Lutheran Essentials meets in the undercroft of the church on Wednesday evenings 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. Our current study is on “The Spirituality of the Cross” by Gene Edward Veith Jr. If you do not have a copy we are providing them for free. We are also continuing to provide the Book of Concord for free.
The Psalm for this session is Psalm 19. The Small Catechism lesson is the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed.
This week we will read the second chapter of the Spirituality of the Cross on Justification: The Dynamics of Sin and Grace. We will read the first section of the second chapter (pg. 25-26) and introduce the three ladders of Moralism, Rationalism and Mysticism. We will then go deeper into these three ladders in the section on Paths to God (pg. 26-33) and discover why none of these paths can actually get us to God, rather God must come down to us. We will then read the section on Law and Gospel (pg. 33-38) and discuss how we are sinners incapable of climbing up to God, but also learn the good news the Christ came down from heaven and died for us so that He would redeem us and bring us up to God. In the last section of this chapter on The Paradoxes of Lutheranism (pg. 38-39) we will discuss how Lutheran theology embraces the paradoxes found in Scripture rather than try to rationalize them. We will close this chapter on Justification by singing “Salvation Unto Us Has Come” (LSB 555).
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.
