Tag: Martin Luther

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

From CBS News: “An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, Sept. 11, 2012.”

Libya.  Yemen.  Egypt.  Last week was a rough one on the other side of the world.  First, in an attack deliberately timed to correspond to the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, Libyan Islamists staged a military-style assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with three other Americans.  On Thursday, Islamist protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.  Riots also erupted in Egypt, with people climbing into the embassy compound in central Cairo and ripping down the American flag.

One of the inciting factors of these protests is an obscure movie with a less than positive portrayal of the Muslim prophet Muhammad titled, “The Innocence of Muslims.”  Clips from the low-budget film have been making their rounds in cyberspace for weeks.  In the movie, Muhammad is portrayed a womanizing, homosexual, child-abuser.  For many Muslims, any depiction of Muhammad is blasphemous – hence, the reason for these violent protests.

As I have watched these protests unfold, two things have struck me.  First, I have been struck by the fact that our Constitutional right to free speech does not carry with it a guarantee that such speech will be charitable or even accurate.  As Christians, we are called speak charitably and accurately to and about others not because our Constitution legislates it, but because Holy Scripture commands it.  As the apostle Peter reminds us, “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).  Patently offensive and inflammatory caricatures of other religions, though not civically illegal, are certainly theologically sinful.  After all, we, as Christians, do not appreciate having our faith lambasted by flimsy straw-men half-truths.  So we ought never do the same thing to other faiths nor should we encourage others who do.

Second, I have been struck by the intolerance – in fact, the violent intolerance – of these Islamist protesters.  These protestors breach embassies and kill ambassadors who have no relation whatsoever to those who made this outlandish film except that they all happen to be citizens of the same country.  This makes no sense to me.  And yet, for a few too many people, it seems to make all too much sense.  The headlines tell the story.

In the face of such intolerance, it is important to remember that Christians uphold the value of tolerance and its significance in public life.  Granted, the Christian conception of tolerance is not that same as its secular counter-conception.  Christians consistently do and have accepted the existence of different points of view.  We know that not everyone believes as we do.  Moreover, in general, we do not support the suppression – especially the violent suppression – of different points of view.  In this sense, then, we believe in “free speech.”  What is troublesome for Christians is not tolerance in this sense, but the secular conception of tolerance which not only advocates for acceptance of the existence of different views, but demands the acceptance of the truthfulness of these different views.  D.A. Carson explains this tolerance well:

The new [secular] tolerance suggests that actually accepting another’s position means believing that position to be true, or at least as true as your own.  We move from allowing the free expression of contrary opinions to the acceptance of all opinions; we leap from permitting the articulation of beliefs and claims with which we do not agree to asserting that all beliefs and claims are equally valid.[1]

Of course, the great irony of this tolerance is that if one refuses to accept this definition of tolerance or play by its rules, that person will not be tolerated!  As Leslie Armour, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Ottawa, wryly noted, “Our idea is that to be a virtuous citizen is to be one who tolerates everything except intolerance.”[2]

One of the most striking lessons in true tolerance comes from Jesus in His Parable of the Weeds.  Jesus tells of a master who plants some wheat.  But while everyone is sleeping, the master’s enemy sneaks in and sows weeds with the wheat.  When the master’s servants see what has happened, they ask, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?”  But the master replies, “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:28, 30).  The master in this parable, of course, is Jesus.  The wheat are those who trust in Him while the weeds are those who reject Him.  But rather than immediately destroying those who reject Him, Jesus is tolerant:  He allows the weeds to grow with the wheat.  Martin Luther comments on this parable:

Observe what raging and furious people we have been these many years, in that we desired to force others to believe; the Turks with the sword, heretics with fire, the Jews with death, and thus outroot the tares by our own power, as if we were the ones who could reign over hearts and spirits, and make them pious and right, which God’s Word alone must do.[3]

Violent oppression of those with whom we disagree is not an option for the Christian, Luther asserts.  He goes on to state that if we violently deal with someone who is not a Christian and kill him or her, we take away that person’s chance to trust Christ and be saved by Him.  We thus work against the gospel rather than for it.  This echoes Paul’s sentiment in Romans where he speaks of God’s tolerance as kindness which leads to repentance (cf. Romans 2:4).

Finally, Christianity teaches an even higher virtue than just tolerance – it teaches love.  And after a week that has seen so much hatred, perhaps that is what we need to share with our world.

[1] D.A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012), 3-4.

[2] Cited in D.A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance, 12.

