Skip to content
nimble_asset_clc_logo_header

 

Church of the Lutheran Confession

Search Archives
Search
Lutheran Spokesman page head image

Connect with Us

Contact

Series

CW Hymn 147, TLH Hymn 207 “For Your Baptism Which Has Saved Me”

What, would you say, is water worth?

There’s no question that, as an element necessary for life, it is of great value. And yet, its prevalence on earth makes it relatively inexpensive. On a rainy day it’s even free.

There are, however, versions which do fetch a higher price. The bottled variety, for example. A liter can sell for around a dollar. And, according to the bottlers, with good reason. Labels often identify it as water that has been “purified.”

So what about the value of water which is even more special? If a dollar is a fair price for water that is purified, what is the value of water that is purifying? Purification, after all, is something desperately needed by everyone, since every person is born impure and has sinned.Read More »CW Hymn 147, TLH Hymn 207 “For Your Baptism Which Has Saved Me”

Hymn 493 “Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend”

Listen to hymn at: http://lutherantacoma.com/hymns/493.mp3
Hymn Text: Luke 6:12 ff.

Author: Christopher Wordsworth, 1862, cento, alt.

Composer: Dimitri S. Bortniansky, 1822, ad.

Tune: “St. Petersburg”

Public ministers of God’s Word are faced with a challenging task. They bring that Word to bear in a world that increasingly resents it. They must deal with many different people, many different personalities, and many different problems which Satan throws in their way. Without the hand of God at work in their ministries, they would fail in a moment. It is fitting then to pray for all those whose task it is to administer Law and Gospel; including pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists, and more. But what do we pray?

The hymn Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend (TLH 493) begins by reminding us that our Savior Himself prayed all night long before He chose the apostles who would carry His ministry into the world (Luke 6:12). Before any endeavor involving the work of the kingdom, it is good to call upon God (Luke 11:2). Since the ministry of the Gospel is a ministry carried out by human messengers, we pray as Christ did, asking that the necessary workers be sent out (Matthew 9:38). Thou who the night in prayer didst spend / And then didst Thine apostles send / And bidd’st us pray the harvest’s Lord / To send forth sowers of Thy Word.Read More »Hymn 493 “Thou Who the Night in Prayer Didst Spend”