Jolly Ol' St. Nick, reprise

This is from last year's St. Nick's Day.

And this article from World Mag in 2005 has been bouncing around the Internet today. In it, Dr. Veith calls for incorporating the St. Nicholas slap into our Christmas traditions. I think that's a fantastic idea.

This will take a little tweaking of the mythology. Santa and his elves live at the North Pole where they compile a list of who is naughty, who is nice, and who is Nicean. On Christmas Eve, flying reindeer pull his sleigh full of gifts. And after he comes down the chimney, he will steal into the rooms of people dreaming of sugarplums who think they can do without Christ and slap them awake.

And we'll need new songs and TV specials ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Slap," "Deck the Apollinarian with Bats of Holly," "Frosty the Gnostic," "How the Arian Stole Christmas," "Rudolph the Red Knows Jesus").

Department store Santas should ask the children on their laps if they have been good, what they want for Christmas, and whether they understand the Two Natures of Christ. The Santas should also roam the shopping aisles, and if they hear any clerks wish their customers a mere "Happy Holiday," give them a slap.

This addition to his job description will keep Santa busy. Teachers who forbid the singing of religious Christmas carols—SLAP! Office managers who erect Holiday Trees—SLAP! Judges who outlaw manger displays—SLAP! People who give The Da Vinci Code as a Christmas present—SLAP! Ministers who cancel Sunday church services that fall on Christmas day—SLAP! SLAP!

St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord

Happy August 15, the Feast day of St. Mary. What to do with Mary? Confess with her: "Let it be unto me according to Your word." What to do with Mary? Learn from her: "Do whatever He tells you." What to do with Mary? Sing with her: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." What to do with Mary? Learn to respect the holy estate of motherhood. What to do with Mary? The same thing we do with the rest of the saints whose death days we commemorate in the Church's calendar: join them.

Here's the sermon from the LCMS International Center today.

Feast of the Confession of St. Peter

Sermon from Winkel today:

The Confession of St. Peter, A + D 2011

Mark 8:27-35

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Ah, Peter. So close, so precise, in fact. And yet, so far from the kingdom. Today is the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter, not the Feast of the Confusion of St. Peter. Why doesn’t the Gospel reading end after Peter’s confession? Why must we press on, from Peter at his best, to Peter at his worst, or, maybe his second-worst? Perhaps Peter learned that it’s easier to make a bold confession with your lips than to get your brain to believe that confession. You are the Christ! And then, when Jesus reveals to them what His plans are as the Christ, Peter thinks it best to give Jesus a private rebuke, a fraternal correction. This seems better than confronting Jesus in front of the crowds, in front of the congregation. A private rebuke, before going to the Circuit Counselor, seems best. But then “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah” becomes “Get behind me, Satan.” “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” becomes “You are setting your mind not on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Ah, pastor. So close, so precise, in fact. And yet so far from the kingdom. How easy it seems to make a bold confession with your lips, but how difficult to believe your own preaching. Your preaching delivers Christ, but your private devotional life is wont to receive Him. Like Peter, you sing with your parishioners, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” but your calendar finds you going more to members and meetings and less to Christ and His Word. You catechize about the sufficiency of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit to convert, but when it comes time to evaluate vacancies in the pews or deficiencies in the budget, you wonder what you could add to the Word or the Spirit to close the deal. “Will you adorn the office with a holy life?” becomes “What if your parishioners knew what you’re doing?” And “Were it not for Thy help, I would long since have ruined it all” becomes “were it not for my work, they would long since have ruined it all.”

Yes, Peter. Make the good confession. Today is not the Confusion of St. Peter. Today we don’t recall St. Peter’s sin, because he has none. We only rejoice in Peter’s bold confession. Peter’s Lord is the Christ, who has the Word of eternal life. Alleluia. When the crowds hearing Peter’s preaching “saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Peter’s Lord is the Christ, who takes away the sin of the world. Peter might have remembered his shortcomings. The rebuke from Jesus might have haunted his memories. But Jesus has no such memory. The rebuke, Peter’s stupidity and timidity, Peter’s faltering faith, his panic in tumultuous waters, his denial of his Lord, all of these are removed. Gone, Peter, your Lord no longer remembers them.