[3] Martin Luther, The Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1906), 100-106.

ABC Extra – By Scripture Alone

Luther Bible from 1720

This past weekend in worship and ABC, we looked at the life and times of King Josiah.  Following the reigns of two exceedingly wicked kings, his father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh, Josiah was a much-needed breath of fresh air.  The author of Kings can barely contain his delight when he writes, “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Kings 22:2).  What was it that made Josiah such a noble king?  Succinctly put, Josiah was a man who followed God’s Word.  To cast Josiah’s piety in Reformation-era lingo, Josiah was a man committed to the principle of sola Scriptura – that Scripture alone should be the norm and guide for righteousness before God in faith and life.  This guiding principle comes out especially clearly when the high priest of Israel at this time, Hilkiah, discovers the Book of the Law (i.e., the Pentateuch, or first five books of the Bible) tucked away in the dusty recesses of the temple.  Heretofore, this book, with all of its guidelines for righteousness, has been lost to Israel.  When Josiah hears what the Book of the Law teaches, he immediately recognizes it as the word of the Lord and tears his robes in repentance over all the ways in which he and Israel have disobeyed God’s commands in this book.  For Josiah knows that Scripture alone should guide Israel’s life and his life.

Though the principle of sola Scriptura is clearly embraced by Josiah, it is not so eagerly welcomed by many in our day, even by those who claim the name of Christ.  A couple of weeks ago, I came across a quote on Facebook rejecting the principle of sola Scriptura, and one of its creedal texts, 2 Timothy 3:16-17:  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  The quote commented:

The fact is that this passage does not even hint at Scripture being the sole rule of faith. It says that Scripture is inspired and necessary – a rule of faith – but in no way does it teach that Scripture alone is all one needs to determine the truth about faith and morals in the Church.

This quote was written as part of an article by the Roman Catholic apologist Tim Staples and argues that along with Scripture, Church tradition and the ecclesial Magisterium should hold pride of place as sources and norms of doctrine.  A couple of points are necessary.

First, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 makes an explicit claim to sufficiency which, by default, is an implicit claim to sole primacy.  Paul, when describing the benefits of Scripture, notes that it thoroughly equips the Christian for every good work.  Words such as “thoroughly” and “every” leave no remainder.  Thus, Scripture is solely sufficient for teaching us all we need to know about righteousness before God in faith and life.  Second, Scripture is replete with warnings against adding to or subtracting from Holy Writ (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, Proverbs 30:5-6, Revelation 22:18-19).  Such warnings, especially those against adding to Scripture, leave no doubt that Scripture considers itself a sufficient and sole source.

Finally, the difficulty with rejecting the principle of sola Scriptura is one of authority.  If Scripture is not the sole and supreme authority in one’s life, something else will be – whether that “something else” is tradition, another human, or one’s own sensibilities and desires. And these other things, as authorities, will inevitably trump Scriptural authority in some fashion.  For when one has multiple authorities, these authorities inexorably wrestle for primacy.  Thus, to hold to the principle of sola Scriptura is to hold to biblical authority over and against all other sources of authority.  And to hold to biblical authority is to hold to the doctrine of divine inspiration, for the reason Christians believe the Bible is supremely authoritative is because of its supreme and divine author.  And to hold to the doctrine of divine author is to trust in God – in this life…and for the next.

I can’t think of any one and any words I’d rather trust.  How about you?

Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!

The Whole Christ

"The Crucifixion of Christ" by Gerhard Remisch

The other morning, I was reading 2 John as part of my devotions, when I once again came across a verse I have reflected on many times:  “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7).  Though these words may strike us as harsh, they are true and necessary.  For theology – the study of God – and Christology – the study of Christ – are inextricably connected.  If one has an errant view of Christ, he will inevitably have an errant view of God, for it is precisely through Christ that God is revealed.  This is why, especially in the early centuries of the Christian Church, there were so many creedal formulations concerning Christ.  The early Christians wanted to make sure they accurately and faithfully confessed their Lord and Savior.  Alister McGrath notes, “The history of early Christian doctrine is the basically the emergence of the Christological.”[1]

Martin Luther offers three ways in which Christology can go askew:

The devil has work to do and attacks Christ in three lines of battle. One will not let Him be God, another will not let Him be man, and the third will not let Him do what He has done. Each of the three wants to reduce Christ to nothing. For what does it profit you to confess that He is God, if you do not also believe that He is man? Then you do not have the whole, real Christ with that, but only a phantom of the devil’s. What does it profit you to confess that He is man, if you do not also believe that He is God? What does it profit you to confess that He is God and man, if you do not also believe that He has become everything and done everything for you?[2]

