Gottesblog

There was a time and a place wherein a Christian minister who realized that he was being oppressed by the Bishop of Rome would naturally think of the churches of the Augsburg Confession as his rightful home. After all, nothing in doctrine or ceremonies contrary to the catholic faith has been instituted among us.

The esteemed Fr. Stuckwisch aside, Gottesdienst encourages the use of the historic "series of lessions" (Ap. XXIV.1) of Epistles and Gospels. It is a great blessing that LSB has produced a full range of resources for the historic Church year (even if they took some liberties in lengthening the Introits), and the LSB selections for additional readings from the OT are, in my opinion, a great improvement over previous attempts.

Read the first section of this essay for one of the best examples of explanatory hermeneutics I have ever read. The author summarizes the book of Isaiah in two paragraphs that are so engaging, lucid, and intriguing that you can't help but want to read the book again and wonder how you were ever such a dullard as to be bored with reading it. It's a great example of how we should preach on the Bible.

Well, I've dodged the small town pastor duty of presiding over a patriotic community event for several years, but this year I got pegged: my turn to "say a few words" at the VFW Memorial Day event at the Gentile Cemetery here in town (for whatever reason, they never hold it at the Lutheran Cemetery being a couple of miles out of town).

Thanks to the Lutheran Witness, those of you outside the gravitational pull of Zion on the Mississippi have now been introduced to Crave/Christ in the City.

Sigh. Where to begin?

We at Gottesdienst love the Church's historic liturgy and ceremonies because they preach Christ and do so beautifully and meaningfully across time and cultures. Folks who feel this way about liturgy and decorous ceremony are used to be accused of being "too Catholic." The hurlers of what is meant to be an insult intend to paint us with the Papal brush. Yet, like Caiaphas, they say more than they intend.