Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — “I Am the Lord Your God and Savior! Trust Me!” The first week of a new catechetical year begins another pilgrimage through the Six Chief Parts and Table of Duties from the Small Catechism. During this week we hear the Holy Trinity speak to us in the first two commandments. “Trust Me!” (First Commandment) and “Pray to Me!” (Second Commandment). It is as if He were saying, “I am the only true and living God. I have created You. I have redeemed and sanctified You. I love You with an everlasting love. I have called you by My name—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the waters of Holy Baptism. There is no other God and Savior! Trust Me! I will take care of you!” This is the deep meaning of the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods!” There is only one true and living God who provides for all that we need for our life and salvation. All other things or people that we might trust in have not made us, nor can they save us. The Three Men in the Fiery Furnace and Daniel cast into the Lions’ Den showed forth this miracle of faith. In the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord Your God,” we are called to pray to the Lord for everything, to always praise Him, and to give thanks to Him, even for the difficulties and hardships of life. Through the things we suffer He calls us to trust in Him and to pray to Him for help. Our Lord demonstrates this in Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane. In contrast, Peter Denies His Lord gives us an example of the swearing that is forbidden under the Second Commandment.  Thus the first and second commandments go together. Out of the proper trust of the heart (first commandment) we pray (second commandment), “calling upon His name in every trouble, praying, praising, and giving of thanks.” This week’s verse is the Creed of ancient Israel, the Shema Israel, which means “Hear, O Israel!” What we cannot do by our own reason or strength, God gives by His Word and Spirit. “Hearing” speaks of faith. We confess what is true. There is only one true God. We love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength because He has opened our hearts by His Word to trust in Him above all things.

Catechesis Notes for the Week —Summer Stories from St. Luke: The celebration of the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord is on Monday with Mary’s visit of her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary is called a saint, not because she has no sin, but because she was called to faith and to be the mother of our Lord by a gift of God’s grace. In the same way, we are all called and chosen by grace alone. Christ’s forgiving righteousness calls us saints. Mary was honored to be the mother of God’s Son. The incarnation of the Son of God in human flesh means that Jesus partakes of our flesh and blood in every way in order to redeem us from all sin and every weakness of our sinful flesh. The account of the Widow’s Two Mites contrasts the false faith of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes with the true faith of the widow who, without pretense or an attempt to justify herself before others, put into the Temple treasury all that she had. Jesus’ catechesis during Holy Week then shifts to a discussion of the Signs of the End and the Destruction of Jerusalem. The destruction of the Temple, the rise of false doctrine, wars, earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and persecution will all characterize the end times before the Second Coming of Christ. Finally, the Parable of the Fig Tree concludes Jesus’ catechesis on the end times. As the change in the leaves of the fig tree indicate that summer is near, so these signs of the end times indicate that Christ’s coming is near. The Church is to live each day in anticipation of His coming with fervent faith in His Words to the end: “Heaven and will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”CP220814

Catechesis Notes for the Week —Summer Stories from St. Luke: In Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’s House we continue to see the call to repentance and the result of repentant faith in Zacchaeus giving back his stolen property.  In the Parable of the Minas (unit of weight) Jesus speaks about the gift of salvation in the Gospel that is to be put to use in repentant faith and faithful service in the Church and the Christian’s vocation until He comes again.  On Palm Sunday we see the beginning of the climax of Jesus’ work of salvation.  All things unfold according to God’s Word and plan of salvation in Christ.  Those who believe in Him rightly sing the Passover psalm to Him: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  He weeps over the impenitence of the people of Jerusalem, who did not realize the visitation of God’s salvation in Jesus, who called them away from reliance upon self to reliance upon the mercy of God that He came to bring.  Repentance and faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice is the only thing that can give us peace with God.  The story of Israel’s pattern of impenitence and hardness of heart is described in the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.  Time and time again God sent them His prophets. Time and time again they rejected the call to repentance.  Finally, He sent them His Son—the only One who could make their peace with God—but they rejected Him and nailed Him to the cross.  Yet the irony of all of this is that the very act of their rejection in the crucifixion of Jesus became God’s instrument of salvation for a sinful world. As Holy Week begins, Jesus enters into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and is hailed as the Messiah. The opposition to His ministry begins in earnest by the chief priests, Sadducees, scribes, and Pharisees. Always looking for ways to trap Jesus in a contradiction, the Pharisees are the first to challenge Jesus.  Luke records that they “pretended to be righteous” but they could not catch Him in His words.  Should one be loyal to God or loyal to the government?  Jesus silenced them in His famous words: Render to Caesar the Things that Are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.  The Sadducees Question Jesus about the Resurrection because they did not believe in the resurrection or life after death, yet they claimed to be faithful to the Law of Moses.  Jesus used Moses’ words to counter them: “Now even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”CP220807

