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 50. The Small Catechism lesson is the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.
The first half of the class we will be reading through “The Fire and the Staff”. We will continue with Chapter 5: The Church’s Staff (pg. 137-183). We will pick up with Uniformity in the Service: Luther’s Example (pg. 170) and discuss how one can accomplish uniformity as well as why uniformity is good, both in view of the catholicity of the church and her need to teach. We will also discuss why we use the liturgy and how it prepares us for our deaths.
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 third of the ordinaries, the Creed (LSB 191-192). We will talk about the three ecumenical creeds and why they are so important to the Divine Service. We will finish this topic by singing “We All Believe in One True God” (LSB 954)
We will then discuss the Hymn of the Day, also known as the Office Hymn (LSB 192). We will talk about what pastors look for in picking an Office Hymn, how it relates to the sermon, and the theme of the day in the readings. We will finish this section 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.
