The Real Thing
“Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy…
Joshua A Minority Voice Who Served as a Leader for a Major Power
(Numbers 13:25-14:10; Joshua 1:1-11) Should it be surprising to us that as Christians we are in the minority in this world (see Matthew 20:16b)? Is it startling that many are vehemently opposed to us when…
St. John’s Lutheran Church Okabena, Minnesota
Snapshots of Congregations from Around the Church of the Lutheran Confession St. John’s Lutheran Church was founded in May of 1895 by German immigrant farmers in West Heron Lake Township, Jackson County, Minnesota. It started…
Our “New Wine” Reformation Heritage
“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).
A Necessary Death
“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…
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Clarkston, Washington
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…
“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS September 2016
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.
The CLC in Convention: “In the Footsteps of the Reformers”
“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.
There’s No Time Like Now For a Good, Old-Fashioned Revival!
“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…
Salem Lutheran Church Eagle Lake, Minnesota
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…