Catechesis Notes for the Week —The Kingdom of Christ’s Righteousness (This week’s Bible Stories from the Gospel of Luke) In the Kingdom of God, Jesus emphasizes themes we hear in the explanations to the Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism. The kingdom of God is about the gift of the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ. The kingdom of God is Christ and the salvation He came to bring. The kingdom of God is “in our midst” wherever Jesus’ Word and Sacraments are preached and administered, and wherever Jesus’ Church suffers under persecution. In the Parable of the Persistent Widow, we learn that “the Christian prays continually because he believes that God can be relied upon to deliver him from his enemies. Prayer flows from the faith that God is righteous toward us for Christ’s sake, and that He will vindicate us and right all wrongs at last. If a man who neither fears God nor respects any man will deliver you from an enemy because you continually bother him for his help, how much more shall God, who has called us in His Son, deliver us when we cry out to Him?” In the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus spoke to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. It teaches us that ‘the highest worship [of God] in the Gospel is the desire to receive forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness’” The ministry of Jesus was not all that different from the ministry of the Old Testament prophets, He called sinners to repentance for sin that they might receive His peace and salvation. The call to repentance is necessary, in order that we turn away from trusting in ourselves, our own righteousness and accomplishments, to trusting in the mercy of God in Christ. This call to repentance is always based upon our Savior’s love for us. We see this compassion and call to repentance in Jesus’ ministry to the Rich Young Ruler. The “one thing” this man lacked was Christ and His righteousness. In Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus, we hear the prayer of this repentant faith when Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Though he was pushed away by others, Jesus received this poor blind beggar.CP220731

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Faith in the Grace of God in Christ (This week’s Bible Stories from the Gospel of Luke). Monday celebrates St. James, the Elder, who was the brother of John. James was the first of the Apostles to be martyred for his confession of faith in Christ. By the sufficiency of God’s grace, he remained steadfast and faithful unto death.  The narrative from Luke resumes on Tuesday. In the Parable of the Unjust Steward “the Lord Jesus is compared to an unethical man who alters the accounts of his master’s creditors, so that their debt is reduced, and he is received by them into their home when the master casts him out.  In the Lord’s atonement for sin, He took the debt that we were responsible for paying and canceled it, so that we might receive Him for our eternal good.  The axiom is true: it is beneficial to show mercy.  This parable teaches that the unbeliever is often quicker than the believer to understand the potential benefits of showing mercy to others with one’s material goods.  Jesus commends this understanding.” The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus raises the questions: “Who is your god? What do you worship? Is God’s judgment at death final?  How does God warn me of the judgment of hell?  What brings me to repentance and true faith? … Each received what he believed in: the rich man received the comforts of this life and of his own achievements, which did not last, and the beggar received the comfort of God’s salvation through the faith of Abraham, which endures to eternal life…”  In Faith as a Mustard Seed, Jesus warns of the offense of works righteousness which destroys faith and extols the gift of saving faith in the Gospel of God’s forgiveness.  In the Ten Lepers Are Cleansed “Jesus shows that His grace and salvation is intended for all sinners, even those who would not return to Him in faith, and that fellowship with God is restored to us sinners only through the cleansing afforded us by Him who has fulfilled the Law’s requirements on our behalf.”  (Excerpts from New Testament Catechesis in the Lutheran Catechesis Series).CP220724

