Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — John’s Birth Is Announced to Zachariah—Our Advent midweek meditations prepare us to celebrate the birth of the Son of God in human flesh. This week, the Angel Garbiel announces to the priest Zachariah that he and Elizabeth will be the parents of the forerunner of the Messiah. Though he had been praying for this gift of salvation while officiating at the daily sacrifice, Zachariah doubted the Angel’s message. He is struck mute and for nine months he is given the opportunity to meditate upon the faithfulness of the Lord’s Word. Despite his doubt, the Lord kept His promise, and John was conceived and born to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. Advent is the season of kept promises. Our faith rests upon this comforting foundation of the Lord’s Word.CP241201

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Thanksgiving and Bible Readings on Prayer — During this Thanksgiving week we continue to meditate upon the Introduction and the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, together with readings on prayer and those assigned for the Day of National Thanksgiving. It is the end of the Church Year. The Gospel from Sunday bids us to “watch and pray” for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ that we might be prepared for His return. Thanksgiving is always associated with faith in Christ. The discipline of daily prayer, using the Scripture, Psalms, catechism, and hymns, prepare us for His comingCP241124

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Lord, Teach Us to Pray — From now until the first few days of the Second Sunday in Advent, the readings in the Congregation at Prayer will focus on prayer as we meditate upon the petitions to the Lord’s Prayer and their explanations from the Small Catechism. As you study these readings, keep in mind that prayer is the voice of faith that claims God’s promises to us. It rests upon His Word. We have access to God through the merits of Christ. And we have the right to cry out to God for all our needs because we are the baptized children of God. CP241117

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Strange Miracles of Elisha — The miracles performed by Elisha seem so strange and they inspire the question, “What does this mean?” Digging ditches in the middle of the desert where there is no water, so that water might spring up, should remind us of Baptism and how in the desert of this world the Lord gives life through water. The widow’s oil should remind us of how oil is a sign of the Holy Spirit who anoints us with faith and the gladness of salvation. The resurrection of the Shunammite’s son naturally flows out of the lessons of this week’s first two miracles. The promise of Holy Baptism is the anointing of the Spirit and the promise of the resurrection. The miracle of feeding during the famine should point us to the Lord’s Supper and how the Lord feeds us in the wilderness of this world with His body and blood. The floating axe head, the strangest of all, should remind us of John the Baptist’s ministry of repentance. The axe was laid at the root of the trees that God might bring life out of death through repentance and faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. CP241110v2

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Still Small Voice of the Lord is Powerful to Save — While the Prophet Elijah was isolated in a cave in the wilderness upon Mount Horeb, the Lord appeared to Him to strengthen him under the suffering of being hunted down by Queen Jezebel. The Lord taught him that he should look for God’s strength, comfort, and deliverance not in displays of spectacular power (a violent wind or a destructive earthquake), but rather in the delicate whispering of God’s Word which has the power to comfort, sustain, and strengthen His children. We need to learn this lesson too. The theology of the cross teaches us that God so often strengthens faith and grants wisdom and understanding through the things that we suffer. We learn to believe this through faith in the suffering and death of Christ on our behalf. Out of His suffering and death, we hear the quiet, yet powerful voice of the Lord’s forgiveness that sees us through the struggles of life.CP241103

Catechesis Notes for the Week — St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles; Founders Day; and The Reformation — 62 years ago, October 28, 1962, our congregation was formerly established and became a member of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Our founding took place on the minor festival of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles, and during the week in which we annually commemorate the recovery of the Gospel of the justification of the sinner before God, by grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake. How fitting that our congregation’s beginnings should be framed by this backdrop. St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles: “The two apostles whose feast day is celebrated together on 28 October. The first of the two is sometimes called ‘the Canaanite’ or ‘the Zealot.’ Apart from his call and listing with the Twelve, there are no other references to him in the New Testament. The second of the two is the son of James the Elder, which makes him the grandson of Zebedee and the nephew of John. He is the other ‘Judas’ in the listing of the Twelve, although he is not generally referred to by that name because of the association with Judas Iscariot. He is also called ‘Lebbaeus’ or ‘Thaddaeus,’ which are Hebrew and Aramaic names that mean ‘one who is close to the heart’ or ‘a beloved one.’ On Maundy Thursday evening, this disciple asked Jesus the question, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’ (John 14:22-23).” [Excerpted from N.T. Catechesis] What a wonderful word from our Lord for the celebration of the Reformation and the observance of our congregation’s anniversary. May we ever love Him who loved us and hold fast to His Word.CP241027

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Judgment Against Apostasy and the Persecution of the Faithful—This week’s Bible narrative highlights the apostasy of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. The prophet Ahijah pronounced the Lord’s judgment against the house of Jeroboam and gave his kingdom to another. He had done more evil than all those who came before him. A similar judgment was pronounced against Rehoboam for the same reason. The Temple treasury and its sacred vessels were robbed by the king of Egypt. The backsliding of both kingdoms would continue after the deaths of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Despite their apostasy, the Lord would send faithful prophets to call them to repentance. Elijah was sent into the northern kingdom with the Lord’s Word, but his faithful proclamation of the Word resulted in persecution from King Ahab and his Phoenician Queen Jezebel. The life of a faithful prophet is marked by suffering, loneliness, rejection, and persecution, just as Jesus would face. But such persecution and suffering for the Lord’s sake is, itself, a sign that the prophet has been faithful to the Lord. The widow of Zarephath received Elijah and provided for him during the drought as a confession of faith that the God of Israel was the only true and living God.CP241020

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord — The magnificent wise reign of King Solomon ended with him turning from the Lord and accommodating the false pagan worship of his many wives. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but the compromising of his faith in the Lord ushered into Israel the poison of false doctrine, false worship, and the unbridled pursuit of satisfying the appetites of the flesh. As a result of his sins of unfaithfulness, the Lord divided Israel into two nations. The northern kingdom of Israel was led by Jeroboam who ushered in a liturgy that kept the citizens of the north from worshiping in Jerusalem. The southern kingdom of Judah was led by Rehoboam who had none of the wisdom of his father Solomon but began a tyrannical reign of high taxes that forced the northern tribes to revolt. May these lessons from the Old Testament warn us of the dangers of compromising our faith and following our fleshly appetites.CP241013

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Solomon’s Temple — This week’s history of the Old Testament Church focuses upon the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was a replica of the portable Tabernacle, but on a larger scale. The same appointments that were in the Tabernacle were part of the Temple. Most notably, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies behind the curtain. The Ark of the Covenant represented Christ. The “mercy-seat” upon which the cherubim gazed, was the lid of the Ark and the place where the High Priest offered the blood and water in atonement for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement. Jesus made atonement for our sins upon the altar of the cross, and we are sprinkled with His blood through the water of Holy Baptism. Jesus is the true Ark of the Promise of salvation. He was conceived and born in the flesh and “tabernacles among us” by the wisdom of His Gospel and the life-giving power of His Sacraments.CP241006

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Solomon’s Kingdom at Its Best — This week’s Biblical narratives describe the reign of King Solomon before he began to pursue the appetites of the flesh. Solomon rightly asked for wisdom. He did not ask for wealth or other fleeting temporal blessings. The Lord granted his request and bestowed upon him the gift of a wise and discerning heart. This was the Lord’s gift and not anything for which Solomon could boast. His wisdom is on display this week in how he handles the two harlots in a dispute about their children. His kingdom was established upon the promises God made to David, and he built the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem to be the location of God’s divine services in the Old Testament Church. The good qualities we see this week in King Solomon are prophetic types of the ultimate Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. He would build a kingdom, speak eternal wisdom, and establish a peace that would never end.CP240929