Diet of Augsburg, Christian Beyer (1482-1535)
Lutheran Essentials meets in the undercroft of the church on Wednesdays at 7pm. You can find the undercroft by going around the back to the parking lot of the church and then down the stairs through the kitchen. Please knock on the door and ring the bell and some one will let you in. You can also join us remotely via our livestream on the FLC YouTube. We are concluding our study of the Augsburg Confession. We will be on hiatus until September 15th when we will be beginning our next study on Psalms, Canticles, and Hymns.
Our Psalm for the evening will be Psalm 119:113-120 (Samekh) and our Catechism lesson will be on Holy Baptism (Part 1). We will consider Article XXVII of the Augsburg Confession on Monastic Vows. We will discuss the origins of monasticism and the various abuses that had crept in to the practice. We will especially focus on the monastic vows and talk about if they are in fact binding on those who take them. We will continue with the hymn “Jesus, Priceless Treasure” (LSB 743).
Next we will cover Article XXVIII on Church Authority. We will talk about the conflict between the authority of the church and the authority of the state in the Middle Ages. We discuss the right relationship of the church and the state as well as what authority the church has to change tradition and enforce man-made dictates on people under threat of eternal hell fire. We will sing the hymn “One Thing’s Needful” (LSB 536).
We will close our study by reading the Conclusion of the Augsburg Confession. We will as well read the names of the faithful Lutheran princes who subscribed their names to it, putting their lives at stake for the sake of the Gospel. We will close with the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (LSB 656).
As noted above we will be on break after Wednesday August 18th until September 15th. We look forward to seeing you all in the Fall for our new study on the music of the church!