Yes, pastor. Make the good confession. Your Lord is the Christ, who has the words of eternal life. Your Lord is the Christ, who takes away the sin of the world. Make the bold confession. Let your confession to your father confessor leave no corner of your life unexamined. And then receive his words with joy. Believe that he possesses the same keys entrusted to Peter. What he forgives, your Lord forgets. Every prideful thought, every poorly prepared sermon, every selfish motive, every missed opportunity, every sorry excuse, every false hope, at the word of Absolution, exist only in your own memory, not in your Lord’s. Forgiven is gone. The confessional is sealed because there remains nothing of which to speak. Gone, pastor, your Lord no longer remembers them because they no longer exist.

Yes, pastor. Make the good confession. Confess with St. Peter, with all the apostles, with all the men before you who, like you, were placed into an Office so that others might have the faith that justifies. Confess the Word who gives eternal life. Confess and let your ears believe what you proclaim. To whom shall you go? To Jesus, to His altar. Let Him fill you with Himself. Before His Word is proclaimed from your lips, let His Body be on your tongue. Before you can pour Jesus into your parishioners, let yourself be filled with His Blood. At the Lord’s altar, as Jesus fills you with Himself, with all sin removed, only righteousness remains. Filled with Jesus, even your half-hearted works, your weak efforts to be a better pastor, your half-selfless motives are full and complete in Jesus. Hearing your preaching, knowing you to be an uneducated, common man, they will know that you have been with Jesus. How easy it is to receive a bold confession onto your lips. How delightfully simple and effortless all this turns out to be in hindsight. Yes, pastor. This Christ is for you, too.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All Saints' Day Reflection

To the cemetery or to the Altar? I found this from Lutheran pastor Berthold von Schenk while preparing for tonight's service. I'm reposting it from Pr. Petersen's and Pr. Cwirla's blogs.

It's from The Presence: An Approach to the Holy Communion, 1945, p. 130-132, reprinted in For All The Saints, v. 4, 1996.

When we are bereft of dear ones, it is a tremendous shock. For a time we are stunned. Not everyone, can feel at once their continuing companionship. We should not for that reason despair. An adjustment must take place in our lives, reaching deep into our habits, emotions and thoughts. Some souls may make this adjustment quickly. For most of us it comes slowly and hard; many an hour is filled with loneliness and agonizing doubt.

By ourselves we can never make this adjustment. We must come to a sense of the continuing presence of our loved ones, and we can do this if we realize the presence of our living Lord. As we seek and find our Risen Lord, we shall find our dear departed. They are with Him, and we find the reality of their continued life through Him. The saints are a part of the Church. We worship with them. They worship the Risen Christ face to face, while we worship the same Risen Christ under the veil of bread and wine at the Altar. At the Communion we are linked with heaven, with the Communion of Saints, with our loved ones. Here at the Altar, focused to a point, we find our communion with the dead; for the Altar is the closest meeting place between us and our Lord. That place must be the place of closest meeting with our dead who are in His keeping; The Altar is the trysting place where we meet our beloved Lord. It must, therefore, also be the trysting place where we meet our loved ones, for they are with the Lord.

How pathetic it is to see men and women going out to the cemetery, kneeling at the mound, placing little sprays' of flowers and wiping their tears from their eyes, and knowing nothing else. How hopeless they look! Oh, that we could take them by the hand, away from the grave, out through the cemetery gate, in through the door of the church, and up the nave to the very Altar itself; and there put them in touch, not with the dead body of their loved one, but with the living soul who is with Christ at the Altar!

