Epiphany and the Epiphany Season

Posted on January 6, 2012 by LauraL

Epiphany is on January 6. Epiphany means “to show” or “to make known” and is often called the Gentile Christmas because this is the celebration of when the Magi, who were Gentiles, came to worship Jesus. The Epiphany season continues until the day before Ash Wednesday. The color for most of the season of Epiphany is green. White is used on the Day of Epiphany, on the first Sunday after January 6 when we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, and on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday when we celebrate the Festival of the Transfiguration.

- From Lutheranism 101, p. 229

For more information, including a list of historic readings, click here.

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Reformation Quiz

Posted on September 25, 2012 by LauraL

Reformation Day is near! Get your vocal chords warmed up for “A Might Fortress,” and click here to test your Reformation knowledge. How well did you do?

Don’t forget about our annual posting of Reformation fun here. If you find something great, post a comment so we can add to the list.

 

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More Free Resources – Lutheranism 101 for Kids

Posted on September 20, 2012 by LauraL

Hey, you want more free resources? We got ’em!

For those who want to use Lutheranism 101 for Kids as a teaching resource, we’re offering these free downloadable extras to help groups, families, and individuals dig deeper into Lutheran theology:

Leader’s Guide – a simple tool for reviewing the book and sparking discussion. Includes key points, related Scripture passages, and open-ended questions for each section.

Workbook – an expanded tool for building teaching units around each section in Lutheranism 101 for Kids, the Workbook explores connections being made. Includes questions and answers intended to further comprehension and application.

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Free Leader Guide – Lutheranism 101 for Kids

Posted on September 19, 2012 by LauraL

A free, downloadable Leader Guide is now available for Lutheranism 101 for Kids!

Click here to download.

Check it out, then let us know how you will be using the book for small group, Sunday School, Confirmation, or in any other way.

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The True Body and True Blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper

Posted on August 28, 2012 by ScotK

The church has always taught that the body and blood of Christ are truly received in and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. The bread and the wine do not loose their natural substance but remain bread and wine. In the Sacrament Christ gives us His true body and true blood not just in a spiritual sense, as if the bread and wine are only a sign or figure of Christ’s body that has ascended to heaven. But as Christ says, His body and blood are received orally in the eating and the drinking. Even unworthy persons, hypocrites, or unbelievers receive Christ’s body and blood, not just those who believe His words. For this reason, those who despise or reject Christ’s words receive the Sacrament to their hurt and damnation. In this sacramental meal believers receive the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, as the words “given and shed for you for the remission of sins” promise. Whoever believes it has what these words declare and bring: His merits, righteousness, and forgiveness. Instructive is Small Catechism VI 5–8, and Large Catechism V 28–32, 33–36, 69–72.

Find out more in Lutheranism 101: The Lord’s Supper

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Lutheranism 101 for Kids

Posted on August 23, 2012 by LauraL

That’s right – the latest addition to the Lutheranism 101 family is just for kids!

Lutheranism 101 for Kids helps pre-confirmation children learn more about God’s love for them in Christ and about faith as a Christian using:

  • A Glossary of Terms
  • A Topical Index
  • A Scripture Index
  • Short easy-to-read and age appropriate article
  • Stuff You Need to Know (sidebar call outs)
  • From the Bible! - Quotations from the Bible
  • Believe, Teach, Confess! - Quotations from creeds or Lutheran teachings
  • Word Alert! - Words and phrases quickly defined

This book introduces readers to three other books: the Bible, the Small Catechism by Martin Luther, and the hymnal Lutheran Service Book. In these pages, you’ll find out how important each of these books can be for growing in faith. It gives students a quick, useable, and comprehensive overview of the Lutheran faith and practice.

Click here to view an excerpt and to order!

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The Lutheranism 101 Books Series

Posted on July 6, 2012 by ScotK

Lutheranism 101 books give you usable and comprehensive overviews of what Lutherans believe and teach. These beliefs rest upon the foundational discussions of who God is, who man is, and who Jesus is. Along the way, and because faith does not happen in isolation, the series also presents how this faith is confessed in what Lutherans do, both in their corporate practice and in their personal piety.

Lutheranism 101

Lutheranism 101

After the release of the original Lutheranism 101 book, numerous questions, comments, and suggestions were received, focusing on the meeting point between faith and practice. The Lutheranism 101 series grew out of this correspondence. Each book in the series picks one topic and explores the basics of the Lutheran teaching in that area. The author also explores practice in that area, the understanding being that one necessarily informs the other.

