The 2015 synod convention launched a special synod-wide offering to eliminate $4.7 million in synod debt two years ahead of schedule. If successful by God’s grace, the “One in Christ” campaign will put our synod in a better financial position to continue the ministry of training and sending gospel proclaimers to the world. Thus, together we will do more than simply pay our debt to previous ministry endeavors; we will actually move ministry forward. To that end, we worship and praise our God today for all that he has done for us—most of all, what he does for us in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. In this endeavor, as a Synod we pray: God help us!
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Sin is rampant. The godless get ahead. Deception succeeds. The believer suffers...or so it would seem. But the Word sets forth testimony to the truth of the Triune God through the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit works through the means of grace—the Gospel found in the Word and in the Sacraments—proclaiming the message of the Christ in the waters of baptism and the blood of the Lord’s Supper. This is the Spirit’s message: the Father has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. THE ATHANASIAN CREED The Athanasian Creed is named after St. Athanasius, a staunch defender of the Christian faith in the fourth century. It was prepared to assist the Church in combating two errors that undermined Bible teaching. One error denied that God’s Son and the Holy Spirit are of one being or Godhead with the Father. The other error denied that Jesus Christ is true God and true man in one person. The Athanasian Creed continues to serve the Christian Church as a standard of the truth. It declares that whoever rejects the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of Christ is without saving faith. Our congregation uses the Athanasian Creed once a year on Holy Trinity Sunday. However, this should not underscore the importance of such an important and necessary doctrine. Especially in modern society and culture, the message of true salvation through Christ alone is a message that continually needs to be underscored. Perhaps this Creed should even be used more often!
There are some saints in particular whose lives on earth are so closely connected with the earthly life and ministry of Jesus that their stories are literally part of the Gospel itself. Perhaps the most obvious examples would be the apostles and evangelists. In the history of the church, including the history of our Lutheran Church, the commemorations of these saints have been observed with special distinction—always to the praise and glory of Christ Jesus and His Gospel. These days are really treated as “Feasts of Christ,” that is to say, as days when we remember, celebrate, and give thanks for the life that our Lord Jesus Christ lived for us in the flesh. For these reasons, it is appropriate to observe these “Feasts” with the Sacrament of the Altar, in which the Word-made-flesh draws close to us and gives himself to us in much the same way that he came and lived among the apostles and other disciples in the New Testament. May 1 has been kept as the feast day of St. Philip and St. James since A.D. 561 when on that date, the supposed remains of the two saints were interred in the Church of the Apostles in Rome. But the Church celebrates these saints today not because we have a piece of their earthly bodies to worship; rather, we follow the example of Holy Scripture in remembering those whom God has called to be his own, in whom he has demonstrated his grace of forgiveness and his gift of life (cf. Hebrews 11; Matthew 26:13). Today we give thanks to God for the gift of apostles—specifically Philip and James—who served his church as leaders and missionaries.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the Christian’s 40-day journey with the Lord to the cross and tomb, preparing for the proclamation of Easter. The 40 days are reminiscent of several biblical events: Jesus’ 40-day fast at the beginning of his ministry, Moses’ stay on Mount Sinai at the giving of the Law, or Elijah’s fast on his way to the mountain of God. Ash Wednesday begins the Christian’s Lenten journey with a reminder of our mortality and a call to repentance. The ancient practice of imposing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful gives Ash Wednesday its name. The imposition of ashes has never been an exclusively Roman Catholic practice, and today is observed widely by Christians of many traditions. The church father, Tertullian (c. a.d. 160–215), writes of the practice as a public expression of repentance and of our human frailty that stands in need of Christ. The ashes remind us forcefully of our need for redeeming grace as they recall the words from the rite for Christian burial: “…earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…,” words that will very likely be spoken over us all.
Today, the Savior “preaches” to us his final sermon: Prepare for my passion. On the mount, Jesus appears to his disciples in glory as the Son of God. The Epiphany season is bookended by the voice of God the Father proclaiming Jesus his Son. Before he suffered as man’s substitute, Jesus gave his Church a glimpse of the glory that he set aside to be our Savior. See how much he loves us! The God of Mt. Sinai, the Majestic Glory, became a man to suffer and die for us, just as Moses and the Prophets had foretold. It is good that we are here. Today we also bid “farewell” to alleluia. It is the custom that alleluia is not spoken or sung in the church from Ash Wednesday until Easter morn. It is omitted from the Verse of the Day, the hymns, and liturgical songs. We stifle our joy during the season of Lent as we prepare and observe the Passion of our Lord. But don’t worry; the church will shout it again on Easter morning as she rejoices at the entrance to the empty tomb.
The long-expected Christ has arrived; the waiting is over as the Son of David is anointed. The Father’s approval sounds from heaven and book-ends the season of Epiphany, when, with the Holy Spirit and with power, it thunders again on the Mount of Transfiguration as the Son is revealed in glory.
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