Our human nature needs more than the assurance that some day and in some way we shall again meet our loved ones "in heaven." That is all gloriously true. But how does that help, us now? When we, then, view death in the light of the Communion of Saints and Holy Communion, there is no helpless bereavement. My loved one has just left me and has gone on a long journey. But I am in touch with her. I know that there is a place where we can meet. It is at the Altar. How it thrills me when I hear the words of the liturgy, "Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of Heaven," for I know that she is there with that company of heaven, the Communion of Saints, with the Lord. The nearer I come to my Lord in Holy Communion, the nearer I come to the saints. to my own loved ones. I am a member of the Body of Christ, I am a living cell in that spiritual organism, partaking of the life of the other cells, and sharing in the Body of Christ Himself.

There is nothing fanciful or unreal about this: Indeed, it is the most real thing in my life. Of course, I miss my loved one. I should miss her if she took a long holiday trip. But now. since she-is what some people call “dead,” she is closer to me than ever. Of course, I miss her physical presence bitterly. I miss her voice and the sound of approaching footsteps. But I have not lost her. And when my sense of loss becomes too great, I can always go to our meeting place at the Altar where I receive the Body and Blood of my Lord that preserves my body and soul just as it has preserved her unto everlasting life.

Do learn to love the Altar as the meeting place with your beloved who have passed within the veil. Here again the Sacrament is the heart of our religion. The Blessed Sacrament links us not merely to Bethlehem and Calvary, but to the whole world beyond the grave as well. For at the Altar the infinite is enshrined in the finite, heaven stoops down to earth, and the seen and the unseen meet.

Oh, God the King of Saints, we praise and magnify Thy holy Name for all Thy servants, who have finished their course in Thy faith and fear, for the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the Holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, for all Thy other righteous servants; and we beseech Thee that, encouraged by their example and strengthened by their fellowship, we may attain to everlasting life, through the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Rev. Berthold Von Schenk (1895 - 1974)

So it begins

Lent, that is.

Here is Pr. Peters on ashes and the history of the custom.

Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas?

Not if you deny the divinity of Jesus. Then St. Nick is less than jolly.

According to tradition, at the Council of Nicea, Nicholas, then Bishop of Myra, dealt with the heretic Arius by crossing the room and striking him in the face.

Nicholas was temporarily deposed as Bishop and jailed until the rest of the Council decided that sometimes heretics are best dealt with with a good, old-fashioned punch in the face. No, you're not free to believe about Jesus whatever you want, not if you value your salvation or your pretty-boy complexion.

The Feast of St. Michael & All Angels

Chemnitz: “From antiquity the church year, for very good reasons, has been divided into certain festivals, in order that the chief articles of the Christian doctrine can be taught to people in a definite order and inculcated by annual repetition. Thus the festival of the holy angels has also been established…For just as a certain day of the year was set aside for a consideration of the exodus from Egypt, so that it should never be forgotten, so also our ancestors have instituted the same practice regarding the angels, so that we should never overlook this doctrine and its benefits. But because Scripture has spoken of certain angels by name, such as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, we have a feast called the feast of the angel Michael, in order that by this very name itself we should be instructed in the most important things to be learned in this life about angels and what we ought to believe and know about them” (Loci, v. 1, p. 172-3).

LSB 521 "Christ the Lord of Hosts Unshaken"

1	Christ, the Lord of hosts, unshaken By the devil’s seething rage, Thwarts the plan of Satan’s minions; Wins the strife from age to age; Conquers sin and death forever; Slams them in their steely cage.
2	Michael fought the heav’nly battle, Godly angels by his side; Warred against the ancient serpent, Foiled the beast, so full of pride, Cast him earthbound with his angels; Now he prowls, unsatisfied.

4	Jesus came, this word fulfilling, Trampled Satan, death defied; Bore the brunt of our temptation, On the wretched tree He died. Yet to life was raised victorious; By His life our life supplied.

5	Swift as lightning falls the tyrant From his heav’nly perch on high, As the word of Jesus’ vict’ry Floods the earth and fills the sky. Wounded by a wound eternal Now his judgment has drawn nigh!

