Let Remember the Small Catechism when we go to the Lord's Table.

III. The Lord's Prayer

As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.

Our Father who art in heaven.

What does this mean?--Answer.

God would thereby [with this little introduction] tenderly urge us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may ask Him confidently with all assurance, as dear children ask their dear father.

The First Petition.

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean?--Answer.

God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.

The Second Petition.

Thy kingdom come.

What does this mean?--Answer.

The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.

The Third Petition.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean?--Answer.

The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.

The Fourth Petition.

Give us this day our daily bread.

What does this mean?--Answer.

God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread?--Answer.

Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

The Fifth Petition.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

What does this mean?--Answer.

We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor deny such petitions on account of them; for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much, and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we verily, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us.

The Sixth Petition.

And lead us not into temptation.

What does this mean?--Answer.

God, indeed, tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory.

The Seventh Petition.

But deliver us from evil.

What does this mean?--Answer.

We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven would deliver us from all manner of evil, of body and soul, property and honor, and at last, when our last hour shall come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself into heaven.

Amen.

What does this mean?--Answer.

That I should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven and heard; for He Himself has commanded us so to pray, and has promised that He will hear us. Amen, Amen; that is, Yea, yea, it shall be so.

 

Anti-Shepherds

This Letter was written in the February issue of Table Talk magazine from Ligonier.  They were doing a flashback to screw tape by writing letters from the abyss.

This was written by George Grant a Pastor from Franklin Tennessee.

Our Dear Asag,
  Remember: our abysmal sublimity does not so much want to tear down "godly" way as to build up his own. From the apex of temptation in the garden to the present, his conspiratorial plot has always been to offer some sane, attractive, and wholesome counterfeit to the true kingdom of our foe.
  That's why subtle counterfeits are the perfect tools for your task to hamper shepherds from shepherding, to deter pastors from actually pastoring., Amorality is obvious and short sighted; scandal lasts but for a season; but fiddling the days and hours away on sweet nothings can become the habit of a lifetime--thus wreaking far greater havoc on the church with less work on your part.
  Strive for ministerial service without the pastoral, we want a plethora of well-served pulpits combined with a disconnection between ministers and people. Pastoral care and discipleship are time consuming and, by all appearances, inefficient -- so use that to you advantage. Given all the other duties pastors are expected to fulfill, making them feel harried and overwhelmed is hardly difficult.
  Encourage them to dawdle over their mail -- or, better yet, their e-mail, blog posts, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, web links, an I phone apps. These are all fine things in and of themselves, of course, which makes their wastrel effects so easily justifiable "tools for ministry"' "making work more effective"; "good, prompt communication." See how simple the spoils?
  We must be clear about this: the consummation of evil is not best attained by getting our subjects to indulge in puerile peccadilloes -- oh, that is such a ham - fisted notion. Rather, it is a simple as distracting them from their providentially ordained callings. All of the obvious pastoral sins are quite useful, of course: false humility, man-pleasing, discontent, prevarication, envy, and so on. But all you have to do is set a few good-intentioned distractions in front of them; your assigned pastors will take it from there and those other sins will breed quite naturally on their own. virtual ministry: what a wonderful notion. Just provide an escape from people that masquerades as ministry, dear Asag; they'll reboot on their own!

Your Master Legion

Satan is still trying to win that Battle which he lost when Christ died on the cross for all of our sins.  Yet he will not give up and that is why we must remember Christ  says" fear not I am with you always"

Fathers Day (Holy Trinity Sunday)

Having celebrated the greatest event in God's history of salvation, the death and resurrection of the Son of God, we pause a bit at the feast of the Holy Trinity to consider the essence of God.Certainly the essence of God is beyond our weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy Scripture say about God as our Creator, redeemer, and Sanctifier,we call Him the Holy trinity. Even beyond the glorious summary of the persons and work of God found in the Creed, to speak of God as the Holy Trinity says at one time all the many things that the Scriptures say about God. Our worship never ceases confessing our faith in the Triune God and giving glory to the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and we be forever.  Amen

Thank you Almighty Father for all you have given us, mostly your Son Christ Jesus.  Today Specialy thankyou for the fathers that you gave to us that help us learn of You and your word so that we as sinners will appeitate what your son did for us on the cross.

