'The Lutheran Hour' Will Begin
Airing on WLFJ 660 AM/92.9 FM
St.
Louis, MO, February 27, 2015 — Lutheran Hour Ministries has announced the addition of a
new radio station to broadcast The Lutheran Hour® in
Spartanburg, Greenville and surrounding communities. Beginning March 1, The
Lutheran Hour will air every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on WLFJ Radio 660 AM/92.9
FM.
Rev. Gregory Seltz
The Lutheran Hour
is the flagship radio program for Lutheran Hour Ministries and it airs weekly
on 1,400 stations throughout North America. In addition to traditional radio,
The Lutheran Hour is also available as a podcast from the web, online
at www.lutheranhour.org and on the American Forces Network for
members of the military and their families. Station information and broadcast
times (locally or throughout North America) for the program can be found by
visiting www.lutheranhour.org and clicking Broadcast Guide, or by
calling 1-800-876-9880.
A Lutheran Hour mobile
app is also now available for your iPhone or Android device so you can take the
program wherever you go. The app allows you to play the audio or read the text
of the program’s current sermon; search and play a sermon from The
Lutheran Hour archive; bookmark your favorite sermons for easy
access; learn about Speaker Rev. Gregory Seltz and Speaker Emeritus Rev. Ken
Klaus; or contact Lutheran Hour Ministries.
“While we always want The
Lutheran Hour to be a witness to those who are outside the fellowship
of the Christian faith, through the program the Holy Spirit also nurtures and
gives renewed faith and direction for life to those who already know their
Savior,” says Rev. Seltz. “The program is also a witness to those who are weak,
doubting, troubled, and need help and loving assurance from God’s Word.”
St. Louis-based Lutheran Hour
Ministries (LHM) is a Christian outreach ministry supporting churches worldwide
in its mission of Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the
Church. LHM produces Christian radio and TV programming for broadcast, as
well as Internet resources, print communications, evangelism training and a
variety of other culturally-relevant outreach materials, to reach the
unchurched in more than 30 countries. For more information about Lutheran Hour
Ministries, visit www.lhm.org.
God hates visionary dreaming; it
makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal
of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He
enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own laws, and
judges the brethren and God himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living
reproach to all others in the circle of the brethren. He acts as if he is the
creator of the Christian community, as if his dream
binds men together.
When things do not go his way, he
calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the
community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then
an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.
Because God has already laid the
only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one
body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common
life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful
recipients. We thank God for giving us brethren who live by his call, by his
forgiveness, and his promise. We do not complain of what God does not give us;
we rather thank God for what he does give us daily.
And is not what has been given us
enough: brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the
blessing of his grace? Is the divine gift of Christian fellowship anything less
than this, any day, even the most difficult and distressing day?
Even when sin and misunderstanding
burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom
I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion
for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in
Christ Jesus? Thus, the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes
incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us
can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by the one Word and Deed
which really binds us together--the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. When
the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian
fellowship...
LEARN ABOUT TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BIBLICAL TEACHINGS --- on your Lutheran Radio Station Worldwide KFUO. The program Law and Gospel
uses the theological distinctions between Law and
Gospel not only to apply the Bible, but also to understand our
relationship to God’s entire plan of salvation in Christ. Join host Tom
Baker weekdays at 9:30-10:00am CDT. Find it at www.kfuo.org and follow us at Facebook.com/KFUOradio.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is blessed with university
leadership that seeks to reflect the confession and practice of the
church. The presidents of the Concordia University System (CUS), meeting
in Peachtree, Ga., in October 2014, and in Asheville, N.C., Feb. 9,
2015, have endorsed* the following identity statement and its protocols
as a means to demonstrate their support for the Christian teaching,
Lutheran confession and practice of the church. Pastors, congregations
and parents are urged to support these faithful presidents and send
students as well as financial assistance so that their mission as
institutions of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod might flourish and
display the truth that all true knowledge and learning is rightly
ordered in relation to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ.
While some have noted the drift of colleges and universities away
from the churches that gave birth to them, The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod can give thanks for such a clear and forthright expression of
solidarity with the church. Such commitment by the presidents is
distinctive and, by God’s grace, will recommend their institutions not
only to members of the church but to those publics that are seeking such
a full and transparent commitment to the integration of the finest in
university education with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lutheran Identity Standards for CUS Institutions
As educational institutions of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,
the colleges and universities of the Concordia University System confess
the faith of the Church. The Concordias uphold the teachings of sacred
Scripture and its articulation in the Lutheran Confessions. This
includes the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ — true God and true man
— is the sole way to God’s mercy and grace; that at the beginning of
time the Triune God created all things; that life is sacred from
conception to natural death; and that marriage between a man and a woman
is a sacred gift of God’s creative hand — over against the
reductionistic assumptions of many in our culture who view men and women
as only transitory and material beings.