6	Jesus, send Your angel legions When the foe would us enslave. Hold us fast when sin assaults us; Come, then, Lord, Your people save. Overthrow at last the dragon; Send him to his fiery grave. © Peter M. Prange

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

A sermon by Dr. Luther:



Luke, the Evangelist, records that the angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias in the temple beside the altar of incense. He announced to him that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son, that he was to call his name John, that he would be a source of joy and gladness, and that many would rejoice at his birth. He also records the miraculous circumstances surrounding John’s birth, namely, that he was conceived of aged parents, of a mother who had been barren, and that he was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb, that John’s birth, in fact, was particularly notable, much different than that of other human beings.

It was not for John’s sake that all this was written, but for the sake of his office, in that he, as his father Zacharias stated in his Benedictus, would be teaching the way to obtain forgiveness of sins and entrance into heaven, not by one’s own works and merit, as the Pharisees had hitherto taught, but by grace alone, through the tender mercy of God, who gave his beloved Son for the sin of the whole world.

Now, in spite of the fact that all the papists used to sing this Benedictus of Zacharias in their churches every day, and even now continue to do so in their morning matins, they have never understood it, nor do they understand it now. They have always kept this festival and observe it still, but only for the sake of St. John himself and his ascetic life. But we do not observe this day for St. John’s sake, but for God’s sake. We praise and glorify him because he brought the beloved John into the world and made him the preacher he was, one whose word of proclamation was that the world cannot be saves in any other way than by the forgiveness of sins.

This was the nature of John’s preaching, as Zacharias foretold, and his sermons themselves testify. He rebuked and scolded the Pharisees and Jews for teaching that men must obtain salvation by personal piety and holiness. He called them a generation of vipers, and admonished them to exhibit the fruits indicative of genuine repentance. In other words, as if by clap of thunder, he hurled everything into one lump, calling all to repent, those whose repentance was not genuine and who supposed they had already repented, and the counterfeit “holy men” who fancied themselves as not in need of repentance. And his preaching focused solely on the Lamb, who would bear the sins of the world, that is, of all mankind born into the world.

So we ought to thank our dear Lord God on this day of remembrance, for giving us the man John the Baptist, who was the first to preach the gospel for us, and to direct us to the Lamb of God. To be sure, the prophets preached Christ and pointed to him, but from afar, as to one who was to come in a future time. But John not only preached Christ by saying that no one can be saved except through the forgiveness of sins and the Lamb of God, who bears the sin of the world, but also pointed with his own finger to the Lamb declaring, Behold the Lamb of God.

Formerly, before John came pointing with his finger, no Jew dreamed that this Lamb would bear the sin of the world, and that this Jesus, the son of Mary, would be the Lamb of God. They could not have come to the conclusion by themselves, that he would be the one, although he had already come into their midst, and was standing, walking, and living in their midst. But when John came, he declared, This is he, the one who shall do it. Zacharias says the very same thing in his Benedictus: John would be a prophet of the Most High, who would walk before the Lord to prepare his way, and teach the people the way of salvation, that is, the forgiveness of their sins; in other words, God in heaven would entrust to this preacher the task of pointing out the Lamb of God, through whom the people would obtain pardon for their sins and be saved.

So let us observe this day of John the Baptist with joy, not because we adore John himself, a thing which he would not expect of us or even want, but rather because we acknowledge his office and are glad that he pointed to the Lamb of God, so that we might learn to follow him to whom he pointed. For John took no honor upon himself, but gave it to him who deserved it. “Whose shoe latchet,” he said, “I am not worthy to unloose” (John 1:27); and “I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29-29). The pope has given honor and worship to John, and ignored the Lamb of God. He has done the same with respect to the other saints. He has honored and worshiped the virgin mother of God, and ignored the infant Jesus in her lap. John would not tolerate that; instead, he turned all away from himself and pointed to the Lamb alone. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). In other words, I am only a tool of God’s; I preach and baptize in order to bring you to the Lamb of God. I am not the Lamb; but he is the Lamb, who bears the sin of the world. Therefore, do not look to me, but to the Lamb.

