Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from Wednesday of Oculi (3rd week of Lent)
“Lack of ceremonies does not defile a man, but neither is a lack of ceremonies a virtue. In fact, it is practically impossible to imagine piety without ceremony. Those whose hearts have been purified by the blood of Christ will confess His name, and they will respond to the confession with their bodies even as mothers hug their babies. It comes naturally. Pious, forgiven people will know and feel joy. Thus, they will treat holy things as holy—not to earn favor with God, but simply because they are thankful.”
-David H. Petersen, author of Thy Kingdom Come
*Now available for pre-order
Thy Kingdom Come: Now Available for Pre-Order
The release date for Thy Kingdom Come by David H. Petersen will be January 2, 2013. However, we are now taking pre-orders here.
Why pre-order? First of all, your order will receive priority and be among the first shipment of books starting on the release date. Second, all pre-ordered books will be signed by Pr. Petersen!
Take a look at the Table of Contents for a complete listing of sermons included in Thy Kingdom Come.
Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from the Foreword by Pr. Todd Wilken
“We often evaluate the quality of sermons based on all the wrong things: I wasn’t offended, I agree with what the pastor said, it kept me interested, or any number of shallow observations. There is nothing wrong with being interested in a sermon, but that is not the touchstone. A lot of things are interesting, but that doesn’t necessarily make them good.
“This is the hallmark of a good sermon: does it preach Jesus Christ crucified for you, a sinner? If it doesn’t, no matter how good it may be in other respects, it is not a good sermon. St. Paul himself said, ‘For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified’ (1 Cor. 2:2). Jesus requires this of his preachers. He charges His Church with the task of preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His Name to all nations (Luke 24:47).
“In a good sermon, we should actually lose track of how often Jesus is mentioned. And when He is mentioned, He should be the subject of the verbs, the one doing the actions. And then pay attention: what are those verbs? Do they make Jesus sound like a coach, a therapist, an advisor—or your Savior? Listen for the verbs that Scripture gives to Jesus—the Jesus who lives for you, suffers for you, dies for you, bleeds for you, gives His life for you, is your substitute, and rises again for you. These are the verbs you ought to be hearing if in fact your pastor preaches Christ crucified.”
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Todd Wilken, host of Issues, Etc.,
from the Foreword of Thy Kingdom Come by David H. Petersen
Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from Tuesday of Oculi (3rd Week of Lent)
“We use Matthew 18 like Miranda rights. If one Christian fails to follow the process perfectly, the whole case is thrown out. Kyrie Eleison! As though the pot can’t call the kettle black, or as though the pot’s blackness somehow excused the blackness of the kettle. The point, for our Lord, is not that we should look the other way, but that both pot and kettle need repentance and grace.”
-David H. Petersen, author of Thy Kingdom Come
Now Available from Emmanuel Press: The Conduct of the Service
In 2003, Redeemer Press published The Conduct of the Service, an invaluable resource for conducting the liturgy of the Church. After the first two print-runs quickly sold out, it was republished in 2006 after various aspects of the book were improved and reformatted, with pictures added and diagrams cleaned up. Now Redeemer Press has passed the torch to us, asking us to manage the distribution of this fine book. This excerpt from the Preface explains its origin:
“Most of Piepkorn’s students had little experience with the ceremony, reverence, and decor that flowed from him so naturally. They recognized in his liturgical actions something of the Church that they wanted to imitate. Fortunately for us they continued to press him, until finally he relented and produced The Conduct of the Service, revised in 1965. It was printed by the Concordia Seminary print shop in St. Louis and sold in the seminary bookstore. He wrote it for his students, at their insistence. He never promoted it. And thus, it never enjoyed widespread dissemination and was quickly lost to the Church. Over the years it has been much sought after and much photocopied, but the copies that still exist are mostly torn and dog-eared.
When he finally acquiesced to their demands, his training and preference for
systematics showed itself. He came at the description of ceremonies in a unique and
systematic way. He went after the rules. The rules he used are the rubrics prescribed in The Lutheran Hymnal of 1941 and in the companion volume for that Hymnal, The Lutheran Liturgy. We have reproduced the latter in an appendix for easy reference. Incidentally, those rubrics have never been replaced by the LCMS. Unless they are explicitly contradicted, replaced, or restated in new Rites provided by the Commission on Worship, they are STILL the guide for the conduct of the Services in our churches. Where they have been updated and revised, Piepkorn´s descriptions and explanations tend to make even more sense. Thus, this is the best work up to our day on the practical execution of liturgy in the LCMS…
It is our prayer that these words would again serve the Church and help unclutter Her
Services from things that hinder and distract God’s people from His gifts.”
Be sure to read the full prefaces and take a look at the Table of Contents here.
Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from Thursday of Invocabit (1st Week of Lent)
“He provides for the soul through the body. You can’t wash a soul. So you wash the body with water in the Triune name of God, and the soul is thereby washed. We call that baptism. You can’t touch the soul or feed it apart from the body. So Jesus feeds our bodies with spiritual food, with what the soul needs to be strengthened and cleansed. He does not sit in heaven and think nice things toward us. He actually enters into creation. He speaks through human words, in a human voice. He feeds us when bread and wine become His body and blood, even as He washes us with water.”
-David H. Petersen, author of Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from Invocabit (1st Sunday in Lent)
“Eve fell by eating. Jesus resisted taking food from the devil in the desert. And He redeems us by feeding. The same action that plunged the world back to near chaos, that which He denied Himself, now unites and reconciles God’s children to God. His body and His blood are better than manna in the desert. Here is balm for your wounds, courage for your fight, peace for your soul, and the strength you need to face temptation. Here is the Word of God written in stone in the flesh of Mary, hidden in bread, that you would not stand against the accuser but would live as God’s own holy child.”
–David H. Petersen, author of Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons by David H. Petersen
Thy Kingdom Come
by David H. Petersen
This collection of sermons arises from the culture of an active parish life as a part of its usual worship routine. With over sixty sermons spanning Pre-Lent, all forty days of Lent, and the Sundays after Easter, this book now serves as an excellent daily devotion for both pastors and parishioners. Distinctive in his preaching style, Pr. Petersen fluidly interweaves the words of Holy Scripture with his own, immersing us in the text and applying Law and Gospel with sharp insight. As Luther explains in his catechisms, preaching the Word brings the kingdom of heaven from Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to the individual, always pointing us to Christ and Him crucified, died, and risen.
“Every one of Pr. Petersen’s sermons is a bloody mess of Law and Gospel. The mess of your sin and the mess of Jesus’ cross are on display in every sermon. No matter the occasion, no matter the readings, every sermon is about Jesus in His saving work, Jesus crucified for you.” -From the Forward, Rev. Todd Wilken
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Rev. David H. Petersen has been pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since August of 2000. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is also a prolific writer and magazine editor, serving as editor of the Lutheran journal Gottesdienst, for which he writes on the life and liturgy of the Church. Rev. Petersen has been published in many other journals as well—both scholarly and popular—and is much in demand as a speaker and retreat leader. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 1996.
Symbolism in the Adoremus Christmas Card
When Ed Riojas created “Adoremus” for ArtPrize 2012 in Grand Rapids, he did more than produce a beautiful work of art. He gave us a masterpiece with incredible theological depth, with subtle, intentional allusions to Messianic symbolism. We asked him to describe the symbolism for us, for it is in the details that we find a greater appreciation for the work as a whole.
Starting with the peak of the frame, then moving to the side windows, and finally to the Holy Family:
- Tripartite construction of the stable and its triangular peak, a subtle nod to the Holy Trinity
- The crown of thorns that literally hangs over Jesus’ head
- A laurel wreath entwined with crown of thorns, to show ultimate victory over death
- Two turtle doves (to the left of the crown of thorns), referring to humility and the 8th-day sacrifice
- The eight-pointed Bethlehem star which announces Christ’s birth but also alludes to His death by its cross shape
- The crucifix in a road-side shrine
- A ram caught in a thicket, just as Abraham’s substitute sacrifice was given to him
- The Rose of Sharon blooming, as the Messiah is now revealed
- The ram and bull are untouched, for now is come down the ultimate sacrifice
- The inn with smoke intentionally excluded from the chimney, showing a lack of hospitality
- The open tomb in front of the inn
- Circular halos, or nimbii, showing figures to be among the saints
- Mary’s blue and white clothing, traditional colors that point to her virginity (purity)
- The lily, which is a symbol of the Virgin Mary
- The draw knife (carpenter’s tool), symbol for Joseph
- The lantern next to the draw knife with a single burning light, representing Christ as the light of the world
- Jesus, the “sign” (Luke 2:12), wrapped in swaddling cloths (in a similar way as a body for burial) and lying in a manger (a typical stone manger of the Middle East, similar to a sarcophagus)
- The Latin included in the piece (Venite Adoremus Dominum) is reflected in the card’s inside text: Word of the Father Now in flesh appearing. O come, let us adore Him.
Find Adoremus and our other Christmas cards here.
Pr. David Petersen, on thanksgiving
“We pray for daily bread not to remind God that we need it, but that He would lead us to realize that He is the giver and that we would receive it with thanksgiving. That word ‘thanksgiving’ happens to be the English translation of the Greek word ‘eucharist.’ Apart from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there would be no mercy and no providence, no bread for hungry people. It is only because the Father has reconciled us to Himself in the Son and declared us righteous that He loves us and that anyone, believer or not, has anything close to what is necessary for this body and life.”
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Pr. David H. Petersen — excerpt from his sermon on Laetare (John 6:1-15), included in his upcoming sermon book.