Articles – Page 25 – Lutheran Spokesman

Our “New Wine” Reformation Heritage

by
October 1, 2016September 24, 2016

“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for
the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the
skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed.

But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved”

(Matthew 9:16-17 ESV).

This parable is a practical example of taking good care of household items.

Patching an old garment with unshrunk cloth would make no sense—as soon as you would wash it, the patch would shrink and you would be worse off than you were before. Putting new wine (which is still expanding) into stiff old wineskins would only result in a wasteful mess.

What was Jesus’ point with this parable?

The religion practiced by the self-righteous Pharisees was an old wineskin. “Follow our rules, be as holy as we claim to be, and God will reward you” was their message. This old wineskin was all works and pride, but the new wine that Jesus brought was the opposite. It was confession of sin, and trust in Christ for forgiveness of that sin. Jesus’ point was that works and grace are incompatible. You can’t “patch up” a religion of works. You can’t pour the Gospel of grace into a heart that claims its own righteousness. It’s one or the other, as St. Paul makes plain: “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (Romans 11:6).Our “New Wine” Reformation Heritage

A Necessary Death

by
October 1, 2016September 24, 2016

“For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while… A Necessary Death

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Clarkston, Washington

by
October 1, 2016October 2, 2016

Four years have already gone by since St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Clarkston was blessed with the celebration of one hundred years of God’s grace as an organized congregation. It all began in the… St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Clarkston, Washington

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS September 2016

by
September 1, 2016February 1, 2021

Date / Verse / Reading Comments

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; [ ] = Biblical Events Noted

Sept 1 TLH 25 Nahum 1:2-9 The Lord is caring and good, but He is also just. His mercy and justice are not incompatible. Trust in Him and live.

Sept 2 TLH 455 2 Kings 24:10-17 “As the Lord had declared,” Babylon marched against Jerusalem and the exile began. Would Judah truly understand why? [Hannah Prays for a Son]

Sept 3 TLH 105:1-4 1 Chronicles 3:1-24 This might appear just a “dry” genealogy, but notice how David is central—even as his house was central to the promise of a Savior.“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS September 2016

The CLC in Convention: “In the Footsteps of the Reformers”

by
September 1, 2016September 7, 2016

“Which will we follow?
Where are we heading?”

For Lutherans, the date of October 31 calls to mind Luther’s posting of his Ninety-Five Theses, the event that sparked the Reformation. Next year, that date will furnish an especially strong reminder because 2017 will mark the five-hundredth anniversary of that significant event. CLC President Michael Eichstadt and Moderator Paul Nolting anticipated this approaching anniversary with this year’s convention theme, “In the Footsteps of the Reformers.” This theme resonated throughout the Thirty-second Convention of the Church of the Lutheran Confession, held June 23-26, 2016, on the beautiful campus of Immanuel Lutheran College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

In his convention address, President Eichstadt spoke of the “countless billions of people who over the course of history have left their footsteps on the earth, making paths in every imaginable direction,” and asked, “Which will we follow? Where are we heading?” We want to follow in the steps of Martin Luther because he followed the Word of the Lord Jesus.The CLC in Convention: “In the Footsteps of the Reformers”

There’s No Time Like Now For a Good, Old-Fashioned Revival!

by
September 1, 2016September 7, 2016

“Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their… There’s No Time Like Now For a Good, Old-Fashioned Revival!

Salem Lutheran Church Eagle Lake, Minnesota

by
September 1, 2016September 7, 2016

It’s been said by some that south-central Minnesota has some of the most fertile soil on the planet. With rich, deep dirt, few rocks, and a general abundance of rain, it’s a prime area for… Salem Lutheran Church Eagle Lake, Minnesota

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS August 2016

by
August 1, 2016August 2, 2016

Date Verse Reading Comments

Aug 1TLH 297Ecclesiastes 5:1-7Close your mouth and open your ears, for in His Word, God blesses you.

Aug 2 TLH 456 Ecclesiastes 8:10-17 We cannot know God’s deepest ways, but why must we? The important thing is that He knows us. Aug 3 TLH 203 1 Kings 12:1-20 [The Women Visit Jesus’ Tomb] Rehoboam foolishly rejected the word of his elders,
but the Lord used the incident to fulfill His own word.

Aug 4 WS 788 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Giving to those in need was an act of faith, an expression of thanksgiving to God for His own indescribable gift in Christ.“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS August 2016

Faith Is a Gift from God

by
August 1, 2016September 7, 2016

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”

(1 Corinthians 1:4-8).

The Apostle begins many of his letters with thanksgiving to God for giving his readers faith in Christ and eternal salvation. How much more shouldn’t we thank and praise God daily for the faith which He has given us? Scripture emphasizes over and over that the faith which receives forgiveness and salvation in Christ is a gift of God’s grace.

Our conversion was worked entirely by God. It had to be, because by nature we were spiritually blind (Ephesians 4:18), but “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind” (Psalm 146:8). We were spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), “But God . . . made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5). We were enemies of God (Romans 8:7) and could not receive the things of the Spirit, for they were foolishness to us (1 Corinthians 2:14), but “we have received . . . the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).Faith Is a Gift from God

Election Coverage

by
August 1, 2016September 7, 2016

Election coverage seems as if it has been going on “forever.” But in reality, it was only last spring when candidates began announcing their campaigns to be the next President of the United States. Since then, the news media have been covering the campaigns and discussing things like polls, “favorability,” and “electability.” Such coverage will continue until the election on November 8th.

Let’s consider a much grander, more glorious kind of election. This election really has been from “forever.” The Apostle Paul writes that this election took place “before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9), “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).Election Coverage

Search Archives

Connect with Us