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 Fire and the Staff” by Klemet Preus and the Historic Liturgy. If you do not have a copy of the “The Fire and the Staff” or the Book of Concord we are providing them for free.
The Psalm for this week is Psalm 56. The Small Catechism lesson is Confession.
The first half of the class we will be reading through “The Fire and the Staff”. We will continue reading Chapter 8: The Staff is Bent (pg. 243-275). We will pick up with Our Culture Craves Excitement: Doctrinal Indifference (pg. 255). We will discuss how our American Christianity’s quest for excitement leads to a break down doctrinal distinctions between denominations as well as destroys church loyalty leading to unionism. We will also talk about how the break down of doctrinal distinctions impacts the practice of closed communion.
For the second half of the class we will continue our study of the Divine Service Setting III in Lutheran Service Book with a discussion about the Words of Institution (LSB 197). We will discuss why the Verba are so important and why the elements must be bread and wine in the Supper. We will also talk about the benefits of eating and drinking the Lord’s True Body and True Blood. We will close this section by singing “Lord Jesus Christ, You Have Prepared” (LSB 622).
We will then cover the Pax Domini (LSB 197). We will talk about how the Peace of God is truly with us in the Body and Blood of our Lord in fulfillment of God’s promises and our prayers based on those promises. We will close with the hymn “I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table” (LSB 618-619).
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.