It takes a Church to Raise a Child

Parenting is not for the faint of heart.  It is also not something parents should attempt to do alone.  Thankfully, those who are part of the church don't have too. In the church we are part of an extended family. The family of God and being family of God we are part of the body of Christ play a vital role in the raising of children.
When a child is baptized, he or she become washed with the blood of Christ from the cross which He shed for all so we can be new in Christ mercy.  At this time we as members of the church take an to oath to help the family raise the children up in the true faith.  While raising children is primarily the responsibility of the parents, it is not exclusively so.  After all, God charged the entire nation of Israel to teach the children. (Deut. 6).
How can church members assist parents in raising children to know and love the Lord? There are a number of practical ways.
First, support the children's ministry in your church.  This includes supporting the church budget, but also serving in ministries to children.
Second, speak to the children, not just to their parents. Ask them about their schools, sports, or hobbies. All of these things that we consider "small talk" are ways to enter their world and express love and concern. Through this small talk, relation-ships of trust develop that can be vital as that child grows older and need other people to talk to besides just mom and dad.
Third, older adults can have a profound impact on the children in the church family by befriending parents of young children. Many of our young parents did not grow up in christian homes. They have no models for what it means to disciple their children's or to parent in a godly way. Other young parents are often far away from family  Many of these long for mentors who will come alongside them, not merely as dispensers of wisdom, but as encouragers and friends. These parents need someone to remind them that, even when they fail, God is still at work caring for their children.
This is particularly important for single parents or for those who have a spouse who is not a Christian. Parenting is not something a person can do alone, Yet in our fallen world, many are forced to do so. the church can mitigate the effects of broken families by befriending both the parents and children in single-parent homes. By taking a single mom to lunch, watching her kids while she gets a night out,  or even going to the childrens's soccer game to cheer them on, church members can have a profound impact on the children from single-parent homes.
Finally, church members can pray for the children. Our children are part of a great spiritual battle, in that constant battler to remind our we are in a constant state of needing forgiveness for their sin. Just like all of us we constantly need to reminded to look toward Christ and what he did on the Cross. We will not win this battle through better programs or batter parenting techniques.  God must work in there hearts, so we as the body of Christ must do our part and pray for them. We pray even as the apostle Paul prays for the church, that God may give them " a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him" (Eph. 1:17)
It takes more than parents to raise a child. It takes a family - a large family. Thank God that He has given us the church to be the family of God and blessed us all with the privilege of raising children.

The enemy in the Church

It has come to my knowledge of a enemy lurking inside the church doors. The members believed it to be harmless  and maybe even helpful. However as time went by it did what the enemy always intends to do and that was to keep the people away from being feed by the Father Almighty.  This enemy causes fights among the people of the church if it is not  present every Sunday unlike if a  bible study is missed or not even offered.  This enemy creates a place for brother and sisters to socialize but with the evil temptation becomes a place of gossip.  Have we given up the opportunity to be fed by our Father for a cup a coffee.  Yes I said it, the enemy is using the simple taste of coffee to tempt Christ followers away from his life giving Word for the all important christian fellowship of coffee hour.  Has our churches become the new hang out on Sunday mornings for that great cup of joe instead of the most important knowledge of Christ.  We as a church need to reevaluated this wonderful yet possibly harmful tradition.  Question that we might want to ponder to see if we came to chruch for coffee or Christ.

1. Can you remember anything you learned in confirmation
2. How many Commandments were there again
3. Sunday is always there for forgiveness
4. I  know  Christ did something for me but I cant remember what.
5. I don't understand why my kid saying "Why do I have to go to Sunday School you don't""
6. It is not really the True Body and True Blood
7. Hurry we need to get him baptized so he/she is a good little child.
8. I do too have a choice.
9. Confession what are those?
10. Book of Concord????????

God wants us to fellowship and coffee is a wonderful way for brothers and sisters to do so. But lets not forget why we go to church.  We are part of the Church of God and we go to church so Christ can feed us with his Word, and with his Sacraments.  Let us not take this lightly, lets be glad to understand more about why, Christ died on the cross for us. To many of our church members cannot defend our Savior and what he did for us and mostly because our sinful nature tells us we don't need to know that anymore. Lets get
up from the coffee table with coffee in hand and head to the nearest bible study and learn how sinful we really are and learn of the righteousness given to us freely in the the waters of baptism so we can enjoy that wonderful cup of coffee knowing we are a new man in Christ.