We must understand this before we rightly perceive and know the Lamb. Then, if we know the love and grace which God has shown in him, giving us the Lamb, through whom we have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, it will follow that we will also demonstrate this love to our neighbor, doing good to him, being gracious to him, and forgiving his sins if we suffer injury or hurt at his hands, just as God has forgiven our sins. If we do this, we shall be true Christians and pleasing to God. Let these few words about the beloved John, whose birth and preaching we rejoice in, suffice for the present and let us thank God for them.

Annunciation & Miscarried Babies

Tomorrow, the Annunciation of Our Lord, marks the annual celebration of our Lord’s incarnation, when He joined Himself to human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. As such, the Annunciation also serves as an appropriate time to remember in our prayers Christian parents of miscarried or stillborn children. We will pray for parents during the prayers of the church. The Church of God rejoices together and weeps together. Our only hope is in Him who was neither miscarried in the womb nor stillborn in the grave, the Firstborn of the Virgin and the Firstborn from the Dead.

This fits well with our meditations on Holy Baptism. If Baptism saves (which it does), what of children who die without having the opportunity to be brought into the Lord’s Kingdom through the waters of Baptism? Lutheran father Martin Chemnitz wrote:
“Are, then, the children of believers who die before birth or in birth damned?
By no means, but since our children, brought to the light by divine blessing, are, as it were, given into our hands and at the same time means are offered, or it is made possible for the covenant of grace to be applied to them,t here indeed that very solemn divine statement applies: The man-child, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on the eighth day, his soul shall be blotted out from [his] people (Gen. 17:14). Hence the Lord met Moses on his way and wanted to kill him, because he had neglected to circumcise [his] son (Ex. 4:24-26). But when those means are not given us—as when in the Old Testament a male died before the eighth day of circumcision—likewise when they, who, born in the desert in the interval of 40 years, could not be circumcised because of daily harassment by enemies and constant wanderings, died uncircumcised, Josh. 5:5-6, and when today infants die before they are born—in such cases, the grace of God is not bound to the Sacraments, but those infants are to be brought and commended to Christ in prayers. And one should not doubt that those prayers are heard, for they are made in the name of Christ. Jn 16:23; Gen. 17:7; Matt. 19:14. Since, then, we cannot bring infants as yet unborn to Christ through Baptism, therefore we should do it through pious prayers. Parents are to be put in mind of this, and if perhaps such a case should occur, they are to be encouraged with this comfort.” (Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An Enchiridion, 119-120)

While neglecting Baptism or needlessly postponing it are different matters, Christian parents have this comfort: before babies can be brought to the Lord in Holy Baptism, they are brought to Him even while still in the womb through prayer and through the hearing of the Word at the Divine Service and at family devotions.

St. Joseph and the Art of Manliness

From the March 2009 issue of Touchstone.

Joseph Fornieri and Russell Moore both have articles on St. Joseph, whose feast day we commemorated yesterday. Moore's article is fantastic, as well, but not available for free (alone worth the cover price of the magazine, though).

If I haven't already encouraged you to check out Touchstone, I am now. It's brilliant, and it does ecumenism the way ecumenism ought to be done. Christians from different denominations do each other no favors when we gloss over our theological differences. True unity begins by acknowledging where and why we differ and then beginning the conversation. Touchstone draws from the brightest minds in Orthodox, Roman, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran traditions, and more. Subscribe here or borrow my copy when I've read it.

Keeping Christ in Christmas?

That's just about the most arrogant thing you can presume to do: keep Christ anywhere. Christ will be in Christmas or absent from it no matter how hard you try to you keep Him there. Christ doesn't bend to your will. He is where He has promised to be, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. So where is Christ? In the Mass, in the Divine Service, in the Lord's Supper.