Luther’s insists that, in order to believe in Christ, we must believe in His humanity, His divinity, and His work on the cross.  If we deny one part of this confession, we deny the whole Christ.  Why?  Because the person of Christ as true God and true man cannot be separated from the work of Christ, which is salvation.  Notice how the Nicene Creed confesses Christ’s person and work all together in one eloquently integrated sweep:  “For us men and for our salvation, [Christ] came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.”  Here we read that Christ “came down from heaven,” a reference to His divinity, He was “incarnate,” a reference to His humanity, and “was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate,” a reference to His salvific work.  This is Christ.  He can be nothing less and He can do nothing less.

John’s tirade against those who deny “the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” is due to the fact that he cannot bear to think that someone would miss out on all that Christ is and all that He has done.  After all, why would we want something or someone less than the whole Christ?  For the whole Christ is one with God and, at the same time, in solidarity with us.  And whole Christ saves us wholly, without any worth or merit on our parts.  John can’t dream of settling for anyone or anything less.  I can’t either.  How about you?

[1] Alister McGrath, Iustitia Dei, 3rd ed. (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2005), 33.

[2] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 34 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 210.

Common Question: What’s up with Lutheran worship?

One of the highlights of my week is weekend worship at Concordia.  It is very moving for me to gather with the people of God and sing praises to God, hear God’s Word, witness a baptism, and receive Christ’s body and blood in Communion.  Lutherans worship in a unique, yet thoroughly theological, way.  In fact, more than one person has asked me, “Why do Lutherans worship the way in which they do?”  It is with this question in mind that I write today’s blog.

First, it is important to understand there are two definitions of worship – one that is broad and one that is narrow.  Worship in the broad sense includes any way which we hail something or someone as god, either implicitly or explicitly.  This definition of worship is part and parcel of the First Commandment:   “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:3-5).  According to this definition of worship, we are all worshipers, whether or not we worship the true God, for we all worship a god.  Everyone has something or someone which holds prime place in their life and, as such, they worship this something or someone, for they hail it as god.

Worship in the narrow sense describes an activity that is distinctly Christian.  Perhaps my favorite definition of worship in this sense comes via the introduction to the hymnal, Lutheran Worship:

Our Lord speaks and we listen.  His Word bestows what it says.  Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise…The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us, and then from us back to Him.  He gifts His gifts, and together we receive and extol them.[1]

With this definition of worship, we learn three important things.  First, we learn that worship begins with what God gives to us and not with what we bring to God.  This is why, for instance, the highest holy day of worship in Israel was the Day of Atonement – a day not about what Israel brought to God, but about the forgiveness God gave to Israel (cf. Leviticus 16).  Second, we learn that after and only after God gives to us His gifts, can we respond to God with thankfulness and praise.  This is why, for instance, psalm after psalm celebrates and extols what God has done for His people (e.g., Psalms  107, 118, 136).  Third, we come to realize that worship can happen anywhere and at any time.  For God continuously bestows His gifts of grace and, as such, we can continuously say, “Thank you.”  Martin Luther colorfully quips:

The worship of God is the praise of God.  This should be free at the table, in private rooms, downstairs, upstairs, at home, abroad, in all places, by all people, at all times.  Whoever tells you anything else is lying as badly as the pope and the devil himself.[2]

The heart and soul of worship, then, is this:  God meets us with His gifts at all times and places and we respond in turn with thanksgiving at all times and places.

The above theology of worship is what guides and informs weekend worship at Concordia Lutheran Church.  It is worth it to briefly outline the shape and scope of a worship service at Concordia and consider how each element in one of our services reflects this broader theology of worship.

Invocation

Each service opens with the name of God:  “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  This Invocation is meant to orient us around the reality that worship does not begin with us, but with God.  Indeed, our whole life in Christ begins with God, for the same name that marks the beginning of worship also marked us in our baptisms.  This is why we baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Further, this name reminds us that we are bound together in Christ, for we call upon “one Lord” and share together “one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:5-6).  Luther Reed sums up the beauty of the Invocation nicely when he writes:

[With the Invocation], we formally express our “awareness” of the Presence of God, we place ourselves in that Presence, and invoke the Divine blessing upon the service which is to follow.  We confess our faith in the Holy Trinity, for whose worship we are assembled.  We solemnly call God to witness that we are “gathered together” in His name (Matthew 18:20) and in that name offer all our prayer, praise, and thanksgiving (John 16:23).[3]