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Power and Blessing of the Lord’s Forgiving Grace—(This week’s Bible Stories from the Gospel of Luke) A Man is Healed on the Sabbath illustrates the true doctrine of Christian worship. The Sabbath, which means rest, is not about doing something for God to earn His favor, but receiving the rest, healing, salvation, and forgiveness that only He can give. Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath is exactly what He does in the Divine Service. The Great Supper teaches us that “the call of the Gospel to receive salvation in Christ is like an invitation which is rejected because people have ‘more important things to do.’ Those who are helpless and needy receive the invitation and believe the Gospel.  Those who believe they have no need reject the invitation and are excluded from salvation.” The Lost Sheep teaches us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save the lost sinner who was not worth saving. Jesus’ passion to save the single lost soul is illustrated in this parable in which a man does the unthinkable: He leaves the many to rescue the one.  This work delights the Lord and all of heaven.” The Lost Coin follows the theme of the Lost Sheep and teaches us that “Jesus’ desire to save the lost sinner is like a woman who is possessed with an obsessive desire to find something she has lost, and not to rest until she does.  The Lord and His angels have no greater joy than the salvation of a sinner.” The Prodigal Son is the third parable in this sequence and “teaches us about God, whose grace toward the fallen seems irresponsible and wasteful, and that all Christians live by the grace of God alone without any merit or worthiness in them.” Very simply, this parable teaches us that “The love of God in Christ calls prodigal Christians back to their baptism.” Friday celebrates the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, a woman whose undying affection for Jesus was inspired out of the gift of salvation she had received from Jesus who delivered her from demonic affliction. CP220717

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Church’s Ministry (Summer Stories from the Gospel of St. Luke) — The Augsburg Confession, Article V on the ministry, states that to obtain faith in Christ, He instituted the preaching office to give the Gospel and Sacraments through which the Holy Spirit works faith in the hearts of sinners. The Third Article explanation in the Small Catechism also highlights the ministry by confessing, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts…in the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”  This week’s readings from the Gospel of Luke highlight aspects of the Chruch’s ministry of Word and Sacrament. The Faithful Servant is that minister of the Gospel who, standing upon the confession of faith in Christ, faithfully preaches the Gospel and administers the Sacraments of Christ according to Jesus’ institution and for the saving benefit of sinners.  Christ Brings Division and Suffering describes how the faithful preaching of the Gospel and confession of faith in Christ will also be accompanied by opposition and hatred directed against the Church and everyone who confesses the name of Jesus.  But this suffering is a sign that we belong to Christ and carries with it the promise of eternal life with Him.  The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree is an illustration of how the Lord is patient and long-suffering, desiring all to repent and believe the Gospel.  A Woman Is Healed on the Sabbath teaches us that Jesus is the source of true Sabbath rest and that all who cling to the confession of faith in Jesus are the true sons of Abraham. The Mustard Seed teaches us that “Christ, planted in this world by the preaching of the Gospel, looks to be the most insignificant word in all the earth, yet He produces a mighty congregation of believers among whom the Holy Spirit dwells to give the shelter of His forgiveness and salvation to all who enter her.”  The Leaven teaches us that “the Gospel spreads throughout the world and produces faith.”CP220710

Catechesis Notes for the Week — This Week’s Bible Stories from St. Luke—Jesus’ promises in the Gospel are the basis for every petition of the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Parable of the Friend at Midnight.  We can be absolutely confident that our heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them when we “ask, seek, and knock” on the basis of His promises to us in the Gospel of His Son.  Every petition of the Lord’s Prayer is God’s Word and God’s promise to us, so that we might be bold and confident when we cry out to Him.  In a House Divided Cannot Stand, Jesus answers those who accused Him of being in league with the devil.  Satan’s kingdom is not divided against itself. Satan’s kingdom is in opposition to God, but Jesus is the Stronger Man who has come to bind Satan as He demonstrated in the casting out of unclean spirits and restoring to newness of life those who had been in bondage. At the Dinner at a Pharisee’s House, Jesus called the self-righteous Pharisees and lawyers to repentance for teaching a theology of works-righteousness and for rejecting God’s mercy for sinners.  Their disdain for God’s mercy was the motivating force for the persecution of the prophets down through the centuries, but for those who are brought to repentance, Jesus is the Savior of sinners and the Teacher of eternal life with God. Confessing Christ, begins with warnings about the works-righteous doctrine of the Pharisees, who would seek salvation by human merit, followed by an encouragement not to fear those who would kill us for our confession of faith in Christ.  Martyrdom gives witness to Christ and, if we are called to endure it, we should not fear it but rather rejoice that we in our death might bear witness to the death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of the world.  Jesus warns that those who deny the confession of Christ have no place in heaven but promises that those who confess Him will also be confessed before His Father in heaven.  It is the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, that will teach us what to say in the face of persecution for the name of Jesus.  The Parable of the Rich Fool warns us of the covetousness that is a part of our sinful nature and which wars against the confession of faith in Christ.  To be “rich toward God” is to cling to Christ alone.CP220703