Very Interesting Article (Nice Website a Must See)

Original Sin vs Self Esteem

I’ve been hearing about and reading about how the doctrine of Original Sin has fallen into the realm of politically

incorrect thinking these days. How dare it be insinuated that everyone is utterly wretched and sinful. Sinful since

conception, in fact! We live in a world where it seems like we focus on everyone’s need for self esteem. We are

to concentrate on how good we are. We have to have the power of ‘positive’ thinking. Self esteem is a good

thing for our life in the world, and we are also to encourage one another in our faith.

1 Corinthians 14:3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and

encouragement and consolation.

1 Corinthians 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged

While we need to encourage one another, we still need to realize that we are sick and poor miserable sinners.

But wait, you say “I don’t think I’m all that miserable”; but understand that the word miserable refers to anyone

in need of mercy. We all desperately need Christ’s mercy-therefore we are in fact miserable. We need to be able

to acknowledge the disease that is in us due to our original sin. Today even the confessions we say in church

sometimes have become watered down. We acknowledge those sins we do and don’t do, but we can’t mention

how utterly sick and sinful we have been from the time we were conceived.

Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones

because of my sin.

Mark 2:17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those

who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

I heard recently on the White Horse Inn how many people, including many of the pastors in American

Evangelicalism, don’t believe in Original Sin any more. Pelagianism was a heresy that the early church had to

fight against. Well, guess what? It’s back! That’s a scary thought. It reminds us there is nothing new under the

sun. To think that in America today many churches have done away with the idea of Original Sin which goes

against American idealism. Yet Original Sin is something that the Bible clearly teaches. I’m sure that is why they

have been able to do away with infant Baptism. That is a very sad fact. To turn a precious Gift that is given to us

into a work to show they believe.

Romans 5:12 [ Death in Adam, Life in Christ ] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and

death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and salvation came to us all through the One who could

redeem us, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth, died and rose again to save us from all our sins. I’m thankful we

have Confession and Absolution in our church services. We need to be able to admit to others, as well as to

ourselves how sick and wretched we really are. We need to cling to the cross and Christ’s awesome grace and

mercy that He freely gives to us! Until and unless we can admit how sinful we truly are, we cannot completely

appreciate how much we need our Savior.

So, let’s not worry about the political correctness of our day which thinks we should never be ashamed or feel

any guilt. Shame and guilt can be good things, because they direct you to the cross, and the empty tomb that

tells you that Jesus loves you and He did it all for you!

Kari Anderson

Confessional Lutherans for Christ’s Commission (CLCC)

December 1, 2009

OUR TRUE MASTER

Colossians 3:22-24

      Americans in the twenty-first century take it for granted that "all men are created equal," but this idea has not been around throughout most of world history.In the first-century of the Roman Empire, people were anything but equal. Male, property-owning citizens rank normally at the top of the social spectrum. The right which these men had did not extend to there wives, children, or slaves. The male head of the household determined whether or not infants born to the family would live or be left to die of exposure. Slaves were regarded as a machine subject wholly to the will of the masters of the house. Wives did not fare much better, and while it was not uncommon to find a first-century Roman husband who loved his wife, such love was not expected or demanded.
      Considering these realities, it is easier to see how revolutionary the Christian message was in that society. This is why Paul addresses wives, children, and slaved directly, assuming that they are equally important in the church. Recognizing a proper order to society and relationships, Paul nonetheless applies the gospel to them in ways that would and did transform the people under Roman authority. Paul defined all members of the church as responsible human beings regardless of their gender or social status, and he demands that the men not be domineering and cruel, as was allowed in Roman law, but loving, encouraging, kind and just.
     In the master-slave relationship, Paul says that Christian slaves must not work "byway of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord" Considering that many thought all slaves were lazy back then, working wholeheartedly demonstrated the power of the gospel to bring true transformation and not just to create hypocrites who only pretended to do what was right. Moreover, the injunction for the slaves to fear the Lord put a limit on the slave master's authority. The slave had but one ultimate master---Christ Himself---and when the master commanded slave to do something that Jesus forbade, the slave had to disobey the master.

Good Hymn (God Himself is Present)

1. God Himself is present:
Let us now adore Him
And with awe appear before Him.
God is in His temple--
All within keep silence,
Prostrate lie with deepest reverence.
Him alone God we own,
Him, our God and Savior;
Praise His name forever.

