Lutheran Essentials meets in the undercroft of the church on Wednesday evenings immediately following the midweek Advent Evening Prayer which start at 7pm. You can reach the undercroft by going around to the back parking lot of the church and descending the staircase to the kitchen. Knock on the door if it is closed and some one will let you in. You can also join us remotely via our livestream which will begin roughly at 7:45pm. Our current study is on the Augsburg Confession. We are providing hard copies of the Book of Concord for free, as well as copies of the Lutheran Service Book.
We will open class with Psalm 119:41-48 (Waw) and our catechism lesson will be the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. We will then read the Article VII on The Church. We will discuss that there is One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and what that means. We will also talk about how the Church is found where true doctrine and practice are. We will also talk about traditions in the Church and how the Church is the Bride of Christ. We will then sing the hymn “I Love Your Kingdom, Lord” (LSB 651).
We will then read Article VIII on What the Church Is. We will talk about the difference between the visible and invisible church. We will talk about hypocrites in the church as well as the heresy of Donatism. The Confutation rejects Article VII but accepts VIII, we will look at why this is odd and what we have to say in response to the Confutation by looking at the Apology. We will close with the hymn “Built on the Rock” (LSB 645).
As always new people are always welcome to this study at any point during the class. Please talk to the Pastor, Elders or Paul Edmon if you have any questions.