Confession and Absolution

Part of the reason worship must begin with God is because we would be hopelessly lost if worship began with us, for we are sinners, completely unworthy to somehow storm the gates of God’s presence.  Confession reminds us of this.  It calls us to believe that, in light of the sin which we admit to in Confession, if we are to be in God’s presence in worship, God must come to us!  We cannot go to God.  Absolution, then, provides us with the assurance that God has indeed come to us in the person and work of Christ and still dwells with us according to His promise: “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Music

Luther famously says of music:

I am not satisfied with him who despised music, as all fanatics do; for music is an endowment and a gift of God, not a gift of men.  It also drives away the devil and makes people cheerful; one forgets all anger, unchasteness, pride, and other vices.  I place music next to theology and give it the highest praise.[4]

Throughout a worship service, we sing.  We sing because we believe music is a gift from God.  We sing because many fine hymns and songs have been written which confess the gospel of God and express our praise and thanksgiving.  In these ways, God gives to us through music.

Scripture Reading

As the Introduction to Lutheran Worship says, “Our Lord speaks and we listen.”  Worship would be void and tragic if we did not hear from God!  Because Scripture is God’s Word, we can be fully assured that when we hear Scripture, we hear God.  This is why, at Concordia, we place such an emphasis on being in God’s Word.  From our Word for Today Bible reading program to our Memorize His Word Bible memory program, we want people to listen to the Lord!  And we know people can and will hear from God wherever and whenever Scripture is read.

Apostles’ Creed

The Introduction to Lutheran Worship says, “Saying back to God what He has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure.”  The recitation of the Apostles’ Creed allows us an opportunity to do just this.  Because this creed is thoroughly biblical, we can be assured that we are confessing what God has first said to us.  Because this creed is blessedly universal and historical, we can revel in the fact that we join a chorus of Christians all over the world and throughout the ages who confess this same true, holy Christian and apostolic faith.

Children’s Message

The Scriptures are clear on the responsibility we have to share with the next generation the works of the Lord: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonders He has done” (Psalm 78:4).  In one of Israel’s creedal biblical chapters, we read, “These commandments…are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).  The goal of a children’s message is to take seriously Scripture’s call to share the gospel with all – old and young alike.  The children’s message, then, is catechetical in nature, teaching children the basic tenets of the Christian faith.

Offering

One of my favorite hymns declares:

We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.[5]

This is a wonderfully succinct synopsis of the Christian doctrine of stewardship.  God is the owner of everything, even as the Psalmist declares, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1).  Out of His grace, however, God graciously shares what is His with us.  The Offering, therefore, is a time to give thanks to God for what He has given us by offering it to Him, for it belongs to Him in the first place.

Prayers and Lord’s Prayer

From the earliest days of the Church, Christians prayed.  Talking to God is part and parcel of being a Christian.  At Concordia, we include with our prayers the Lord’s Prayer because we believe it to be the perfect prayer.  After all, it was taught by our perfect Lord!  One of the beauties of the Lord’s Prayer is that it is a prayer God is guaranteed to answer with a “Yes!” for the prayer is based on God’s promises.  For instance, when we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we know that Scripture promises, “God does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13).  Thus, we know God will gladly not lead us into temptation, for this is His very promise!

Communion

The Lord’s Supper is a weighty moment.  Indeed, it is so weighty that Paul rails against the Church at Corinth when they misuse and abuse this precious meal from God (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34).  Communion calls for both repentance and faith.  As Scripture directs, we are to “examine ourselves” (1 Corinthians 11:28) before partaking of the Lord’s Supper and repent of our sins.  We are also to believe that, in the Supper, Christ offers the remedy for our sins as He gives to us His own body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins (cf. Matthew 26:26-28).  Christ’s presence in this meal is His simple, yet profound, promise.

Sermon

The sermon serves four main functions:  to convict, to comfort, to call, and to catechize.  In a sermon, first and foremost, we ought to be convicted of our sins and comforted by the gospel.  The sermon also ought to call us to walk according to God’s way of righteousness as well as catechize us in, or teach to us, Christian doctrine and biblical theology.  In this way, we can “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Benediction

Just as the service begins with the name of God, the service ends with the blessing of God.  After all, after being forgiven for our sins, hearing God’s Word in Scripture and sermon, approaching God through prayer, thanking God for what He has given us, and receiving Christ’s body and blood in Communion, how could we not be blessed?  The Benediction, then, is an affirmation of everything that has taken place in the worship service.  We have been blessed by the Lord, and as we go forth from weekend worship, we will continue to be blessed by the Lord.  At Concordia, we include with the Benediction a Commissioning, drawn from Philippians 2:15-16, where we exhort worshipers to “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.”  As we have been blessed in worship by God’s gifts, our call is to be a blessing to others by sharing with them these same gifts.  As God says to Abraham:  “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).