Thanks to Mark for this article: http://atheism.about.com/od/christmasholidayseason/p/SecularChristma.htm

To de-secularize the season of Christmas, the writer proposes these actions:

· Put the Mass back in Christmas
· Restore Michaelmas
· Restore Candlemas
· Restore Childermas
· Restore the Feast of the Epiphany
· Restore the Advent season
· Restore gift-giving to the real Christmas season, which occurs after Christmas day
· Don't put up a Christmas tree until Christmas Eve — if at all
· Use Christmas as a day of contemplating Christ, not for engaging in commerce

Mass in Christmas? Check. Hope will have 3 distinct Divine Services celebrating the Nativity of Our Lord.
Michaelmas? Check. We celebrated it this year, albeit transferred to the Sunday before.
Candlemas? Check. It's coming: Feb 2. Join us for the Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord.
Childermas? Check. The Feast of the Holy Innocents will be celebrated Dec 28.
Epiphany? Check. Jan 6, every year.
Advent? Check.

Keeping Christ in Christmas is silly at best, sinful at worst. Instead, keep yourself in Christ. Receive His Body and Blood as often as He gives you the opportunity.

Irreverence: Not just for Evangelicals, anymore

Popular among contemporary worship hucksters is the desire to make church appealing and comfortable. Comfortable is the liturgical opposite of reverent. You can either be comfortable around Jesus--coming in jeans and flip flops, thinking of Him as your buddy, expecting Him to laugh at your jokes--or you can be reverent--treating Him as Lord, bowing in His presence, and dressing in your "Sunday best."

If you were invited to a dinner with the President of the United States, you'd dress up and exercise your best manners. So why, when the Creator of Everything, the Almighty God invites us to His Holy Supper, do we think it's okay not to show reverence?

Well, turns out irreverence isn't limited to Protestants. One of the local Roman churches is having their annual Polka Mass on Sunday the 21st.
Right, a Polka Mass on the Feast of St. Matthew. Maybe it's an illustration of the Gospel Lesson: Matthew 9:9-13. Or maybe it's just plain irrevrence. Either way, it's not cool in the eyes of Rome.

The Commemoration of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

On June 25th, 1530, at the Diet of Augsburg, several German princes presented to Emperor Charles V a confession of their beliefs. This Augsburg Confession, written chiefly by Philip Melanchton, Luther’s colleague at the University of Wittenberg, serves as the principal statement of what Lutheran Christians believe. Even today, the cornerstones of many Lutheran churches are engraved with the letters U.A.C., declaring their belief that the Unaltered Augsburg Confession is a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture.

From the Lutheran Hymnal Project:
“Jesus said, ‘Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father in heaven’ (Matt 10:26–33). To confess Christ before men is to speak the truth openly about who He is and what He has done to save us. It is to give public voice to our belief in Him who made the good confession before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim 6:11–16), and by whose cross alone we are justified and restored to the Father. It is to say in faith what He has first said to us in His holy Word, not fearing those who can destroy the body, but honoring above all Him who is the Lord of both body and soul. On this day we give thanks to God that our Lutheran forefathers confessed the truth of the Scriptures with courage and clarity. This is a holy day in which we rejoice greatly to understand the words of the Lord (Neh 8:1–12) and to share in Augsburg’s confession of the true faith. The Spirit of God grant us all continually to fight the good fight of faith until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.”

Introit
Antiphon:
The LORD of hosts is / with us;*
the God of Jacob is our / refuge.
Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth / be removed,*
and though the mountains be carried into the midst / of the sea. (Psalm 46:7, 2)
Psalm:
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the ci- / ty of God,*
the holy place of the tabernacle of the / Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall / not be moved;*
God shall help her, just at the / break of dawn.
The nations raged, the king- / doms were moved;*
He uttered His voice, the earth / melted.
Be still, and know that / I am God;*
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted / in the earth! (Psalm 46:4–6, 10)

