Worship is Life - Life is Worship
Prayer
Credo - I believe
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
From where did these ideas come? From Scripture!
This also belongs to his sharp admonition, as though he were to say: “Those secret things that God thinks about us, that He curses the godless and blesses the godly, and whatever He wants us to do, are revealed to us, and not to other nations, but not in vain.” He means to say: “Therefore be afraid. He who reveals such things reveals them to frighten you, that you may be certain that all this will happen if you do not keep all the things of this Law.”
What is Worship?
Worship, Luth. Idea of. According to the Luth. view, worship is not merely an approach to God in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving (sacrificial elements), but it is chiefly an acceptance of God’s gift to men, through the Word and sacraments (sacramental elements). This view thus differs from the Romish position, which makes all worship, even the Lord’s Supper, a sacrifice to be rendered to God. It also differs from the Reformed view in that it emphasizes the use of the sacramental elements and regards them as means of grace.
Thus, worship is spiritual (John 4:23), but through outward expression the inner life is strengthened and maintained; hence outward forms and ceremonies are to be used.
1 Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. 2 People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. 3 God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5].
1 So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. 2 Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. 3 This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.
1 Our churches teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruit [Galatians 5:22–23]. It is necessary to do good works commanded by God [Ephesians 2:10], because of God’s will. We should not rely on those works to merit justification before God. 2 The forgiveness of sins and justification is received through faith. The voice of Christ testifies, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’ ” (Luke 17:10). 3 The Fathers teach the same thing. Ambrose says, “It is ordained of God that he who believes in Christ is saved, freely receiving forgiveness of sins, without works, through faith alone.”
The phrase ‘God is dead’ has been used in a number of ways. It occurs in a Good Friday hymn by M. *Luther with reference to the death of Christ, an extreme example of *communicatio idiomatum. G. W. F. *Hegel quoted the words, but gave them a new sense, namely that Absolute Spirit has given up its transcendence in order to enter the finite reality of history. Other German writers (e.g. the poet H. Heine and the novelist Jean Paul) spoke of the death of God in a cultural sense, meaning that man had now entered on a stage of civilization to which the concept of God had no relevance (see ATHEISM). This atheistic meaning was taken up by F. W. *Nietzsche, who proclaimed the death of God as a human act: to achieve their full stature as autonomous beings, men must abolish God and become responsible for the world and creators of moral values.
The phrase ‘God is dead’ has been used in a number of ways. It occurs in a Good Friday hymn by M. *Luther with reference to the death of Christ, an extreme example of *communicatio idiomatum. G. W. F. *Hegel quoted the words, but gave them a new sense, namely that Absolute Spirit has given up its transcendence in order to enter the finite reality of history. Other German writers (e.g. the poet H. Heine and the novelist Jean Paul) spoke of the death of God in a cultural sense, meaning that man had now entered on a stage of civilization to which the concept of God had no relevance (see ATHEISM). This atheistic meaning was taken up by F. W. *Nietzsche, who proclaimed the death of God as a human act: to achieve their full stature as autonomous beings, men must abolish God and become responsible for the world and creators of moral values.
The phrase ‘God is dead’ has been used in a number of ways. It occurs in a Good Friday hymn by M. *Luther with reference to the death of Christ, an extreme example of *communicatio idiomatum.
Other German writers (e.g. the poet H. Heine and the novelist Jean Paul) spoke of the death of God in a cultural sense, meaning that man had now entered on a stage of civilization to which the concept of God had no relevance (see ATHEISM). This atheistic meaning was taken up by F. W. *Nietzsche, who proclaimed the death of God as a human act: to achieve their full stature as autonomous beings, men must abolish God and become responsible for the world and creators of moral values.