Catechesis Notes for the Week — This Week’s Bible Stories from St. Luke – At the beginning of Luke 10, the evangelist records Jesus’ Sending out of the Seventy and the instructions He gave them. They were to begin this ministry with prayer that the Lord would send out laborers into the harvest field. Even before they began their work, they were to understand that others would take over after them and that the ministry of the Gospel would expand throughout the life of the Church. He taught them total dependence upon Him and His Word, and that there would be a sacrificial character to their ministry as they would be treated like lambs among wolves seeking to devour them. Ultimately, the message of the Gospel is one of peace with God. The kingdom of God is near wherever the Gospel is preached. Those who receive the Gospel will provide for those from whom they received it. But for those who reject the Gospel in impenitence and unbelief, the judgment will be even more severe for them than it was for Sodom. The ultimate strength and comfort for Christ’s ministers is contained in Jesus’ promise: “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” The Seventy Return with Joy and rejoice to be witnesses to the power of the Gospel to save and deliver sinners from the clutches of Satan. Jesus encourages His ministers and every Christian to find our ultimate joy in the promise that our names are written in heaven. Jesus Himself rejoices to reveal the mystery of God’s grace, not to the so-called wise and prudent, but to baptismal babes who have no standing in this world but who rejoice to know and receive His love. The Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches the nature of God’s grace as the Samaritan befriends a man who would have considered him to be his enemy. In the same way, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and paid whatever was necessary for our redemption. Our Lord brought us to the inn of His Church where we are cared for and nurtured back to health. In the account of Mary and Martha, the simplicity of being a disciple of Jesus is revealed in Mary who sits at Jesus’ feet to receive the “one thing needful”—Jesus’ Word of life, comfort, and peace. St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles is celebrated on Wednesday where Peter and Paul labor together at the Jerusalem Council to clearly set forth the doctrine of the justification of the sinner before God by faith in Christ alone apart from the works of the Law. This first controversy in the fledgling Church continued to be the fundamental issue that the Church would contend for throughout her history.CP220626

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Ordination to the Office of the Holy Ministry. This week marks a milestone in our congregation as Pastor-elect Brennick Christiansen is ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry. “Ordination takes place at the beginning of a man’s service in the Office of the Holy Ministry, after he has received a divine call. The rite takes place in the Divine Service of the Church, after the sermon and before the Lord’s Supper. It involves both clergy, who lay their hands on the head of the ordinand, conferring upon him the promise of the Holy Spirit through the Word, and the laity, who witness his confession and the laying on of hands, and join in prayer on his behalf. The address to the congregation and candidate for ordination defines the nature of the office and how it is that this man has come to be ordained. The minister-elect promises that the administration of his office will conform to the apostolic and prophetic Scriptures, and to the ecumenical creeds and confessions of the Lutheran Church because they are in agreement with the one Scriptural faith. This is called confessional subscription. His ordination vows also require him to do the work of the ministry, to keep the seal of the confessional absolute, and to adorn the Office of the Holy Ministry with a holy life. A minister is called by God through the Church…According to apostolic tradition, the laying on of hands by fellow ministers of the Word is the way that a man is placed into the Office of the Ministry (1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Timothy 5:22). The Word of God carries the promise of the Holy Spirit. Every minister who administers his office according to the mandates of Christ has the promise of the Holy Spirit. It is customary that fellow ministers each lay their hands on the head of the ordinand and speak a word or blessing from the Scriptures, thereby conveying the promise of the Holy Spirit to the man being ordained into the Office of the Ministry…The minister’s stole represents the yoke of the Office of the Holy Ministry that has been conferred upon him. The chasuble, emblematic of the sufferings of Christ, is the traditional vestment worn by the ordained minister who presides at the Lord’s Supper. A man is ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. The congregation in which he is ordained receives him on behalf of the whole Church.” – Excerpted from Lutheran Catechesis, p. 162ff.CP220619