Northwoods Table Talk

Lection for 5th Sunday after Trinity  Judges 7:1-23        Galatians 1:1-24 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Second Commandment.” Considering prolific blasphemous misuse of God’s name by many, this is a timely read. Blasphemous misuse of God’s name you ask? Where? Every time someone use the phrase, “Oh my god.” Or when someone says, “Jesus Christ,” without thinking, is not praying, nor talking about His work of salvation, why does it get used in profanity? AND…often by those who claim to be Christians. OK, read what Luther says.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments                     The Second Commandment 49 “You shall not take the name of God in vain.” 50 As the First Commandment has inwardly instructed the heart and taught faith, so this commandment leads us outward and directs the lips and the tongue into the

L ection for Saturday after Trinity IV Judges 6:25-40       Acts 15:6-21 It is my hope and prayer that you will enjoy this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “Appendix to the First Commandment,” what is referred to in Luther’s Small Catechism as the “Conclusion” of the Commandments.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments           The First Commandment           [Explanation of the Appendix to the First Commandment] 30 “For I am the Lord your God, mighty and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy to many thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” 31 Although these words apply to all the commandments (as we shall hear later), yet they are attached precisely to this one which stands at the head of the list because it is of the utmost importance for a man to have the

L ection for Friday after Trinity IV Judges 6:1-24       Acts 14:19-15:5 It is my hope and prayer that you will enjoy this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we begin the “First Part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the First Commandment.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments           The First Commandment “You shall have no other gods.” 1 That is, you shall regard me alone as your God. What does this mean, and how is it to be understood? What is to have a god? What is God? 2 Answer: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. 3 If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true God. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you have not the true God. For these two belong together, faith and Go

Lection for Thursday after Trinity IV Judges 4:1-24       Acts 14:1-18 Yesterday I started something, I posted Luther’s Introductory Preface to his Large Catechism . Well, I thought I’d continue that…and will do so until the whole thing has been posted in this space.   I know, you are thinking, “that’s a little lazy.” You are absolutely correct. But… I am getting you to read Luther’s Large Catechism and that is something.           Preface 1 This sermon has been undertaken for the instruction of children and uneducated people. Hence from ancient times it has been called in Greek, a “catechism” — that is, instruction for children. 2 Its contents represent the minimum of knowledge required of a Christian. Whoever does not possess it should not be reckoned among Christians nor admitted to a sacrament, just as a craftsman who does not know the rules and practices of his craft is rejected and considered incompetent. 3 For this reason young people should be thoroughly instruc

Lection for Wednesday after Trinity IV Judges3:7-31      Acts 13:42-52 In my own devotional reading, I also use the Book of Concord , and recently began to read again Luther’s Large Catechism . His preface is interesting. I reprint it here for you to enjoy and consider its suggestions for your further future reading. Martin Luther’s Preface to his Large Catechism 1 It is not for trivial reasons that we constantly treat the Catechism and strongly urge others to do the same. For we see to our sorrow that many pastors and preachers are very negligent in this respect and despise both their office and this teaching itself. Some because of their great and lofty learning, others because of sheer laziness and gluttony, behave in this matter as if they were pastors or preachers for their bellies’ sake and had nothing to do but live off the fat of the land all their days, as they used to do under the papacy. 2 Everything that they are to teach and preach is now available to them in cl

Lection for Tuesday after Trinity IV  Judges 2: 6-23       Acts 13:13-41 I was asked a question the other day by someone who was/is not a Lutheran. I thought I would take a few moments today to answer the question they asked. Question: Does the Bible teach that we go to heaven because we are baptized as a baby? Answer: I don't know what prompted this question, but I am guessing that it has to do with the fact that some people are baptized as children and fall away from that faith into which they are baptized. Some would claim that children shouldn't therefore be baptized. Others feel that once someone is baptized, then they have heaven as a guarantee, that if one is baptized, they automatically go to heaven. First, baptism is commanded by Christ Himself as we read in the 28th Chapter of Matthew. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the na

Lection for Monday after Trinity IV  Joshua 24:1-31        Acts 13:1-12 Someone was extolling the virtue of the fact that we all see God differently. I must admit, there is some truth to this…we may see “GOD” differently. But, while we all may “see” God differently, is this a good thing? Is it acceptable to God? If this is true, then there is no reason for evangelism because everything is acceptable to God. If this is true, then we can all teach whatever we want because God doesn’t care. There are some who would have us believe that those statements above are indeed true, and some who make these claims, also claim to be Christians. There are two extremely different ways to look at the Holy Scriptures. First, there are those who teach that the Bible is not the final authority, that today’s culture must speak with authority and then we must use our reason to decide the proper relationship between cultural norms and Scripture. To this sort of thinking, Jesus responds with some