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Small Catechism

The structure of the Small Catechism

January 19, 2010

I mentioned in a Sunday Bible class recently how my friend Pr. Fast showed me, when I was just out of seminary, the structure of the Catechism, which should also be the structure of our Christian life. That structure is: Repentance, Faith, Holy Living. A parishioner emailed me asking me to explain a bit further. [...]

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Sanctity of Human Life/Epiphany II sermon

January 17, 2010

I was asked to write the sermon for the LCMS Life Ministry’s resource for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, coinciding this year with Epiphany II. The following is that sermon, slightly modified for use in my own parish. “In the beginning, God created” (Gen. 1). That’s who God is. The One who creates. Outside of [...]

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The threefold pattern of Christian theology and life

December 14, 2009

I should have learned this in Seminary, but it wasn’t until after ordination that my friend, Pastor Tom Fast (then at Christ Lutheran, Jacob, Illinois, and now in Fairmont, MN), introduced me to the basic structure of Lutheran theology, seen in the first three chief parts of the Small Catechism: Repentance, Faith, Holy Living. (This [...]

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Trusting in Horses

April 22, 2009

Psalm 20 (reminiscent of Ps. 147, which Luther uses in the Small Catechism for the prayer returning thanks after a meal) contrasts trusting in horses with trusting in God: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Patrick Henry Reardon, in his magnificent Christ [...]

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