Blog Archives - Epiphany Lutheran Church

The Resurrection of Our Lord---The One Holy Church

3/31/2013

Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

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Job 19:23-27
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
Mark 16:1-8

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Throughout Lent and Holy Week we’ve been focusing on the nature of the Church, how it is evangelical, catholic, liturgical, sacramental, confessional, orthodox, apostolic, and cruciform. Today we are going to look at a Latin phrase: the church is “unam sanctam” which means “one holy” Church.

The Church is "Cruciform"---Good Friday

3/29/2013

Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

Isaiah 52:13-53:12
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
John 18-19

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Church is cruciform. It is cross-shaped or shaped by the cross. The cross, an instrument of death and torture, is Her symbol. A sign of death, of shame, of judgment. This is our shape, our form. I don’t mean that church buildings must be built like crosses, though many churches have been. I mean that we are an object of scorn in this world. We are marked by that cross. And it is foolishness to many, a stumbling block of weakness. And yet we cling to that cross. We are shaped by that cross. For it is our life and salvation. It is God’s love for us.

The Church is "Sacramental"---Holy Thursday

3/27/2013

Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

John 13:1-15, 34-35

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

It is the Thursday of holy week. It is Our Lord’s last night on earth before He will face the cross, and there He goes as always doing earthly things that have a heavenly point. His disciples as usual miss the point. He washes their feet, and yet He’s talking about something else. “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward [after My resurrection] you will understand.” Peter realizes how ridiculous this is for your master, your teacher, to act like the lowest servant in the house by washing your feet. He tries to safeguard His Lord’s dignity, saying, “You shall never wash my feet. You are more important than this.” But Our Lord responds, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Clearly, this is not just about foot washing. Our Lord is talking about the cleanness of your sins forgiven. Those who hang on to their sins, who do not yield them to the Lord, who will not be served by Him, washed by Him, are unclean. They have no part in Him. For He is a sponge which sucks not only your sin but you yourself into Him through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. You are part of Him. Part of His body. Part of the Church. For the Church is sacramental.

Agnus Dei: The Lamb Goes to Be Slain---Palm/Passion Sunday

3/24/2013

This is the Sixth in a series about the Divine Service.

Part 1: Confession & Absolution
Part 2: the "Kyrie Eleison"
Part 3: the "Gloria in Excelsis"
Part 4: the "Creed"
Part 5: the "Sanctus"
Part 6: the "Agnus Dei"

John 12:12-19
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 27:11-54

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Passover was at hand. That annual week long celebration of God’s mighty deliverance of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. It culminated in a pass-over or “paschal” lamb being slain and eaten in an annual ritual meal that remembered, recapitulated, that put each Israelite boy and girl, man and woman who participated in that meal there with their brothers and sister who had been slaves in Egypt, there at that first meal awaiting God’s imminent salvation of them.

The Church is "Apostolic"---Lenten Midweek 6

3/20/2013

Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

The church is apostolic. In the Nicene Creed specifically, we say, "I believe in one holy Christian and Apostolic church." It is important to ask, “What does apostolic mean?” The apostles were largely the inner circle who were with Jesus in his ministry. Think of Jesus’ inner circle of 12 disciples. These were the men who were sent by Jesus, saying, “Go into all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching all that I have commanded you.” Take Judas Iscariot off the list of 12 and replace him with Matthias who was chosen by in Acts 1. Then, add Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles who was directly called by Jesus to that task. There you have it: the apostles. Those men who were set aside for the task, who had themselves seen the risen Christ.

Sanctus: The Lamb Is Holy

3/17/2013

This is the fifth in a series about the Divine Service.

Part 1: Confession & Absolution
Part 2: the "Kyrie Eleison"
Part 3: the "Gloria in Excelsis"
Part 4: the "Creed"
Part 5: the "Sanctus"
Part 6: the "Agnus Dei"

Genesis 22:1-14
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 8:42-59

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The high points of the Divine Service all point to Jesus as your saviour, the source of life and salvation. In the preparatory part of the Service in the Confession and Absolution we repent, and ask for forgiveness, and Our Lord proclaims you forgiven. In the Service of the Word in the Kyrie we call out to Him for mercy, which in faith we know we will get. In the Gloria we proclaim with the angels that God’s glory, which is to have mercy, has come in our flesh to save us. In the Creed we confess who He is, which shapes us and our identity through His having mercy on us, reminding us that we are no longer objects of wrath, but objects of affection, sought after, loved, and saved through the work of each person of the Triune God. In the Service of the Sacrament in the Sanctus we join with the song the angels sing in the heavenly throne room to proclaim that our Triune God is holy, and the Sanctus anticipating next week, Palm Sunday, goes on to proclaim that He comes to us to impart His holiness to us.

