2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. It’s a good time to ask, what does it mean to be Lutheran? Does it mean we have the best potlucks in town? Coincidentally, we do. But that is not what makes us Lutheran. Does it mean the back pews always fill up first? No; that… Read More ›
Just like a good come-from-behind baseball game, worship begins in humility, and ends in exaltation. We begin with the humble declaration, “Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confess to you …” It kind of seems like a downer. It’s like the starting pitcher gave up a few runs and got knocked out… Read More ›
Have you ever wondered if you are praying for the right things? What if we are actually praying for things that will hurt us? What if there is something we should be praying for that we don’t know about? What if we or someone we love is missing out on God’s blessings simply because we… Read More ›
The tired, but excited band of friends sat down for the biggest meal of the year. It had been a crazy week. The city was filled with visitors from all over the country, and not a few of them were talking about Jesus. People had been wondering if Jesus might be the Messiah, and now… Read More ›
“Pastor, right before we receive the Lord’s Supper, you always read those instructions about receiving the Sacrament in a worthy manner. Why do you do that? How could we ever be worthy?” This is a great question. I have heard it in various forms, and if a few of you have asked me about it,… Read More ›
“So what does your church believe?” This is a common question when people learn that I am a pastor. Perhaps you have been asked the same thing. Whenever I am asked this question, I have a bad habit of trying to come up with a satisfactory answer on the fly. For some reason, I feel… Read More ›
There is perhaps nothing more necessary in Christian worship than the Word of God. As we continue to look at what worship is, and why we do the specific things we do, we need to take a look at the Word of God. Worship (as we talked about at the beginning of this series) is… Read More ›
Last month in this series on worship we considered the confession of sin, which does not consist merely of confessing our sins (if that were the case, it would be little more than self-deprecation), but also the promise of forgiveness in Jesus Christ (also called absolution). This month I want to consider the little song… Read More ›
As we continue to look at worship—what it is and why we do what we do when we gather on Sunday mornings—we now come to the confession of sins. Our corporate confession and absolution (just a fancy word for “forgiveness”) is the briefest snapshot of what worship is all about. It is poor sinners confessing… Read More ›
So far this year, I have been using this space to write about worship. I want to explore why we do what we do on Sunday mornings. My hope is that as we understand the meaning behind what we do, we will better appreciate it and be edified by it. In January I started with… Read More ›