Peter had raised Tabitha from the dead and stayed near where Tabitha lived. While in Joppa, Peter stayed with a tanner. It’s now that we hear the Church spreading to full-blown Gentiles (as opposed to Samaritans, which were a Semitic people with some Jewish ancestry). In this chapter of Acts, we see a new period […]
Acts, Lesson 10: Paul and Peter
August 18, 2014 by
Last week, Luke told us of Saul’s conversion to “the Way,” that He had become a follower of Christ. Even more, Jesus had called him to be His Apostle to the “Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel.” We now find out what happened after Saul was baptized. The Story of Saul Continues Read Acts […]
Augsburg Confession, Articles 26-27: Compulsory Fasting and Monastic Vows
August 18, 2014 by
These articles are too long for a one-hour class, if we were to read through them in their entirety. Because these topics do not loom large in the Church today, we will have an overview of these articles. AC XXVI: The Distinction of Foods Johann Eck, was the main Roman-Catholic theologian who spoke against […]
Augsburg Confession, Article 25: Confession
August 18, 2014 by
The Augsburg Confession earlier covered the topic of Confession in Article 11. However, in Article 11, the focus was on absolution, not on confession itself. The purpose of this article was to show how highly Lutherans value Private Confession. This article also explains the abuses that the Lutheran churches have eliminated from the practice of […]
Acts, Lesson 9: Simon, Philip, and Saul
August 6, 2014 by
In the last lesson, we saw God choosing to act in ways He has not promised to do so. In particular, we saw God the Holy Spirit coming to a new group of people only through the hands of the Apostles. It’s almost as if God was chastising the Apostles for not leading the way […]
Augsburg Confession, Article 24
August 4, 2014 by
AC XXIV: The Mass (Pt 1) Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. In fact, the Mass is retained among us and is celebrated with the greatest reverence. Almost all the customary ceremonies are also retained, except that German hymns, added for the instruction of the people, are interspersed here and there among […]
Augsburg Confession, Articles 22-23
July 20, 2014 by
AC XXII: Reception of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper The laity are given both forms of the Lord’s Supper because this practice is the Lord’s command, “Drink of it all of you (Matthew 26:27). Christ has clearly commanded that all should drink from the cup. So no one will quibble and say […]
Augsburg Confession, Article 21
July 20, 2014 by
AC XXI: Invocation of the Saints Our churches teach that we are to remember the history of the saints so that our faith may be strengthened when we see how they experienced grace and how they were sustained by faith. Even more, their good works are to be an example for us, each of us […]
Acts, Lesson 7: The Martyrdom of Deacon Stephen
July 15, 2014 by
The Church had just established the Office of Deacon to free pastors (at this time, the Apostles) to focus on Word and Sacrament ministry. Deacons assisted the pastor, primarily focusing on the physical needs of parishioners. Yet, we see they also did more, as we see evidences with Stephen, one of the ordained deacons. Read […]