The Church is "confessional"---Lenten Midweek 5

3/13/2013

lenten_midweek_5_-_2013-03-13.mp3
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Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The most common use of the word "confess" is when someone publicly makes a statement about something shameful they have done, for instance Lance Armstrong's recent confession of using performance enhancing drugs through His interview with Oprah. And in the Church we tend to think of confession in the same way: confession is about sin. But we forget two things: 1) what the Catechism says that, "Confession has two parts: first that we confess our sins, and second that we receive absolution." So confession isn't about sin, it is about forgiveness. 2) The second thing we forget is what the word "confess" actually means: "to speak together". And so we as the Church are tasked with speaking together our faith to the world. Confessing with one voice who our Saviour is.

4th Sunday in Lent---Credo: Not Just Grist for the Mill, but Food for the Soul

3/10/2013

lent_4_-_2013-03-10.mp3
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This is the fourth in a series about the Divine Service.

Part 1: Confession & Absolution
Part 2: the "Kyrie Eleison"
Part 3: the "Gloria in Excelsis"
Part 4: the "Creed"
Part 5: the "Sanctus"
Part 6: the "Agnus Dei"

Exodus 16:2-21
Acts 2:41-47
John 6:1-15

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Passover was at hand. So the Good Shepherd feeds His flock of over 5000 in the grassy pasture land. By this He foreshadowed that the Good Shepherd is the true Passover Lamb who feeds us with His own body and blood and takes away the sins of the world.

This event in the life of Our Lord shows that He is the God who created all and has power over the universe, even over the laws of physics. This event parallels God’s shepherding and leading and miraculously feeding His people day by day with bread from heaven during Moses’ time. This event shows that He is the same God. The people around Our Lord realized He must be the Prophet that Moses talked about: the One who was to come, who would be greater than Moses, for He would be the Messiah, the Saviour, God’s own Son.

The Church is "orthodox"---Lent4 Midweek

3/6/2013

Part of our shared midweek Lenten Service series "The Church is: ..."

Ash Wednesday: "Liturgical"
Week 2: "catholic"
Week 3: "evangelical"
Week 4: "orthodox"
Week 5: "confessional"
Week 6: "apostolic"
Holy Thursday: "Sacramental"
Good Friday: "Cruciform"
Easter Sunday: "The One Holy Church"

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The most common use of the word "confess" is when someone publicly makes a statement about something shameful they have done, for instance Lance Armstrong's recent confession of using performance enhancing drugs through His interview with Oprah. And in the Church we tend to think of confession in the same way: confession is about sin. But we forget two things: 1) what the Catechism says that, "Confession has two parts: first that we confess our sins, and second that we receive absolution." So confession isn't about sin, it is about forgiveness. The second thing we forget is what the word Confess actually means: "to speak together". And so we as the Church are tasked with speaking together our faith to the world. Confessing with one voice who our Saviour is.

God’s Gloria at Work---Third Sunday in Lent

3/3/2013

lent_3_-_2013-03-03.mp3
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This is the third of a series about the Divine Service.

Part 1: Confession & Absolution
Part 2: the "Kyrie Eleison"
Part 3: the "Gloria in Excelsis"
Part 4: the "Creed"
Part 5: the "Sanctus"
Part 6: the "Agnus Dei"

Jeremiah 26:1-15
Ephesians 5:1-9
Luke 11:14-28

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

What is God’s glory? What is glory in general? It is hard to define, and yet we all kind of know what glory is. We can use the word even without being able to put our finger on exactly what it is. It is as though you can’t describe it but you know it when you see it. Glory is basically something important in a person that is worthy of praising. It draws a reaction from you. You can’t help but respond to something glorious. That's why we shout when we see a beautiful goal in a hockey game, and the emotions are stirred by a powerful performance in a movie. We have a song in our worship called the Gloria In Excelsis. Normally we sing it every Sunday, but not during Lent because Lent is a time to set aside our joyful praises in order to ponder what our saviour had to save us from. Setting aside of our praise of Him renews our reaction to His glory. It makes our praise of Him that much sweeter on Easter Sunday, the day of our salvation.