As educational institutions of the LCMS, the Concordias are committed
to providing an excellent, robust curriculum in the liberal arts and
professional studies, which together equip students for various
vocations of service to church and society. As C.F.W. Walther wrote, “As
long as and wherever the Christian church flourished, it always and
everywhere proved itself to be a friend and cultivator of all good arts
and sciences, gave its future servants a scholarly preparatory training,
and did not disdain to permit its gifted youth at its schools of higher
learning to be trained by the standard products of even pagan art and
science.[i] ”
Accordingly, the colleges and universities of the Concordia
University System affirm and promise to uphold these identity standards:
1. Identity statements
The institution’s mission statement (and/or vision statement) clearly
identifies it as a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) institution,
as do the institution’s primary print and electronic publications.
2. Governing board
All of the institution’s regents are active members in good standing of LCMS congregations (Bylaw 3.10.5.2 – 4).[ii]
3. Senior leadership
The president and the senior leaders over academics, student life,
admissions and athletics are active members in good standing of LCMS
congregations, and all faithfully participate in worship and religious
activities on campus and in their local congregations.
4. Faculty
Each tenure track or continuing-level faculty search is given optimal
exposure among members of congregations of the LCMS to identify faculty
who are qualified in their respective academic disciplines and are
members of LCMS congregations.
Ideally, all faculty members are active members of LCMS
congregations. When academically qualified LCMS members are not
available, faculty members will be Christians who affirm, at minimum,
the content of the Ecumenical Creeds and are members of Christian
congregations. All faculty members promise to perform their duties in
harmony with the truths of Holy Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, and
the doctrinal statements of the LCMS (cf. Bylaw 3.10.5.6.2).
The majority of the full-time faculty are members of LCMS
congregations. In cases where this standard is not met, the institution
will develop a plan to reach this minimum standard and submit it to the
CUS.
The institution has an ongoing faculty and staff development program
required of all faculty, senior administrators and senior staff members
that clearly explains the tenets of LCMS higher education and what it
means to be a faculty, administrator or staff member at a CUS
institution. Adjunct or part-time faculty members engage in a similar
faculty development program that likewise explains the fundamental
tenets of LCMS higher education and what it means to be a part-time
faculty member at an LCMS institution.
5. Theology faculty
All theology faculty (full-time and part-time) are active members in
good standing of LCMS congregations and fully affirm the theological
confession of the LCMS. As the LCMS Bylaws indicate, all full-time
theology faculty receive prior approval from the CUS Board of Directors
before being appointed or called (Bylaw 3.6.6.1).
6. Academic freedom and responsibility
All full-time faculty acknowledge their acceptance of the CUS
statement of Academic Freedom and Responsibilities. All faculty, both
full- and part-time, pledge to perform their duties in harmony with
Scripture, the Confessions and the Synod’s doctrinal statements (Bylaw
3.10.5.6.2).
7. Faith and learning
In accordance with the doctrine of the two kingdoms, all faculty
strive to faithfully bring Lutheran theology into interaction with their
various academic disciplines while respecting the integrity of those
disciplines. Likewise, in other campus arenas, faculty, staff and
administrators will seek to apply Lutheran theology within their campus
vocations.
8. Required theology courses
The institution requires two to three theology courses for an
undergraduate degree, typically in Old Testament, New Testament and
Christian doctrine. Because these courses are directly related to the
theological identity of CUS institutions and to the identity formation
of graduates, these theology courses will normally be taken at a CUS
institution. Exceptions to this will be approved by the institution’s
called theological faculty.
9. Preparation of church workers
The institution provides resources to recruit, form, nurture and
place students preparing for professional church work in the LCMS (e.g.,
pre-seminary, pre-deaconess, Lutheran teachers, DCEs, DCOs, DPMs,
etc.). Specific programs vary by campus.
10. Campus ministry
The institution offers regular opportunities for worship that reflect
the confession of the church. Faculty, staff and students are strongly
encouraged to participate in these services. The institution calls a
campus pastor or chaplain, who is a Minister of Religion—Ordained of the
LCMS, who oversees the worship life of the community, organizes
opportunities for Christian service and witness, and provides pastoral
care for students.
Assessment of institutional commitment to Lutheran identity
Each institution will submit an annual written report to the CUS
Board of Directors describing, with evidence, how the institution meets
the 10 Lutheran Identity Standards. The report will be endorsed by each
respective Board of Regents and will be shared with the campus
community.
October 18, 2014
[i] Walther, C.F.W., “Forward to the 1875 Volume: Are We Guilty of Despising Scholarship,” in Selected Writings of C.F.W. Walther: Editorials from “Lehre und Wehre,” trans. August R. Suelflow (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1981), Pages 124-125.
[ii] For purposes of clarity, this document is using “member”
inclusively to include both laypersons whose membership is in a local
congregation and called ministers of the Gospel who are themselves
members of Synod.
* President Dr. Viji George of Concordia College—New York,
Bronxville, has requested that his name be removed until his Board of
Regents can consider the statement at its May 2015 meeting.
