September 2018 Newsletter
Confession and Absolution: What and Why?
Do you wonder why we begin our
Divine Services with confession and absolution? Have you ever had a friend or
family member visit and be completely put off by it? I have—many years ago a
friend came with me to a service at Holy Trinity in Hacienda Heights (which,
incidentally, is where I met a certain Kindergarten teacher named Roxanne,
After the service was over, boy,
did I hear about it! “That was one hundred percent unbiblical!” said my friend
about the absolution pronounced by Pastor Cwirla. “No man can forgive sins!
Only God can do that!” Yes, how dare any man take the task of forgiving sins
onto himself?
Unless, that is, Jesus told His
apostles to forgive sins. What does it say in John 20:21-23? “Jesus said to
them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending
you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’” That does put things in a
different light, does it not? Jesus has sent out under-shepherds to forgive the
sins of the repentant. Now, it is most certainly not some capricious power that
I have as a pastor, to be used and abused as I see fit. In fact, you probably
remember that abuse of this gift of God was the spark that started the
Reformation.
Another objection: “But I’m
already forgiven through faith in Christ!” Quite true—and you’re forgiven in
the waters of Holy Baptism, and you’re forgiven as you receive Christ’s Body
and Blood in the Supper. God comes to us in so many ways—ways that He deigns to
use—and so our cups truly runneth over. Confession and absolution is just one
more way our gracious heavenly Father comes to us and says “You are My beloved
child. I forgive you your sins and iniquities. In you I see nothing but the
perfect righteousness of My Son Jesus!” Over and over again He does this for
us—all our lifetimes. And our Lord does this because He knows we need it. Left
to our own, we would wander away, starving ourselves of the faith once
delivered unto the saints. Confession and absolution is a great gift of God; a
gift meant for you, for your comfort and assurance.
The Small Catechism speaks of
confession this way: “What is Confession? Answer: Confession has two parts:
First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that
is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly
believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.” Luther speaks
of confession of sins in three settings: 1) private confession to a pastor; 2)
confession to God alone (as we find it in the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. 6:12); and
3) confession made to a fellow Christian (James 5:16). We continually admit and
confess our sin before God when we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses.” And since
the keys of the kingdom (“the power of the keys”), which bind or release a
person from the bonds of sin, were given by Christ to His entire Church (Matt.
18:15ff.; John 20:19ff.), any member of Christ’s Church may be used by God to
assure another person of forgiveness as he confesses his sin. At the same time,
in its Confessions and elsewhere, Lutheran theology frequently speaks of
confession made to a pastor.
That happens at the beginning of
the service, when we come into the place where God has promised to be for us in
Word and Sacrament. We know that we cannot stand before God in our own
righteousness; we would be like Isaiah: “Woe unto me, for I am undone! For I am
a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips, and I have seen the Lord
of hosts!” But forgiven of our sins, we can stand before God, knowing that, as
I wrote above, the Lord sees us clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. That’s
why we confess our sins.
The Synod’s Commission on
Theology and Church Relations wrote in a recent document, “When we call to
mind Bible verses that include the word confess, we notice immediately that
they fall into two categories. We may think, for instance, of 1 John 1:9, a
verse that we often speak together in worship: If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. On the other hand, a passage like Romans 10:9 will also
quickly come to mind: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”
(CTCR report “Confession and Absolution, p. 4).
Ultimately, to confess is to speak
the truth; we confess the Christian faith in the words of the Apostles or
Athanasian Creeds Sunday after Sunday. So when we confess our sins, we are in
essence agreeing that what God has said about sin is correct—and that we have
sinned in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done and by what we have
left undone. But what if a particular sin is bothering you? What if, as you
hear me pronounce absolution during a Sunday service, a little voice in your
mind says “Yeah, all those others may be forgiven, but what you’ve done is too
much! God will never forgive that!” I can assure you that God will, God has,
and God does forgive even that worst of our sins. That’s why I’m also available
to hear your confession personally and privately if you so desire. Please feel
free to contact me if that is something you’d care to do. But whether you
confess your sins in the service, see me privately, or in your own devotions.
