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LCMS Specialized Pastoral Ministry – April 2016 newsletter

The April 2016 issue of A Pastoral Touch shares information about the SPM Recruitment Task Force, the Zion XVI Conference Sept. 15-18 in Belleville, Ill., and other important items.

Why Luther’s Hymns Sound the Way They Do

A composer can never escape his own style, and this is true even of amateur composers such as Martin Luther. Embracing the musical arts in both his schooling and his cloistered life, Luther became a proficient instrumentalist on the lute and the transverse flute.

Dürer’s Small Passion: Dawn to Dusk with Christ in Three Panels

In the Small Passion Albrecht Dürer devotes three woodcuts to the Scriptural accounts of Easter day enabling us, with our own eyes, to see holy events as if they are happening right now. He places you, me, and himself as participants in salvation's narrative as he draws us into the resurrection of Christ.

‘Free To Be Faithful’ – Spring 2016 newsletter

The spring 2016 Free To Be Faithful Newsletter contains information about several pending U.S. Supreme Court cases affecting religious liberty, including those impacting the pro-life movement and the Catholic organization Little Sisters of the Poor.

Journal of Lutheran Mission – April 2016

Featuring papers from the recent LCMS Mission Summit, the April issue of the Journal of Lutheran Mission discusses and critiques seminary education and the importance of teaching the faith both at home and around the world.

Bible Study with Luther: Galatians 3:1-9

The Holy Spirit is not simply the initial cause of faith but continues to be at work in the life of the Church keeping us in the faith by the proclamation of the Word and through that faith the Lord declares us to be righteous and heirs of eternal life.

The Doctrine of the Church in the Lutheran Confessions

In 1521 Thomas Murner, one of Luther’s early Catholic opponents, attacked Luther’s view of the church, accusing him of “building a church the way that Plato builds a city”

LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces – Second Quarter 2016 newsletter

In this issue of So Help Me God from the LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces, information is provided about The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s project Operation Barnabas. Operation Barnabas seeks to train and equip people in our congregations to reach out to veterans and their families.

Luther on the Cross and Suffering

Luther says that suffering should not be something we choose. We can’t choose which cross we bear. That’s up to God. Luther addresses this with four reasons.

Addressing Mental Illness in the Church

Pat Doyle offers insightful and practical information to churches, law enforcement and other community-based groups that wish to provide a caring, healthful and helpful approach to persons with mental illness.

The Words of Institution in the Small Catechism

In the Small Catechism’s presentation of the Sacrament of the Altar one may be a bit surprised at the amount of attention Luther gives to the words of institution. After all,...

Martin Luther’s ‘On the Freedom of a Christian’

"A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all."

Life Together with President Harrison – March 2016

Christ came to seek and to save the lost, which is our mission as the church. As we move towards Easter, we remember that Death has already been deprived of his power. The hard part is over, the resurrection is near and it is as if we have only a little toe in the grave! God grant you a blessed Easter in the name of Christ.

“From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” – Hymn Feature

One of Luther’s earliest compositions was “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee,” a paraphrase of Psalm 130 (Aus tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir, LSB 607). He wrote this hymn in 1523, around the time that he was revising the Latin Mass.

Repentance in the Lutheran Confessions

The Lutheran Confessions see repentance differently on several points. First, they insist that you need to repent, regardless of who you are. Second...