After being called to repentance by the Prophet Nathan, St. David, inspired by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Nathan, wrote Psalm 51. One of the greatest verses in this beloved Psalm is verse 7 which prays, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall...
Psalm 103 is the psalm for the Treasury today which prays, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. as far as the east is from the west, so...
In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11, the criticism of the circumcision party against St. Peter is recorded. St. Peter responded to the accusation, "You went to the uncircumcised men and ate with them," by recalling the account of His vision and his meeting with Cornelius. Peter then replied...
We are going to start a new series today based on the Catechism. Both the Small and the Large Catechisms of Dr. Martin Luther, of blessed and holy memory, are not to be read once and then tossed to the side, but rather should be [art of our daily diet when it comes to the Word of God and...
One of the greatest things that brings me joy, and I pray it brings you joy as well, are the words of Holy Absolution. Luther speaks about this in the Small Catechism concerning the Office of the Keys saying, "What do you believe according to these words? I believe that when the called ministers...
In the Large Catechism, Luther confesses, "Therefore, when I urge you to go to confession, I am simply urging you to be a Christian" (Large Catechism Tappert 460.32). Here Luther is speaking about private of personal confession and absolution. He urges every Christian to take hold and use this...
On Fridays I'm going to start writing little summaries of the Liturgy. These are not meant to be in depth teachings on the liturgy, but rather little summaries that help us meditate a little more on what we are doing on Sunday mornings and throughout the week in our worship life together. Today...
In the Large Catechism, Luther says, "But if you forgive, you have this comfort and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven. This is not because of your forgiving. For God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches. But God says...