original sin

Christmas Eve: Three Meditations on the Hymn, "O Savior of Our Fallen Race"

December 24, 2009

O Savior of our fallen race, O Brightness of the Father’s face, O Son who shared the Father’s might Before the world knew day or night, O Jesus, very Light of Light, Our constant star in sin’s deep night: Now hear the prayers Your people pray Throughout the world this holy day. “He knows if [...]

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The League of Faithful Masks

December 15, 2009

We were privileged to have Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto speak at Immanuel last Sunday. He is the director of The League of Faithful Masks: Center for Lutheran Theology and Public Life. The idea behind the phrase “faithful masks” comes from Luther’s terminology of God working through us in our various callings. I’m not sure of the [...]

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Ash Wednesday

February 25, 2009

Propers from the Lutheran Lectionary: Joel 2.12-19; 2 Peter 1.2-11; Mattew 6.16-21 The ashes stain my thumb such that I have to scrub harshly with soap to remove it. The stain reminds me of the pictures you probably have seen, photos of Iraqis who, after voting, have purple thumbs dipped in ink. But the comparison [...]

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Trinity 25 sermon

November 17, 2008

  “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.” Job is not only talking about himself in those words; he is talking about us. Our days are numbered, yet in our folly we don’t count them correctly. Your days are determined; the number of your months is with [...]

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"Sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire" (Rom. 7.8)

September 11, 2008

Eric G. sent along this Non Sequitur comic which captures the verse in the title perfectly.

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FC I: Original Sin

July 12, 2008

We’re studying the Formula of Concord in our Sunday morning Scripture Study. Here’s the study sheet for those who are interested: fc-1-original-sin

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Our Combat and Struggle

February 13, 2008

I think this passage from the Formula of Concord is good for consideration during Lent, and could give shape to our prayers: We receive in this life only the firstfruits of the Spirit. The new birth is not complete, but only begun in us. The combat and struggle of the flesh against the spirit remains [...]

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Set the Money Ablaze

October 6, 2007

Tomorrow’s Gospel repeats the dominical command to love the Lord with our entire heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. One need not be a Christian to realize that this is an impossible command. Witness this interesting article aptly titled “Ethical Masturbation.” The author, Bryan McKay, wonders if a truly altruistic [...]

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How could he do that?

April 27, 2007

When a Christian falls into great transgression–or when someone like Cho commits the atrocities that he did at VA Tech–even Christians seem mystified at the capacity of others for evil. “How could a person do that?” is a question I am often asked, although no one seems to expect an answer. It must be drugs, [...]

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