Peace Lutheran Church Sussex, Wisconsin

Congregation at Prayer

Monthly Archives: January 2025

Catechism: Sacrament of Holy Baptism—Part IV

January 26, 2025

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — Confess Your Trespasses to One Another — “I’m sorry! Forgive me!” These are the words of daily contrition and repentance. “I forgive you!” These are the words of new life from God and the life we share with one another. There is nothing more central to the baptismal life of a Christian than to live by faith in the undeserved mercy of God in Christ and to share that mercy within the body of Christ. It brings constant healing and renewal. This is the meaning of this week’s Bible Verse: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We are righteous by faith in Christ and He desires that we pray for one another so that our consciences are healed by Christ’s forgiveness shared within the body of Christ. This emphasis upon confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another that we might be healed by Christ’s forgiveness is what the third section of the Catechism is about. The plural pronouns in the passage from Romans indicate that we are all joined together by our Baptism into Christ so that His undeserved forgiving grace might shape our lives. “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”CP250126

Catechism: Sacrament of Holy Baptism — Part III

January 19, 2025

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — Baptism’s Power is in the Word — The Catechism states that “the Word of God in and with the water” of Holy Baptism is what gives Baptism its power to work “forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, and give eternal salvation to all who believe this.” Take away the Word and you have nothing but water; but with the Word you have a life-giving water, rich in grace, and the washing of the rebirth in the Holy Spirit. The Bible Stories for this week continue to highlight the power of the Word in, with, and under the water of Baptism. By the Word of the Lord the heavens were opened for forty days and forty nights in the divine judgment of the great flood and Noah and his family were saved through water. By the Word of the Lord, God saved the children of Israel through the water of the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh and his armies. By the Word of the Lord, the waters of the Jordan parted, and Israel was drawn into the promised land. By the Word of the Lord, the water of the Jordan cleansed Naaman of his leprosy and even brought him to the faith that confessed that the God of Israel was, indeed, the Lord and the only true God. In all of these stories, there are two common themes. First, the water was very very real, it was not a symbol, and it carried both the condemnation and the salvation of God. Second, the Word of God itself was real, and God joined Himself to the water by His Word in order to accomplish His saving work. To despise the water was to despise the Word. To despise the Word was to reject the water. The water and the Word were inseparably joined together by God. Why is this so important? It is by the Word in tangible water that we come to receive salvation and that we come to know that salvation with absolute and unshakeable certainty.CP250119

Catechism: Sacrament of Holy Baptism—Parts I and II

January 12, 2025

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — — I Must Be About My Father’s Business—Jesus was the living pattern of the psalmist’s words, “Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells” (Ps. 26:8). From the time of His infancy He lived faithfully under the Law. He was circumcised on the 8th day. He was presented to the Lord in the Temple at the age of 40 days. He observed every Sabbath. He journeyed to Jerusalem for every pilgrim feast. And at 12-years of age, as he begins to take on the responsibilities of a man, He is found in the Temple, both listening to the teachers and asking them questions. The adults who were charged with teaching the Word were amazed at the understanding and answers of the 12-year-old Jesus. To live in God’s Word – this is the Father’s business for Jesus and for us. There is no greater calling.CP250112

Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer — Seventh Petition and the Conclusion

January 5, 2025

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Catechesis Notes for the Week — “Rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.” This is the last week of our intensive meditation upon the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray the Seventh Petition, “but deliver us from evil,” we might be tempted to conclude that we are asking that “evil” never rear its head in our lives. This misses the mark. Evil will come into our lives in the form of Satan’s attacks upon our “body and soul, possessions and reputation.” Holy Scripture makes this clear. We will not be spared from being attacked. God wills that the attacks of evil against us serve the cause of faith. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will answer you and you shall glorify Me.” Therefore, in the Seventh Petition we are asking that God would preserve our faith in Christ when we are assaulted by the Evil One, and teach us to commend ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, with all that we are and have, into His gracious keeping. The Word of our Lord teaches us that He will not forsake His own. If He allows evil to enter into our lives, then He does so for good purposes and for the exercise of faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This petition promises the Christian: “God will not allow the Evil One or any adversity to overwhelm you.” By this petition He invites you to trust this promise and to call upon Him in your need. CP250105