A Hymn Of Glory Let Us Sing

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING In His instruction on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns against the use of “vain… Read More »TLH 146, LSB 434 “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

In the three decades following Luther’s death in 1546, the biblical doctrines he had struggled to teach and uphold came under severe attack. No less than six significant church controversies marked this period in Lutheranism. At issue were matters such as justification by faith, conversion, original sin, good works, church ceremonies, and the Lord’s Supper. On July 22, 1577, the Formula of Concord was published. It was a work which presented and defended the true Scriptural position on these controversies.Read More »TLH Hymn 292 “Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING Can you guess what all the following products have in common? Victor Radio (early 1920’s), Hotpoint Appliances electric… Read More »TLH Hymn 85 “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

What do you think of when you hear the term Christian Education? Many CLC members might answer, “Christian day schools,” or “Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary.” Some might think of home schools where both the content and methods of education are governed by Christian parents instead of by the secular government.
All those responses most certainly are fine examples of Christian education. But they are incomplete. Indeed, in a society in which many elements are rapidly becoming antagonistic to Christianity and Christians, those responses may in some cases not even be adequate! It would be a dangerous mistake for Christian parents to assume that their responsibility for the Christian education of their children begins and ends with the above responses. Genuine Christian education involves the entire home and family life of the child.
Christoph Carl Ludwig von Pfeil’s 1782 hymn “Oh, Blest the House, Whate’er Befall” gives a more complete view of what constitutes Christian education.Read More »“Oh, Blest the House, Whate’er Befall”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Our lives consist of periods of work followed by periods of rest. We finish our shift or complete our daily tasks, and then we go home to get a night’s sleep. But all the while that we are sleeping, our God is awake and active. “He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:3-4) God’s providential care for His world never ceases, not even for a moment. He upholds all of creation and keeps the cycles of days and seasons running. In this way He makes the earth fruitful and provides food for all His creatures. At all hours He hears and answers the prayers of us, His children, who call to Him in the name of Jesus. He constantly observes our lives and causes all things to work together for our good.
The hymn “Evening and Morning” teaches this ongoing, never-ceasing care of God for His children. It reminds us that the good things we enjoy are the works of God. He gives “wealth, peace, and gladness, comfort in sadness.” He continues to give these and other good things all our days. He watches over us and protects us whether we are awake or asleep. “Times without number, We wake or we slumber, Your eye observes us, From danger preserves us, Shining upon us a love that is true.”Read More »WS 782, LSB 726 “Evening and Morning”

If there is an institution in the world needing our prayers more than the institution of marriage, I can hardly think what it could be. Among the households of my children’s schoolmates, I often feel as if ours is in a distinct minority—a man and a woman married to each other and living in the same house along with their three children—children who have never experienced anything other than that arrangement. Satan attacks marriages every hour of every day, and without the Lord’s gracious intervention they would all fail on account of our sinful behavior.
F. Samuel Janzow (1913-2001) also felt the importance of praying on behalf of marriages when he wrote the hymn we consider this month. Janzow was a professor of English and Theology at Concordia University, Chicago (River Forest), and each poetic verse here asks the great Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, for a particular blessing on married couples.Read More »WS 791 or LSB 859 “Lord, When You Came as Welcome Guest”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Christ’s final act before He ascended into heaven was to lift up His hands and bless His assembled disciples. And it was while He was blessing them that He was parted from them and taken up into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).
This parting picture of Jesus with His hands raised in blessing is most meaningful, a perpetual reminder that He continues to bless His Church on earth and will do so until He comes again. As Victor over sin and death seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus gives the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life to all who believe in Him.
Since God’s Word gives us this picture of Jesus with His hands raised in blessing, it is appropriate that we close our services with a benediction—a blessing. In this way we return to our daily lives assured of the Lord’s blessing, just as the disciples returned to Jerusalem with the memory of Jesus blessing them as He ascended.Read More »The Lutheran Hymnal 51 “Now May He Who from the Dead”