Know that God is super-abundant in His grace, and He loves to have His children
come to Him in faith.
In the Name of Christ our Savior
Pr. Ken Humphrey
Don't Be the Church. Go to Church.
By Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer, CTSFW
Yeah, I know. Be the church. Love one another. Don't use straws.
Recycle. Pay it forward, have a smile. Don't forget the one who is struggling
and hurting. Absolutely. But, if you are not going to church, you are not being
the church. It's a package deal. You can't live by the word of God unless you
hold it dear, gladly hear and learn it, and if you are not doing that on a
regular basis, you're not the church.
Oh, I know this is snarky. But
being the church means going to church. And by going to church, I mean going to
a real church, one that is not afraid of its own shadow, not embarrassed by the
words of Paul or Christ, not apologizing for the very truth which saves. Go to
a church that isn't contemporary, doesn't try to appeal, but simply loves being
the bride of Christ, loves singing the ancient hymns. Hello! You wonder why no
one holds the faith of our fathers, when we don't sing the hymns of our
grandfathers, and the liturgy of our great, great, great grandfathers.
No, we have a lot of work to do,
but so many opportunities. Old songs must become new again, ancient liturgies
will be upon our lips, and teaching long forgotten, will be recovered, like
Josiah recovering the ancient texts.
So, yes, go to church. A real
church. Where babies are baptized, and we receive Christ's body and blood. Or
at least a church where the scriptures are read and taken seriously, so that we
might be led to do as our Lord has taught. Ok, so be the church. But that ain’t
gonna happen unless you go to church. A real, not scratching your itchy ears
church. A church that will bring you to sing, and loosen your tongues to
confess that hope that is within you.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
LCMS Stewardship Ministry
September 2018 Newsletter Article
Why do we give? Is it simply because God commands us to? Or
is there more to it? To be sure, the instruction and Word of God in the Bible
says we should give, and this is sufficient to encourage us to give (Luke 6:38;
Acts 20:35; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8:7; Gal 6:6).
But there’s more to it than just obligation. We’re not just
trying to fulfill a work of the Law. We are bearing fruits of the Spirit given
to us by our Father in heaven through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. In other
words, we’re not just doing what our Father said, we’re also doing what He did.
Children emulate their parents. When they grow up they often
carry many of the same mannerisms and characteristics as their parents, but
there is more to it than that. Children copy their parents even on a more
mundane level. They watch how their parents cross their legs, how they fold
their hands, how they stand and sit and walk, how they do and say most
everything.
And children try to copy it, which can be quite humorous
when parents wish they wouldn’t. It can be uncomfortable and embarrassing if a
child copies or repeats something less than polite that they learned from a
parent. Sitcoms thrive on these situations. It only happens because children
emulate their parents because they want to be like them.
We are the children of God, by grace, through faith. In Holy
Baptism, God the Father declares of us what He declared of Jesus at His Baptism
in the Jordan: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” God the
Father claims us as His own. He takes away all our sins, and in exchange He
gives us His righteousness, His purity, His holiness, and His Spirit, by which
we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
We are born again, born from above, born of water and the
Spirit, to a new life in Christ as His children. We are sons of God in Christ,
through Baptism. And since we are sons, we are heirs – heirs who share in the
glory of the Son of God. The inheritance is ours because of the Father’s grace
and mercy, His generosity in sending His Son in time to save us for all eternity.
And this is why we give generously of our income to the work
of the church. We want to be like our heavenly Father. We want to emulate His
generosity by being generous ourselves. We give to the work of the Church
because we have witnessed the generous giving of our Father in heaven.
More than that, we are recipients of it. It is because we
have received God our Father’s gifts that we desire to give ourselves. And His
gifts are not just spiritual. They are temporal and earthly as well. As the
Small Catechism teaches in the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Give us this day our
daily bread.” What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all
evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize
this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that
has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink,
clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or
wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good
government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good
friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
In other words, God gives us everything we need for the care
of both body and soul. His generosity knows no bounds. Therefore, we sit down
at the beginning of the year, the beginning of the month, or the beginning of
the week to set aside a generous portion of God’s daily bread for His work in
the Church.
