Biblical Sermonizing

Bible, PreachingJason BraatenAugust 23, 2024Bugenhagen Conference, Karl FabriziusComment

Throwback Thursday: One Church, One Call

Note: This is one of the very first blogposts for Gottesdienst, from 2006 - and this one is a bit of an archaeological find. For it was posted at the first Gottesblog site, and was itself a repost of one of Fr. Eckardt’s essays from eleven years prior (which means this was written in 1995. That’s twenty-nine years ago. ~ Ed.

Burnell EckardtAugust 22, 2024Comment

How Lutherans Should Read The Bible

David PetersenAugust 21, 2024Comment

From the Archives: A Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Jesus has just traveled from the region of Tyre and Sidon, a place where He cast out a demon that held a young girl in its grip. Now, our Lord is by the Sea of Galilee, and again He comes face to face with a person in the bondage of Satan. The people bring to Jesus a man whose ears are imprisoned with deafness and whose tongue is bound by an impediment of speech. For when a person cannot hear, neither can he speak clearly or rightly. Such is the goal of the devil: to disrupt and tear down the lives and the capacities of those created in the image of God, to cause people trouble in both soul and body. He does this in an attempt to turn our hearts away from the Lord.

SermonStefan GramenzAugust 19, 2024Trinity 12; Mark 7:31-37Comment

The Great Passion: A Delightful Read

The Great Passion by James Runcie is a page-turner that is an especially fun read for Lutherans. This is not so much a review as it is a recommendation. You can read reviews here (averaging 4.3 on Amazon).

Larry BeaneAugust 17, 2024 Comment

Not My Kind of Lutheran...

And now, with the Democratic nominee for Vice President being a “Lutheran” of the ELCA variety, we Lutherans are once again in the spotlight, and not in a good way. We have to explain that that is “not our kind of Lutheran,” that we are LCMS. We’re not the drag queen, alphabet-people, DEI, put-gay-porn-in-kindergarten, pronoun-wielding abortion “Lutherans.”

Larry BeaneAugust 16, 2024 Comments

A Hymn for the Feast of the Dormition B.V.M.

Burnell EckardtAugust 15, 2024 Comment

A Sermon for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the name of Jesus Christ, who by His glorious ascension into heaven obtained not for Mary only, but for us all who with Mary take comfort in His bloody death, a joyous ascension of the heart whenever we pray, of the soul whenever we die, of the body and soul on the Last Day; forever most blessed and beloved with God His heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Throwback Thursday: The Ritual of the Body

Note: This is a reflection that I wrote and was published in the Trinity 2014 issue of Gottesdienst, and was shared at Gottesblog in 2017. ~ Ed.

Larry BeaneAugust 15, 2024Comment

Another Look at the Children's Sermon

My own practice is to preach one sermon for all. It unifies our church, and it includes the children, even if the preaching is over their heads. It won’t be for long. They learn the English language the same way: by immersion.

Larry BeaneAugust 14, 2024 Comments

Encouragement from Luther for the Beginning of the School Year

John BussmanAugust 14, 2024Comment

On the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

John BussmanAugust 13, 2024 Comment

From the Archives: The Liturgical Observer - Children's Sermons

The arrogance of the late 20th century church which calls itself Christian has added another claim to its list - that it is the first to really reach children (also known as “doing children’s sermons”). Like the charismatic movement, which claims that the Holy Spirit is now working through them for the first time since the apostles, and the higher critics who claim that they have discovered for the first time in history the true nature of the Bible as an error-filled yet useful book, the proponents of children’s sermons are claiming that they are reaching the children for the first time and in a much better and more improved way than ever before.

Stefan GramenzAugust 12, 2024From the Archives, Liturgical Observer Comments

St. Lawrence and the Diaconate

Today marks the great feast of St. Lawrence, a deacon in Rome in the third century, and likely the most famous deacon after St. Stephen the protomartyr. St. Lawrence and his fellow deacons, like St. Stephen before them, were tasked with the material wealth of the Church and the care of the poor.

Stefan GramenzAugust 10, 2024 Comments

Abolish All Vicars!

Abolish all vicars. Restore the diaconate.
Three years of seminary. Three years as a deacon.

Evan ScammanAugust 9, 2024 Comments

Throwback Thursday: How A New Pastor Should Add Ceremonies

Note: Gottesblog began in 2009. There are a lot of gems hidden under fifteen years of the sands of time. It was suggested that we do a Throwback Thursday feature every week. This is Fr. David Petersen’s advice from fifteen years ago, especially appropriate for younger pastors and recent ordinands looking for practical liturgical advice in bringing the treasure of the liturgy to their parishes, where what is old and authentic may seem new and out of place. This calls for pastoral wisdom. Pastor Petersen offers that here. ~ Ed.

Rites/CeremoniesDavid PetersenAugust 8, 2024TBTComment

The Necessity of Sermon Prep

Footnote #2 in Walther’s Lutheran Pastoral Theology on page 96…

David PetersenAugust 4, 2024Lutheran Sermon, Lutheran Homiletics, Sermon Prep, CFW Walther Comments

An open letter to all LCMS pastors whose congregations are still using disposable plastic communion cups.

Can you abide the willful disposal of the Blood of Christ in the trash? Brother, if this pricks your conscience, it should. Get busy about this already.

Burnell EckardtAugust 3, 2024 Comments