Christian liturgy is a study in steady. May all the Baptized be deeply impressed by its perseverance throughout time and place. In pondering such matters let us first remember that Holy Communion is Christian liturgy, and Christian liturgy is Holy Communion. Let us know, too, that all that the Baptized say and do within this sacred assemblage: the order of Service, the p...

December 7, 1941 was declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "A Date Which Will Live In Infamy". But may all Americans come to think of January 22, 1973 as one even more infamous: the date the U.S. Supreme court opened the floodgates for abortion. The day that America began to eat her young: with ever more ravenous appetite each passing day. America has lost her way! ...

Just like there are three Scripture lessons assigned for each Sunday of the church year, so there is a Psalm assigned as well. Unfortunately western liturgy makes no provision for its reading in worship. But we should be aware it is there and make use of it at least for private devotions. The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 29 and it reads as follows: A Psalm of David. As...

If we are open to the fact that the gospels are actual liturgy (as well as lectionary and catechism) we can see a piece of the church's most primitive liturgy in vss 16 and 17 of Sunday's gospel. Whenever something can easily be divided into versicle and response it is a strong indicator in my mind that that is exactly what it was / is. It is easy to imagine in the primit...

"And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb." (Luke 2:21) Today, on the 8th Day of Christmas, the church celebrates the Lord's circumcision. The most profound of all the Christian mysteries is the Lord's incarnation and the first proof of it is the Feast we celebrate today....

Dear Members and Friends of CLC, May this most blessed season of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany fill you with joy and gladness because God has intervened into the wretched affairs of men with life and salvation. He has put death to flight and gives us the remission of our sins, life and salvation, and "this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:12) If we have taken full advanta...

St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:8 "We are perplexed but not driven to despair ... " What a wonderful theological thought that is! Paul, in his work as Christ's ambassador,suffered every kind of opposition and abuse that his many enemies could hand out. He gives a detailed list in 2 Corinthians 11:23 - 12:10. And in chapter one he writes, "For we don't want you to be u...

Beloved in Christ it is impossible to deal with, and do justice to, the rich array of lessons given the church each Sunday. Each Lord's (Christ's) Day we have a rich fare set before us, the equivalent of several Thanksgiving meals at once: more than we could ever eat. But that is how generous our heavenly Father is! And while no one wants to get fat these days, there is no...

Thoughtful Words to Ponder by 20th century Lutheran Pastor and Martyr Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is not we who build. [Christ] builds the church. No man builds the church but Christ alone. Whoever is minded to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confesshe builds. We must...

What is the state of the confessing church in our day? A confessing church is one that holds Scripture to be authoritative divine revelation: the very Word of God. It is, further, a church that is ruled and normed by written confessions to which its pastors and members bind themselves. The LCMS, which confesses the Book of Concord, is such a church. Those who practice a c...