We don’t do this simply because He has commanded us so to
do; it is because we, as His children by grace, want to emulate His generosity
in our own lives. He is our Father; we are His children. And children want to
be like their parents.
Round-Up
September 2018
District
Website: www.wylcms.org
The Year of the Formula
of Concord
“...REMEMBERING
YOU IN MY PRAYERS...” (Eph. 1:16)
For
Rev. Claude and Deloris Constable, who are in assisted living with
health issues.
For
Rev. Phil Grovenstein, undergoing treatment for cancer.
For
Nelda Simonson, wife of Rev. Duane Simonson, who is mostly homebound and
in the advanced stages of cancer.
PASTORS
AND CONGREGATIONS
Trinity,
Rock Springs and
Emmanuel, Green River has received approval for their multi-point parish
agreement. Trinity will soon hold a voters’ meeting to call Rev. James
Martin (Emmanuel, Green River), who has also served them during the
vacancy.
The
parish of Zion, Grover and Grace, Pine Bluffs met August 19 and
are exploring alternative parish arrangements for ministry. The parish is being
served by Rev. Richard Boche during the vacancy period.
Trinity,
Cheyenne is
being served by Rev. Marcus Baikie (Our Savior’s, Cheyenne) during its
vacancy.
Rev.
Brad Heinecke (St.
Paul’s, Sidney, NE) has retired, effective August 19 as his last Sunday. He
and Debbie will be moving to their home in Florida. Rev. Allen Strawn (St.
Paul’s, Bridgeport) has been elected to serve St. Paul’s during the vacancy.
THE BRIDE
CONFESSES CHRIST: THE FORMULA OF CONCORD
This month
and next we survey the Formula of Concord, Article Eight, “The Person of
Christ.” In the previous article on “The Holy Supper of Christ,” we confess
that Christ gives us His true body and blood with the consecrated bread and
wine. In the debates with those who denied Holy Scripture on this teaching, the
Lutherans discovered that their opponents were also denying a very important
part of the doctrine concerning our Savior, Jesus Christ. They taught that
Christ could not give His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper because of the
limitations of His human nature.
Here we see
that the teachings concerning the Lord’s Supper and the Person of Christ are
intertwined. For it is the eternal and almighty God who speaks and gives the
Words of Institution in the Lord’s Supper. And Jesus who gives His flesh and
blood in Communion as a Man is also the eternal God. For in the Personal Union
of God and Man in Christ, these two natures are inseparably joined, so that the
man Jesus shares in and exercises the almighty power of God, and God the Son
suffers and dies for all men, shedding His blood for us and giving us His blood
in Holy Communion. We confess, “Christ is and remains to all eternity God and
man in one undivided person. Next to the Holy Trinity, this is the highest
mystery, upon which our only consolation, life, and salvation depends, as the
apostle testifies in 1 Timothy 3:16” (FC Ep VIII.18)
Status of
the Controversy
“From the
controversy about the Holy Supper a disagreement has arisen between the pure
theologians of the Augsburg Confession and the Calvinists. The Calvinists have
also confused some other theologians about the person of Christ and the two
natures in Christ and their properties.
“The chief
question, however, has been this: Because of the personal union, do the divine
and human natures [of Christ], and also their properties, really have communion
with each other? In other words (in deed and truth), do the divine and human
natures commune with each other in the person of Christ, and how far does this
communion extend?
“The
Sacramentarians have asserted that the divine and human natures in Christ are
united personally in such a way that neither one has real communion. This means
(in deed and truth) that they do not share with the other nature what is unique
to either nature. They share nothing more than name alone. For they plainly
say, “The personal union does nothing more than make the names common.” In
other words, God is called man, and man is called God. Yet this happens in such
a way that the divine has no real communion (that is, in deed and truth) with
humanity. And humanity has nothing in common with divinity, its majesty, and
properties. Dr. Luther and those who agreed with him have contended against the
Sacramentarians for the contrary teaching.
