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The Gifts of God…for the People of God
Introduction First Communion preparation at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., like in many parishes, typically comes when children are entering fifth grade. They and their parent together gather for their class. The Gifts of God…for the People of God God blesses his people with gifts God calls us to gather together for worship. He…
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Walking Blamelessly
Introduction The Congregation Council at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., where I am serving as interim pastor, opens its monthly meetings with devotions. These are the thoughts for the August meeting. The Psalm for the upcoming Sunday is the reading. Reading Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak…
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At the Crossroads
Introduction This reflection was one I shared with the pastors of the Trails West Cluster, Nebraska Synod, sometime in 1991, in response to the High Plains Project, an initiative to bring together clergy and laity in the cluster to plan for the future of ministry among the congregations. Reflection Our cluster stands at the crossroads,…
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“I Am the Bread of Life”
Introduction One of the classes I took at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1988 was an elective on hymnology, the study of hymnody, including its history, use, and development in the life of the Church’s liturgy. Part of the class involved writing some hymn texts. This hymn, “I Am the Bread of Life,”…
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A Strange Faith
Introduction While I served as pastor at First Lutheran Church, Potter, and Grace Lutheran Church, Gurley, in western Nebraska from 1989 to 1991, I worked with several others to organize several gatherings of clergy and lay leaders from the congregations of the Nebraska Synod’s Trails West Cluster. The aspiration was to bring the congregations together…
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The Lord’s Supper in The Book of Concord
Introduction I submitted this paper to Drs. Eric W. Gritsch and Dr. Robert W. Jenson on May 16, 1986, as part of my work in The Lutheran Confessions, a class at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Paper From the moment of its post-resurrection inception, the church catholic has been the gathering of believers around…
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The Catechetical Use of Hymnody in the Christian’s Daily Formation
Introduction In the spring term in 1987, I took took a class called “Luther Seminar: Education and Worship,”, lead by Prof. Eric W. Gritsch. I wrote this paper as my final project in the class. Paper Martin Luther conceived the Christian life as a continual, daily return to one’s baptismal waters, reaffirming God’s action which…
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The Authority and Inspiration of Scripture According to Hans Küng in On Being a Christian
Introduction I submitted this paper to Mr. Scott Gustafson, on April 25, 1986, as part of a class entitled, “Introduction to Systematic Theology,” in the spring of my first year at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Paper In his preface to the work On Being A Christian, Roman Catholic theologian Hans Küng writes, in…
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Gospel, Church & Kingdom
Introduction I wrote this review of James A. Scherer’s Gospel, Church & Kingdom, Chapter 2, for a class at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, some time between 1985 and 1989. The printed copy is undated. Paper Lutheran Mission in Historical Perspective Scherer surveys the contributions of Lutheranism, as a “confessing movement” within the church…
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A Look at The Didache
Introduction Based on the contents of this paper, I must have written it for a class entitled, “The Early Church and its Creeds.” This was a first-semester class I took at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in the fall 1985 semester. Paper Once the early church received the charge from Christ to “…go therefore…