So there it is.  This is the shape and scope of a worship service at Concordia.  As the service moves from element to element, two things are clear.  First, it is clear that God is meeting His people with His gifts.  Second, the only appropriate response to such a monumental meeting is, “Thank you!”  May you offer God a “thank you” today – and every day – in worship!

[1] Lutheran Worship, Prepared by the Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1982) 6.

[2] What Luther Says, Ewald Plass, ed. (St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1959) 1546.

[3] Luther Reed, The Lutheran Liturgy (Philadelphia:  Muhlenberg Press, 1947) 241.

[4] What Luther Says, 980.

[5] Lutheran Service Book, Prepared by the Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 2006) 781.

ABC Extra – Two Kingdoms, One Ruler

This weekend in worship and ABC, we kicked off a series called, “King Me! Life Lessons from Israel’s Lieges.”  In this series, we are taking a look at some of Israel’s kings and seeking to learn from both the good and the bad of their rules and reigns.  The theme verse for this series comes from Judges 8, where, after leading a valiant charge against the Midianites, the Israelites want to install their judge, Gideon, along with his family, into an Israelite royal dynasty.  Gideon responds, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you.  The LORD will rule over you” (Judges 8:23).  Gideon understands that, ultimately, it is the LORD who is King over all.  No earthly king can dare or deign to take God’s place.  Indeed, the subtitle for this series, “Life Lessons from Israel’s Lieges,” alludes to this.  A “liege” can be either one who rules or one who is ruled.  Earthly kings are both.  They may rule over others, but they themselves are inescapably and inexorably ruled by God.  For God is King over all.

Like Gideon, Martin Luther understood that God rules and reigns over all.  In his writings, Luther often spoke of two kingdoms.  On the one hand, Luther explains, there is a left hand kingdom, which incorporates the world and its rules and rulers. On the other hand, there is a right hand kingdom, or a spiritual kingdom, which consists of all those who have faith in Christ and are guided by the Gospel.  When teaching on these two kingdoms, I will often refer to the right hand kingdom as the Kingdom of God and the left hand kingdom as the Kingdom of Man.  “Who rules the Kingdom of God?” I will ask when I teach on this topic.  People quickly and confidently respond, “God.”  But then I follow up, “Who rules the Kingdom of Man?” Many respond, “Man.”  But the glory of the Kingdom of Man is that, despite its name, it is not ruled by man, but by God!  The Lutheran Confessions explain:  “It is taught among us that all government in the world and all established rule and laws were instituted and ordained by God for the sake of good order.”[1]  This statement echoes the words of the apostle Paul:  “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1).  Because God institutes and establishes the rulers in the Kingdom of Man, He is also the ultimate ruler over the Kingdom of Man.  As the prophet Daniel says, “God sets up kings and deposes them” (Daniel 2:21).  There is no kingdom – be it the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Man – where God does not reign and rule.

Though God reigns and rules over both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man, it should be noted that God rules differently in these two kingdoms.  Luther explains:

One must carefully distinguish between these two governments. Both must be permitted to remain; the one to produce righteousness, the other to bring about external peace and prevent evil deeds. Neither one is sufficient in the world without the other. No one can become righteous in the sight of God by means of the temporal government, without Christ’s spiritual government. Christ’s government does not extend over all men; rather, Christians are always a minority in the midst of non-Christians. Now where temporal government or law alone prevails, there sheer hypocrisy is inevitable, even though the commandments be God’s very own. For without the Holy Spirit in the heart no one becomes truly righteous, no matter how fine the works he does. On the other hand, where the spiritual government alone prevails over land and people, there wickedness is given free rein and the door is open for all manner of rascality, for the world as a whole cannot receive or comprehend it.[2]

Thus, God rules in the Kingdom of God by the redemption of men through the cross of Christ and He rules in the Kingdom of Man by suppressing the wickedness of men through the auspices of earthly rulers.  We thank God for both kingdoms.  And we thank God that He is King over both.  He is King over us.

Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!

[1] AC XVI:1

[2] AE 45:92