Theses
(Affirmative Statements): The Pure Teaching of the Christian Church
about the Person of Christ
“To explain
this controversy and settle it according to the guidance of our Christian
faith, our doctrine, faith, and confession is as follows:
“1. The
divine and human natures in Christ are personally united. So there are not two
Christs, one the Son of God and the other the Son of Man. But one and the same
person is the Son of God and the Son of Man.
“2. We
believe, teach, and confess that the divine and human natures are not mingled
into one substance, nor is one changed into the other. Each keeps its own
essential properties, which can never become the properties of the other
nature.
“3. The
properties of the divine nature are these: to be almighty, eternal, infinite,
and to be everywhere present (according to the property of its nature and its
natural essence, of itself), to know everything, and so on. These never become
properties of the human nature.
“4. The
properties of the human nature are to be a bodily creature, to be flesh and
blood, to be finite and physically limited, to suffer, to die, to ascend and
descend, to move from one place to another, to suffer hunger, thirst, cold,
heat, and the like. These never become properties of the divine nature.
“5. The two natures are united personally (i.e. in one person).
Therefore, we believe, teach, and confess that this union is not the kind of
joining together and connection that prevents either nature from having
anything in common with the other personally (i.e. because of the personal
union). It is not like when two boards are glued together, where neither gives
anything to the other or takes anything from the other. But here is described
the highest communion that God truly has with the man. From this personal
union, the highest and indescribable communion results. There flows everything
human that is said and believed about God, and everything divine that is said
and believed about the man Christ. The ancient teachers of the Church explained
this union and communion of the natures by the illustration of iron glowing
with fire, and also by the union of the body and soul in man.”
REFORMATION 500: 1518 in Review
The
beginning of a new school year reminds us of important Reformation changes at
the University of Wittenberg 500 years ago. In March of 1518, Luther and his
colleagues discussed the need to abandon scholasticism and return to an
emphasis on Scripture and the Church Fathers. Among the reforms that followed,
lectures on Greek and Hebrew were added to the curriculum, marking a return to
the original sources of the Bible and other classic texts. Luther called for a
professor to be appointed to fulfill these new requirements, and his request
was answered in the person of Phillip Melanchthon. Melanchthon had received a
thorough education in the classical liberal arts. In time he would become
Luther’s most important academic, theological, and ecclesiastical colleague.
Melanchthon
arrived at Wittenberg August 25, 1518 and on the 29th gave his
famous inaugural lecture on the improvement of academic studies. He spoke about
education and the arts, emphasizing especially the importance of Greek. He
quickly became a popular teacher with a full lecture hall.
Save the
Dates…
-October
14, 4:00 PM, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Riverton: The district is invited to
celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the ordination of President Emeritus Robert
Oberheu.
-October
21, 2:00 PM, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Potter, NE: The congregation is
celebrating its 100th Anniversary at Vespers.
NEXT
ROUNDUP…
… will be delivered to congregations around September 20 (October
2018 issue). Watch for it!
RURAL AND
SMALL TOWN MISSION
Intentionality, Consistency, Relationships
Pastor Todd Kollbaum, LCMS Rural and Small Town Mission Director
Angie and I recently had the privilege of presenting at this
year’s National Youth Workers Conference in Minneapolis. From that
presentation, I pulled out three helpful words that might provide some guidance
in many aspects of our various ministries. The first word is “intentionality”:
Too often we simply float along and hope things work out for the best. However,
this is pretty much a recipe for failure, or at least disappointment. Instead,
let us prayerfully consider the path that God has laid out for us and then be
intentional about moving along that path in our ministries. When there are road
bumps and hiccups along the way, having a mindset of intentionality allows us
to weather those without derailing the whole process. Now, intentionality
doesn’t mean bullheadedness but simply that we are being deliberate and
purposeful in what we are planning and doing. The second word is “consistency”:
In ministry, we often look for the warm body who won’t say “no” when asked to
serve in one capacity or another. While this might seem to fulfill our
obligations, it is not a good way to do ministry. In order for anything to have
a lasting impact, it is important for there to be consistency, both of program
and people. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t change or even that a person should
cease doing a particular job. What it does mean is that we don’t serve until it
isn’t convenient or until “our turn” has been completed, we serve until the
Lord calls us to serve in a different way. (Notice we continue to serve.) In
this way, we provide consistency for those among whom we serve as well as
consistency in what we are doing. Consistency also involves “consistent”
evaluation of what, why and how we are doing things. It is with this type of
consistency that we can best serve the Lord and His church. The final word is
“relationships”: In rural and small-town settings, it sometimes seems a bit
crazy to worry about creating relationships since often our congregations and
communities are made up of family and folks we have known our whole lives.