The very title, Lutheranism 101, points forward to learning and building up of the Christian faith through study and by participation in the Divine Service. Lutheranism 101 encourages the use (and, dare we say, acquisition) of the basic resources for a Christian’s study and growth: a Bible, Luther’s Small Catechism, a hymnal, and ultimately, the Lutheran Confessions.

Rev. Scot Kinnaman
General Editor, Lutheranism 101
From the Foreword,
Lutheranism 101: The Lord’s Supper

The Lutheranism 101 Books:

  • Lutheranism 101 page
  • Lutheranism 101: THE COURSE page
  • Lutheranism 101: THE LORD’S SUPPER page
  • Lutheranism 101: FOR KIDS page
  • Lutheranism 101: HOLY BAPTISM page
  • Lutheranism 101: WORSHIP page
  • Lutheranism 101: ALL ABOUT JESUS page

 

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The Lord’s Supper – Available now!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by LauraL

The newest book in the Lutheranism 101 series is available now!

Click here for more info, including a free downloadable Leader Guide.

Heard on Facebook

Bob >>Lutheranism 101

Received my copy of Lutheranism 101: The Lord’s Supper today. . . Started reading and almost immediately ordered a copy for the church library.
Thanks, CPH!

What have you heard?

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The Time of the Church: The Season after Pentecost

Posted on June 29, 2012 by ScotK

A Time of Growth

Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We are grafted into Jesus and made a branch of the Vine by the power of the Spirit in Holy Baptism. We stay connected to Jesus, our Vine, by hearing the preaching of God’s Word and by receiving Absolution and the Lord’s Supper. This is how our life in Christ grows: by the power of the Spirit working in our hearts through Word and Sacrament.

Altar with green paraments for the Sundays after Pentecost

The Sundays after Pentecost make up the longest portion of the Church Year. This is the Time of the Church–the time we focus on growing together in the life of the Holy Trinity.

How We Worship on the Sundays after Pentecost

During the Sundays after Pentecost we . . .

. . . decorate the church with the color green.

Green is the color for the season after Pentecost. Green is the color of growing plants and life. As growing plants need water and nourishment, so we can only grow by living in our Baptisms and receiving the Lord’s Word and Sacraments.

. . . focus on the teachings of the Lord for His Church.

In this half of the year, the Time of the Church, we focus on the life of Christ in His Church as He  guides us to grow in “faith toward [God] and in fervent love toward one another.” (Post Communion Collect)

Jesus Teaches His Disciples

If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples,
and you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

The appointed Gospels for the Sundays after Pentecost are full of Jesus’ teachings, such as His parable, words of wisdom, and debates with the Pharisees. We also hear the Word of the prophets (Old Testament), who are inspired by the Spirit to foretell Jesus’ coming, a the word of the apostles (Epistle), sent forth by Jesus to preach in the power of the Spirit. The Time of the Church is a time to grow in godly knowledge. Through His Word, Jesus is still making disciples of all those who will follow Him.

Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain,
and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
And He opened His mouth and taught them. . . Matthew 5:1-2

Excerpted from–
Ordering Our Days in His Peace:
An Introduction to the Christian Church Year
by Heath R. Curtis
available from Concordia Publishing House • cph.org

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Coming Soon! Lutheranism 101: The Lord’s Supper

Posted on June 14, 2012 by LauraL

Hey everyone,

We’re getting pretty excited to introduce our latest addition to the Lutheranism 101 family: The Lord’s Supper. 

For details about the book, and to pre-order, click here! We will be adding helpful resources when the book is available.

The author, Rev. Kenneth Wieting, has served parishes in Wisconsin for nearly 30 years. God has blessed him and his wife, Barbara, with five children.

Rev. Wieting has given numerous presentations on the Lord’s Supper. His interest in the topic grew from question a layman asked several years ago. The scriptural, confessional, and historical materials studied since then gave Rev. Wieting a fuller understanding of the treasures of the Lord’s Supper. It is this understanding that he seeks to convey in his writings and through presentations.

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The Holy Trinity

Posted on May 31, 2012 by LauraL

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 (June 3 this year) to consider the essence of God. Certainly the essence of God is beyond our weak comprehension but that He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy Scripture says 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 Creeds, 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 to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

- From Treasury of Daily Prayer, p. 352

Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. (L52; Collect for Holy Trinity, Lutheran Service Book)

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