2. God Himself is present:
Hear the harps resounding;
See the hosts the throne surrounding!
"Holy, holy, holy"--
Hear the hymn ascending,
Songs of saints and angels blending.
Bow Thine ear To us here:
Hear, O Christ, the praises
That Thy Church now raises.

3. O Thou Fount of blessing,
Purify my spirit,
Trusting only in Thy merit.
Like the holy angels,
Who behold Thy glory,
May I ceaselessly adore Thee.
Let Thy will Ever still
Rule Thy Church terrestrial
As the hosts celestial.

By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone

Understanding that sin makes you not just thick-headed but most important completely separated from God. Sin makes us unwilling to accept His truths on our own.  The biblical authors repeat foundational doctrines so that the Holy Spirit might penetrate our hearts and minds with the saving Word of God. The man-made religions of this world prove that without the work of the Holy Spirit, people think that they are basically good and can contribute something to their salvation.  This strips glory from God and gives it to us, thinking we can do even one thing to earn salvation, or that we deserve credit.  All belief systems except biblical Christianity encourages us to believe that we contribute to our salvation, even if they deceitfully assert otherwise.
In Ephesians 2:8 God is very clear that nothing we do earns salvation. The Lord does not owe anything to us except His wrath. This is taught through the entire Bible. If we missed this point, Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us one more time that we bring nothing with us to our redemption, and that any good works we perform are not that ground of our status before God but the result from us having been given the Gift of God only Son on the Cross which with His blood paid the price for the sins which made us dead to the Father.
Of course faith is something that we exercise, and so some Christians think we bring this to the table when we are saved. They think we work faith up in ourselves and that all people are born with the ability to do so. But Ephesians show that this is impossible.  Through the Holy Spirit  He allows us to have faith in Christ, and with the love of God coming to die on the Cross for our salvation we can be comfort that we had nothing to do with our salvation.

Have you read your Lutheran Confession today? uh? Whats That?

We use the word "confession" in a variety of ways today. A young man confesses his love for his fiancee. A criminal confesses to a felony. Christians confess their sins to a fellow believer or at the appropriate time in the church service. The Lutheran Confessions are something quite different from all that. They are written, formal statements with which a group of Christians, or an individual, declare to the world their faith, their deepest and undaunted convictions.

The Lutheran Confessions represent the result of more than 50 years of earnest endeavor by Martin Luther and his followers to give Biblical and clear expression to their religious convictions. The important word in that definition is the word "convictions." This word reveals the spirit in which the Lutheran Confessions were written, not a spirit of hesitation or doubt, but of deepest confidence that Lutherans, when they were writing and subscribing the Confessions and creeds, because their content was all drawn from the Word of God, Scripture, were affirming the truth, the saving truth.

Listen to what the Lutheran confessors say in the very last paragraph of the Book of Concord (FC SD, XII, 40), a statement that describes their assurance and their doctrinal certainty:

Therefore, it is our intent to give witness before God and all Christendom, among those who are alive today and those who will come after us, that the explanation here set forth regarding all the controversial articles of faith which we have addressed and explained—and no other explanation—is our teaching, faith, and confession. In it we shall appear before the judgment throne of Jesus Christ, by God's grace, with fearless hearts and thus give account of our faith, and we will neither secretly nor publicly speak or write anything contrary to it. Instead, on the strength of God's grace we intend to abide by this confession.

Here we observe that those who wrote and signed the Lutheran Confessions were not merely settling controversies, or expressing opinions, or devising new and clever doctrinal formulations. They were confessing their faith and expressing their determination never to depart from that confession. They take their stand as in the presence of God and stake their very salvation on the doctrine they confess. So confident are they of their position, so certain of their doctrine, that they dare bind not only themselves but also their posterity to it. And in another place they show their willingness to submit themselves not only to the content but to the very phrases of their confession: "We have determined not to depart even a finger's breadth either from the subjects themselves, or from the phrases which are found in [the Confessions]" (Preface of the Book of Concord, quoted from Concordia Triglotta [St. Louis: Concordia, 1921], p. 23).

I am sure that such a profession seems like an impossible anachronism today, a mark of inflexible pride which can no longer be respected or emulated by enlightened people. But certainly with such expressions of certainty the Confessions have captured the spirit of Christ and the New Testament. Our Lord taught with authority and promised His disciples that they would "know the truth." And how often does the inspired apostle Paul dogmatically affirm, "I know," "I speak the truth ... .. I am persuaded"!