However, the relationships I’m talking about here go beyond those kind of
surface level relationships we often find. What we’re talking about here is
loving our neighbor enough to develop relationships that allow us to share in their
lives. To celebrate with them in their joys and help them in their times of
trouble. Especially, we are talking about relationships which foster honest
conversations about our faith, their faith and how God’s grace is the most
important thing we have! May God bless you in all of your ministry endeavors!
Council Meeting August 16, 2018
The August Council meeting was
called to order by chairman Don Bowlin with Pastor giving the opening devotion.
The minutes from the last Council meeting ,were approved as read,
Pastor’s Report: Pastor informed the dishwasher at the
parsonage has failed. A new one will be
installed on Friday. He stated there are
more kids in Sunday School and there is need for another teacher. Thursday morning Bible Class and confirmation
class will resume the first week in September.
Trinity’s LWML will have Pastor Ken Mars from Kimball speak on his trip
to West Africa at the September meeting.
October 7th will also be LWML Sunday.
Elder’s Report: Wes Bowlin stated there is nothing to report.
Trustee’s Report: Gary Williams stated that the trustees have
purchased a new dishwasher from Main Street Appliance and they will install it
free of charge.
Old Business: Pastor stated he will be using smaller paper for the
Sunday Bulletin as soon as the current supply is gone.
New Business: Don Bowlin announced the nominating committee will
be: Rudy Landreth, Melvina Dillman and Gerald Ritz.
There being no other business to
conduct, the meeting closed with the Lord’s Prayer.
Gerald Ritz
Secretary
Thursday Morning Bible study will
resume on September 6, we will continue following Paul’s journey in the book of
Acts. Everyone is welcome to attend this time of fellowship and Bible study.
LWML News
All members and
friends of Trinity are invited to join the Trinity Women’s Society for a
presentation by the Rev. Kenneth Mars.
Pastor Mars, who serves at St. John’s in Kimball and Immanuel in Burns,
will share his experiences as part of the Pastoral Education Project- West
Africa. Please help us welcome him!
This program will be
held on Wednesday, September 12, 2018.
The evening will start with a Light Supper at 5:30 pm. Pastor Mars will
speak from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.
LWML’s regular
business meeting will follow around 8:00 pm.
DATES TO REMEMBER FOR SEPTEMBER
September 2 Virgil & Karen Ritz Anniversary
September 3 Geneva Johannes Birthday
September 4 Jacob Powers Baptismal Date
September 13 Amanda Kaufman Birthday
September 14 Tristina Neumann Baptismal Date
September 16 Harlan & Joanne Kurtz Anniversary
September 18 Riley Kaufman Birthday
September 21 Helen Engebretsen Birthday
September 22 Michelle Hill Birthday
September 25 Riley Kaufman Baptismal Date
September 26 Heidi Whitney Birthday
September 28 Peyton Wilson Birthday
Usher
Schedule for the fall:
Sept 2: James B. Gerald R. John W. Burke S.
Sept 9 Rudy and the
Elders
Sept 16 Keith K. Gary W.
Rudy L. Logan A.
Sept 23 Rudy and the Elders
Sept 30 Rudy and the Elders
Oct 7 Dan K. Riley K. Virgil R. Don B.
Oct 14 Rudy and the Elders
Oct 21 George R. Burke S. Jim S. John W.
Oct 28 Rudy and the Elders.
Please note; If you cannot make your scheduled turn, please find
someone to fill in for you or contact Rudy Landreth or Wes Bowlin. Thank you for your willingness to serve.
