Intro This evening, we leave the world behind, and we travel together on a long journey. It is a journey that leads beyond Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and gift giving. This journey leads us to the quiet, sleepy town of Bethlehem. We stand with the shepherds, huddled around the manger. We stand, straining our […]
Advent 4
December 19, 2010 by
Intro Like all kings, our Lord Jesus does not simply show up unannounced. A long line of prophets: Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others first prophesied of the Messiah. Then, the angel Gabriel spoke to the Blessed Virgin. And last, the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptizer, blazed the path of the Messiah […]
What is Hell?
December 18, 2010 by
In our Sunday School class, we’ve been exploring the biblical teaching on the End Times. Part of that exploration has dealt with Hell. Many today see Hell as an eternal separation from God. We explored that idea based on 2 Thessalonians 1:9, but also studied why Hell as an eternal separation from God is not the […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 3
December 17, 2010 by
DID THE EARLY CHURCH BAPTIZE INFANTS? Of the five existing apostolic churches, all currently baptize infants. This leads one to conclude that the apostolic church baptized infants–unless the practice of infant baptism developed later and then spread to all the apostolic churches (historically unlikely, but possible). Some modern-day scholars strongly oppose the idea that the […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 2
December 17, 2010 by
HOW THE EARLY CHURCH BAPTIZED Of the five existing apostolic churches, three baptize by, or prefer, immersion. The Roman Catholic and Syrian Orthodox Churches baptize by affusion. However, the Syrian Orthodox Church calls immersion an “old practice” it used to perform.[1] And so, historically, the apostolic churches prefer to perform baptism by immersion. However, what […]
Baptism in the Early Church: Part 1
December 17, 2010 by
Baptism and the Early Church: The “How” and the “Who” A paper presented to the Springfield Pastors’ Circuit of the Missouri District, Jan 12, 2010 By Pr. Rich Futrell This paper takes a brief look into the early Christian church practices on baptism. The historical era looked into will be after the period covered in St. Luke’s […]
Midweek Advent 3
December 15, 2010 by
Intro Advent is a time of preparation and anticipation. The word Advent means “coming,” not “it’s already here.” So, this is a time when we prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. Yet, we in the Church–even within ourselves–have to contend against the secular Christmas, which has looked like Christmas since […]
Advent 3
December 12, 2010 by
Gaudete Sunday was a day of bitter cold and biting wind. If you missed the service because of the weather, here is the sermon that was preached. Intro “All flesh is grass,” proclaims the Prophet. And like our flesh, the grass is not always coursing with life. When we see a field of grass, we see areas […]
Midweek Advent 2
December 8, 2010 by
Intro This was no ordinary word. Of course, words from God never are. Such an extraordinary Word was spoken through the Angel Gabriel into the Virgin’s ear. He said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor with God. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name […]
Advent 2 Confessional Address and Sermon
December 5, 2010 by
On December 5th, the Service consisted of the Confessional Service (pg 47-49 in The Lutheran Hymnal), which is a preparatory service to receive the Lord’s Supper. Following the Lord’s Supper and the Benediction, we had our annual hanging of the Greens Ceremony. The Confessional Service does not have a sermon but a confessional address. Immediately […]