Collect
O Lord God, heavenly Father, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people, keep them steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all enemies of Your Word, and bestow on Christ's Church Militant Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gradual
Great is the LORD, and greatly / to be praised*
in the city of our God, in His holy / mountain.
Walk about Zion, count her towers; mark well her bulwarks, onsider her / palaces;*
that you may tell it to the generation / following. (Psalm 48:1, 12a, 13b)

Readings: Nehemiah 8:1–2, 5–6, 9–12
Psalm 84
1 Timothy 6:11b-16
Matthew 10:26–33

Hymn for the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession
(The 12 verses correspond to the first 12 articles of the Augsburg Confession)
Tune: BICENTENNIAL (LSB 641)

You Have Preserved

Refrain
You have preserved Your Gospel here
In words of humble speech;
Your Spirit speaks Your truth, o Lord,
To chasten and to teach.

1 One holy essence: God divine,
Three Persons unified,
Father, Son, Spirit: Trinity
Alone is glorified.

2 Since Adam’s fall all human beings
Are born condemned by sin.
Death is our sole inheritance;
No person life can win.

3 Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ,
In flesh the Virgin’s Son,
Completely God and wholly man,
Salvation He has won.

4 What we ourselves cannot obtain—
Forgiveness, life, and grace—
These we receive for Jesus’ sake,
Who suffered in our place.

5 To give us faith, the Holy Ghost
Works through the Holy Word,
Creating faith and giving life
When e’er the Word is heard.

6 Man recreated lives by faith,
God’s Law his paths gives light.
To serve his neighbor is his call;
Good works are his delight.

7 One Holy, Apostolic Church
Immortal will endure.
Existing where the Gospel’s preached
And sacraments are pure.

8 God’s precious gifts come through His Church
Apart from human stain;
Regardless of the pastor’s faith,
God’s gifts we still obtain.

9 Through simple water and God’s Word,
His children God elects:
Once sinners buried in Christ’s death,
Now saints he resurrects.

10 This Christ who calls us to His feast
In presence here is real.
His Body and His Blood He gives
Here in this Holy Meal.

11 Here stands before God’s gathered saints
The man whom God selects.
At our confession, God absolves;
Our sins He now forgets.

12 A recreated saint may fall
In sin and be defiled.
A contrite heart God gives to him;
In love, forgives His child.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Three months ago was the Annunciation of Our Lord, the date when we celebrate the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that she would be the bearer of the Christ. At the same time, Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was already six months pregnant with the one who would prepare the way for the Christ. So today, three months after the Annunciation and six months before the Nativity of Our Lord, we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. The earliest celebrations of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist are recorded by the Council of Agde in 506.

John’s announcing the Lordship of Jesus began even before John was born. When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, John leapt in her womb, announcing the arrival of the not-yet-born Christ. The purpose of celebrating the feast of St. John’s Nativity, as with all feasts and festivals, is to remember the One to whom St. John the Baptist pointed: “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

Introit
Antiphon:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way / of the LORD*
Make straight in the desert a highway / for our God.
And the glory / of the LORD*
shall / be revealed. (Isaiah 40:3, 5a)
Psalm:
It is good to give thanks / to the LORD,*
and to sing praises to Your name, / O Most High.
To declare Your lovingkindness in the / morning,*
and Your faithfulness / ev’ry night.
For You, LORD, have made me glad / through Your work;*
I will triumph in the works / of Your hands.
O LORD, how great / are Your works!*
Your thoughts are / very deep. (Psalm 92:1–2, 4–5)

Collect
O Lord God, heavenly Father, who through Your servant Saint John the Baptist did bear witness that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that all who believe in Him shall inherit eternal life, we humbly implore You to enlighten us by Your Holy Spirit that we may at all times find comfort and joy in this witness, continue steadfast in the true faith, and at last with all believers attain unto eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gradual
"Before I formed you in the womb I / knew you;*
before you were born I sancti- / fied you."
Then the LORD put forth His hand and / touched my mouth,*
and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words / in your mouth."(Jeremiah 1:5, 9)

Readings: Isaiah 40:1–8
Psalm 141
Acts 19:1–7
Luke 1:57–80