Since both Kent and I are alumni of Valparaiso University, we wish to remind our readers that the early-bird registration for the Institute of Liturgical Studies at VU ends on January 31. To save $100 on the registration cost, click here by Saturday, January 31. The Institute meets April 13 – 15, 2026. It’s a […]
Journey to Jesus arrives at the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL)! Here are Rhoda and I at standing in a room at Candler School of Theology on the Emory University Campus where the Academy Meeting of NAAL took place in early January. Rhoda and I have been members of NAAL for over 20 years. […]
Although it is (apparently) an urban legend that the origin of the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” stems from a time when Roman Catholics in England (16th to early 19th centuries) were not allowed to practice their faith openly, we’re featuring the modern legend on today’s post. The carol was purportedly written as a […]
As Alan Kreider and others have adequately demonstrated, the early church catechumenate facilitated the creation of new Christians by focusing on matters of believing, belonging, and behaving. And as Kreider showed in The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, one of the focal points of distinct Christian behavior was the virtue of patience. According to […]
When preaching or teaching Luther’s Small Catechism, I did so with two primary thoughts. Interrelationship First, I tried to illustrate the interrelationships of the parts of the Small Catechism. To understand what sin is and what should be confessed in preparation for coming to Holy Communion, one needs to learn the Commandments so that sin […]
I offer these comments about the selection of the Scripture readings and hymns to help the reader understand how I arrived at the scripture readings, hymns, and sermon texts and titles that were chosen for this part of the sermon series. Sermons on the Sacrament of the Altar The four passages that are the biblical […]
Shrouded in legend, Bishop Nicholas of Myra (270-343) evolved over the centuries into the patron saint of children (in the West) and sailors (in the East). According to one Roman Catholic source, this devolution—my word, not that of my source—of a fourth-century saint revered for acts of mercy and charity into the King of consumerism […]
Here are some comments to help the reader understand how I arrived at the scripture readings and hymns chosen for this part of the catechetical sermon series. Sermons on Confession and the Keys The Scripture readings for the sermons on Confession and the Keys were primarily chosen from the passages listed in each part of […]
Here are some comments to help the readers understand how I arrived at my selection of the scripture readings and hymns for this part of the catechetical sermon series. Baptismal Sermons For each of the baptismal sermons I included in the readings the scriptural texts Luther used in his Catechism (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-16; Titus […]
Preaching on the Catechism is not necessarily the norm in Lutheranism today. However, preaching on the Catechism is strongly encouraged by Luther. In his German Mass, Luther stated the desire for regular catechetical preaching to train the young in the Christian faith. [LW 53, 64-69, 78-80, 86-87] Luther wrote that preaching the “Catechism is doctrine […]