Once again our unseasonable weather has led to the canceling
of a worship service, this time our Wednesday evening Lent service (2/25). The
roads weren’t as bad as the weathermen said, but there was no way to know. At
least everyone on our e-mail list received a printed copy of the message along
with the e-mail notifying them of the cancelation. It seems everyone got the
word as no one showed up at church (where I was just in case). Once again, the
loss of a worship service means the loss of an offering. Please remember to
compensate for this by giving more this coming Sunday. The bills still need to
be paid.
This coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday in Lent (March
1). We will be using the Service of Prayer and Preaching for our liturgy (page
2602). This is a service of the word, not a communion service. The appointed
lessons are Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 5:1-11; and Mark 8:27-38. The
appointed Psalm is Psalm 22:23-31 (the antiphon is verse 22).
The sermon text is Mark 8:35 and the sermon is titled “Martyrs.”
Our opening hymn is “On My Heart Imprint Your Image” (LSB 422). Our
sermon hymn is “Saints, See the Cloud of Witnesses” (LSB 667). The
closing hymn is “Just as I Am, without One Plea” (LSB 570). The sermon
hymn is one of those that we have learned.
Below is a video from the Lutheran Warbler singing our opening
hymn, “On My Heart Imprint Your Image” (LSB 422).
What follows is a synopsis of the OT, Epistle and Gospel
lessons, provided by the synod. After that, are the readings themselves. Finally,
there are some additional notes of interest.
By the Cross of
Our Lord Jesus, We Inherit Life Everlasting with God
In His covenant with Abraham, the Lord promised to be with
him, to bless him and to make him “the father of a multitude of nations.”
It is “an everlasting covenant” in Christ Jesus, the seed of
Abraham who is blameless before God Almighty. All who believe in this Lord
Jesus are the offspring of Abraham and are blessed “throughout their generations”
(Gen. 17:1–7), because the Christ has suffered many things. He was rejected and
killed, and after three days He rose again (Mark 8:31). To comprehend this
theology of the cross, we must set our minds “on the things of God,”
and not “on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). “God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
Therefore, having been “reconciled to God by the death of his Son,”
much more “shall we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10). Baptized into
His cross and resurrection, “we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ,” and by faith we rejoice in the hope of His glory
(Rom. 5:1–2).
Psalm 22:23-31 (22)
22I
will tell of your name to my brothers;
in
the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23You
who fear the Lord, praise him!
All
you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24For
he has not despised or abhorred
the
affliction of the afflicted,
and he has
not hidden his face from him,
but
has heard, when he cried to him.
25From
you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my
vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26The
afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those
who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May
your hearts live forever!
27All
the ends of the earth shall remember
and
turn to the Lord,
and all the
families of the nations
shall
worship before you.
28For
kingship belongs to the Lord,
and
he rules over the nations.
29All
the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before
him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even
the one who could not keep himself alive.
30Posterity
shall serve him;
it
shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31they
shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that
he has done it.
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
17:1When
Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord
appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be
blameless, 2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may
multiply you greatly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to
him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father
of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called
Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a
multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I
will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7And I
will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you
throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and
to your offspring after you. …
15And
God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name
Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and
moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become
nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Romans 5:1-11
5:1Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into
this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3Not
only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces
hope, and 5hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6For
while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For
one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person
one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore,
we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him
from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are
reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also
rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation.
Mark 8:27-38
27And
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on
the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And
they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of
the prophets.” 29And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30And he strictly charged
them to tell no one about him.
31And
he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be
rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and
after three days rise again. 32And he said this plainly. And Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and seeing his
disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not
setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34And
calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake and the gospel's will save it. 36For what does it profit a man
to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37For what can a man
give in return for his soul? 38For whoever is ashamed of me and of
my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man
also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Some Additional Notes
Our adult Sunday
morning Bible study continues its look at the “spirituality of
vocation.”
At our
voters’ meeting this past Sunday we established policy for Lamb of God in
reference to marriage practices. Our policy is in line with the
larger Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. However, it also recognizes that
the Council of Presidents is working on guidelines, and obligates us to
revisit our policy once these guidelines are available.
Our Stations of the Cross have been
posted in our yard.
The March newsletter is now available on
this blog.
Our Lenten
worship services are each Wednesday, 7:00 pm, preceded by a community supper, which begins at
6:15 pm. When you arrive at
church Sunday, you will notice a beautiful new banner in the front of the
church inviting the community. The theme for the homilies this Lent is “The
Hymns of Lent.” We are looking at the teaching in some well-known Lenten
hymns. This Wednesday’s homily will look at the theology behind “When I
Survey the Wondrous Cross” LSB 425.
Our seasonal Choir has its practices
following our Wednesday worship services. New singers are always welcome.
Remember, we have pledged to pray for our neighbors. You can
get a list of your 100 your closest neighbors from pray4everyhome.com.
If you have no internet access, speak with Rachel Swain or Kitty Rickert
and they will sign you up and get you a list.
The Board of Evangelism
encourages our members to greet our visitors before our worship services
begin. Think of it as welcoming someone to your home.
