utmost pains to develop a group of able, learned, and skilled people for positions in government, there would still be plenty of labor and anxious care involved in seeing that things went well. What then is to happen if we take no pains at all? (Luther’s Works, v. 45 p. 357).
50A Creation: At Church … but at School
“This ‘real’ history the world teaches encompasses such things as the earth is billions of years old; man evolved from ape-like ancestors; the Bible has nothing to do with science; the ‘big bang’ brought the universe into existence; there was no Adam and Eve; there was no Fall into sin; the evidence of animals changing (by mutation and natural selection) is deceptively equated with molecules-to-man evolution; the Bible teaches religion, but school teach ‘real’ science, etc.” (Gospel Reset by Ken Ham, p.120-121).
Book of Concord Bible Class #9: Article XX
In this Bible study we finish up article twenty of the Augsburg Confession.
Quiz #9 (blue sheet): Quiz-9-for-Nov-17-Augsburg-Confession-Art-18-20.pdf
Handout 1: Handout-Articles-of-the-Augsburg-Confession-Overview-Nov-3.pdf
Overhead: AC-articles-18-21.pdf
(Picture is of Salem Lutheran Church, Malone, TX)
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#71 The Universal Dearth of Wise and Competent Men
Since a city should and must have [educated] people, and since there is a universal dearth of them and complaint that they are nowhere to be found, we dare not wait until they grow up of themselves; neither can we carve them out of stone nor hew them out of wood. Nor will God perform miracles as long as men can solve their problems by means of the other gifts he has already granted them. Therefore, we must do our part and spare no labor or expense to produce and train such people ourselves. For whose fault is it that today our cities have so few capable people? Whose fault, if not that of authorities, who have left the young people to grow up like saplings in the forest, and have given no thought to their instruction and training? This is also why they have grown to maturity so misshapen that they cannot be used for building purposes, but are mere brushwood, fit only for kindling fires (Luther’s Works, v. 45 p. 356-357).
49A Creation: Spiritual Teachings and History
“Much of the church has adopted the spiritual teachings of the Bible (the message of morality and salvation—even that is somewhat questionable today with so much compromise on Genesis in the church!), but has rejected a significant amount of its history. The is, to most, a book of stories containing important ‘truths.’ But the history (particularly in the early chapters of Genesis) is not viewed as important –or even real.” (Gospel Reset by Ken Ham, p.119).