What does it mean to assert that Scripture is, first, a liturgical text: and not a catalog of doctrines as it is so often conceived of? It means that the Gospels were written forthe church,to be read by the church, to the church, in the church. It means that the Gospels are not only information about our Lord's earthly mission, and the world's salvation -- they certainly a...

It was our intention to learn about the Salutation and Collect last week, but we got side-tracked into a fruitful discussion about Eucharistic Sacrifice instead. We will visit that subject again when we get to the Liturgy of the Sacrament. Speaking of which let us take a moment to remember that there are two major divisions in Christian worship. The earlier part of the Se...

It seems to me that the most embattled doctrine of the Christian religion is not the Divinity of Christ, the Cross, Baptism or Justification By Grace, but the Eucharist. There is a reason. "THIS CUP is the New Testament." The celebration of the Eucharist constitutes the practice of the holy Christian religion. Apart from joining in it the Faith is but head knowledge, and...

The traditional Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent is the Palm Sunday GospelMark 11:1-10. What do they have in common? They are both about Jesus coming. Jesus delivering himself into evil, to deliver us from it. The occasions are different, but the mission the same. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief." (1 Timothy 1:15). Yet, this ...

Here is my translation and explanation of theEpistle for Sunday. 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and (our) Lord, JesusChrist. 4 I make Eucharist to my God always on your behalf because ofthe grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in allthings you have been made rich in him, in every utterance and allknowledge, 6 even as the Testimony of ...

Last week we did get an audio recording of the class, but the quality was low, so we'll pass on that idea for now. Last week we discussed the various names of the Sunday assembly. Most Protestants call it The Service, or The Worship Service. Lutherans in recent years have changed their terminology and call it Divine Service, or The Divine Service. Rome calls it The Mass, ...

O God, absolve your people from their offenses that, from the bonds of our sins which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by your bountiful goodness: through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. The Collectis a prayer peculiar to Western Liturgy. You won't find...

Gentle Reader, please consider this "retake" on the translation and interpretation of St. Paul's epistle to Philemon. This "book" or "letter" is usually taken to be little more than a diplomatic request by Paul on behalf of the run away slave Onesimus. It is that, but much more! Have your Bible handy as you read this, and those who are so able, your Greek N.T. v. 1 Like a...

Last week, once again, we had a technical failure when it came to the audio recording of the class. We will try one more time, tomorrow. If it works, it will be posted here, and the recordings will continue. What I'd like is a GoPro camera setup that takes care of all those problems, and gives us a video recording as well. It would be nice to post it on the chruch website....

Last Sunday I posted Part 1 of this study, this is a continuation of it. I tried to make a voice recording, but there was an equipment failure. Today I hope we can do better. If so I will post it on the blog. Today in the pastor's class we will continue our study of three words: Lutheran, Service / Liturgy, and Book. In order to understand Service or Liturgy (which are sy...