Heavenly Worship, Part 2 From the beginning, when we first see God give His people instructions on worship, we find worship to be liturgical (following prescribed patterns, not free form of one’s own choosing). After giving His people the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), God told them to how to build an altar (Ex. 20:24-26). Then, […]
The Problem of Evil
July 24, 2012 by
This is our pastor’s next article for the Stone County Gazette, partly in response to the recent shootings in Aurora, Colorado. “If God was such a loving God, how could He allow…” You fill in the blank or the perpetrated evil. Such a question presumes that God should run the universe according to our […]
3 John
July 24, 2012 by
Author: The Apostle John The nearly identical style, structure, and length of 3 John to 2 John, and closely related material to 1 John, shows them to have the same author. Date: 90-95 AD Purpose: To encourage Gaius, to expose Diotrephes, and to recommend Demetrius to Gaius. Read 3 John 1:1 – What meaning […]
Mary Magdalene
July 22, 2012 by
The Christian Faith operates from a worldview that we honor the saints of old. You can’t read through any significant part of the Bible without hearing the refrain, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” To know their God means you need to know those Old Testament saints and their stories. The great faith chapter […]
Revelation, Lesson 6: Heavenly Worship, Part 1
July 19, 2012 by
Chapters 4-5: Heavenly Worship, Part 1 We now find the Spirit giving John a glimpse of heavenly worship. The “things that are,” which he sees, include many worship scenes. John sees the throne room, depicting a reality that is both present and eternal. He sees an array of heavenly beings (angels) and saints worshiping the […]
2nd John
July 18, 2012 by
Author: the Apostle John Date: 90-95 AD Read 2 John 1:1-3 – What does the term “elder” mean in this context? “Elect Lady” John uses the term “elect lady” to refer to a local congregation. We see this further affirmed by a greeting from a sister community in verse 13. What we should take […]
St. Mary Magdalene, July 22nd
July 17, 2012 by
Whenever the New Testament Gospels name the women who followed Jesus, St. Mary Magdalene is listed first (John 19:25 is the only exception), perhaps because she was the first to see the risen Savior alive. Luke 8:2 reports that Jesus had cured her of being possessed by seven demons. Through the centuries, she has often […]
Revelation, Lesson 5: Chapters 2-3
July 16, 2012 by
Chapters 2-3: The Seven Churches Now seeming to revel in the number 7, Jesus gives John a short letter to deliver to the “angel” of each of the seven congregations. But more than that, we have the seven letters organized into a seven-part pattern. This is seven on top of seven. As we learned earlier, […]
Ephesians 1:3-14: Predestination
July 15, 2012 by
Today, we hear about a difficult truth in Scripture: Predestination. Predestination is God choosing someone for salvation, even before He created the world. At first blush, that’s sound crazy, doesn’t it? And so, to learn God’s truths about predestination, we must bind our human reason and let God’s divine Word shape our understanding. For if […]
Pr. Bill Marler will be our guest preacher on July 8th
July 3, 2012 by
Rev. William R. Marler, moved to Springfield in 1986 to serve as a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church. He is a 1983 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he remained until 1986 pursuing his post-graduate studies in Church History. During this time he also received his first divine call, Lutheran High School South, St. […]