The Lutheran confessors are convinced that Christians, basing their doctrine on Scripture and the promises of God, can be certain of their salvation and can formulate and confess true statements about God and all the articles of the Christian faith. It is this spirit in which all our Confessions were written and in which they so eloquently give witness to the Gospel of Christ.

Hypocrisy (Rom 12:9)

[Hypocrisy is] a term and idea that are primarily limited in the Bible to the nt writings. The Greek word transliterated into English as ‘hypocrite’ was used to denote an actor, one who performed behind a mask. Thus the popular understanding came to be that of persons who pretended to be something that they were not. It is interesting to note, however, that hypocrisy does not appear to be so limited in meaning in the nt. The term can sometimes denote general wickedness or evil, self-righteousness, pretense, or breach of ‘contract.’
The best-known passage in the nt describing hypocrisy is Matthew /Matt.* 23:1*/23, where self-righteousness and pretense are both in evidence (cf. also Matt. 6:2, 5, 16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 6:42; 12:56; 13:15).
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary (1st ed.) (p 414). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Just a Good Psalms (Take to Heart!)

            In your majesty ride out victoriously
      for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
      let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
            Your arrows are sharp
      in the heart of the king’s enemies;
      the peoples fall under you.

             Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
      The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
       you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
             Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
      with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;


The Holy Bible : English standard version.  (Ps 45:4–7).

SIN: Smalcald Articles Part 3 Article 1 of Sin

Here we must confess, as Paul says in Rom. 5:12, that sin originated [and entered the world] from one man Adam, by whose disobedience all men were made sinners, [and] subject to death and the devil. This is called original or capital sin.

2] The fruits of this sin are afterwards the evil deeds which are forbidden in the Ten Commandments, such as [distrust] unbelief, false faith, idolatry, to be without the fear of God, presumption [recklessness], despair, blindness [or completeloss of sight], and, in short not to know or regard God; furthermore to lie, to swear by [to abuse] God's name [to swear falsely], not to pray, not to call upon God, not to regard [to despise or neglect] God's Word, to be disobedient to parents, to murder, to be unchaste, to steal, to deceive, etc.

3] This hereditary sin is so deep [and horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures, Ps. 51:5; Rom. 6:12ff ; Ex. 33:3; Gen. 3:7ff Hence, it is nothing but error and blindness in regard to this article what the scholastic doctors have taught, namely:

4] That since the fall of Adam the natural powers of man have remained entire and incorrupt, and that man by nature has a right reason and a good will; which things the philosophers teach.

5] Again, that man has a free will to do good and omit evil, and, conversely, to omit good and do evil.

6] Again, that man by his natural powers can observe and keep [do] all the commands of God.

7] Again, that, by his natural powers, man can love God above all things and his neighbor as himself.

8] Again, if a man does as much as is in him, God certainly grants him His grace.

9] Again, if he wishes to go to the Sacrament, there is no need of a good intention to do good, but it is sufficient if he has not a wicked purpose to commit sin; so entirely good is his nature and so efficacious the Sacrament.

10] [Again,] that it is not founded upon Scripture that for a good work the Holy Ghost with His grace is necessary.

11] Such and many similar things have arisen from want of understanding and ignorance as regards both this sin and Christ, our Savior, and they are truly heathen dogmas, which we cannot endure. For if this teaching were right [approved], then Christ has died in vain, since there is in man no defect nor sin for which he should have died; or He would have died only for the body, not for the soul, inasmuch as the soul is [entirely] sound, and the body only is subject to death.

Luther says:

 

The great difference between doctrine and life is obvious, even as the difference between heaven and earth. Life may be unclean, sinful, and inconsistent; but doctrine must be pure, holy, sound, unchanging ... not a tittle or letter may be omitted, however much life may fail to meet the requirements of doctrine. This is so because doctrine is God's Word, and God's truth alone, whereas life is partly our own doing.... God will have patience with man's moral failings and imperfections and forgive them. But He cannot, will not, and shall not tolerate a man's altering or abolishing doctrine itself. For doctrine involves His exalted, divine Majesty itself (WA, 30 111, 343 f.)

Strong words! But this is the spirit of confessional Lutheranism.