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Get a Signed Copy of Didache
In between international trips and teaching at Concordia Theological Seminary, Prof. John Pless graciously agreed to sign 30 copies of Didache for us to offer to our customers. In Didache, Pless brings together the Holy Scriptures, Luther’s Small Catechism, and the hymnal to teach what Lutherans confess (doctrine), how we receive Christ’s gifts in the Divine Service (liturgy), and how we pray and live under the cross of Jesus Christ (vocation).
These won’t last long…and they’re also 15% off!
Excerpts from Didache
“The fact that God is our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, shapes how we pray. The Small Catechism’s explanation of the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer picks up on two words from Ephesians 3:12 — boldness and confidence. Christian prayer is anchored in the truth of the Father’s love given us in His Son. Therefore, we may approach our Father with all boldness and confidence just ‘as dear children ask their dear father.'” (p. 31)
“As the Scriptures carry the Lord’s own authority, they are powerful for accomplishing His own purpose, namely, creating in our hearts saving faith in Jesus Christ. That is what Paul means when he says that the Scriptures are ‘able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ (2 Tim. 3:15). Here we see the gracious and effective power that God has invested in His Word. The Word of God creates faith. This is a miracle on par with the creation of the universe; even as God created the heavens and the earth by His mighty Word, by that same Word He creates faith. His Word accomplishes His purpose.” (p. 3)
-John T. Pless in Didache, 15% off during Lent (see sale details below)
God With Us: The Eighth Day of Christmas
“Baptism is greater than circumcision. It is not just for boys. It is not bloody and does not hurt, but don’t fail to notice this is: it is deadly. It drowns the old man even as it raises up the new man, and it attaches us to God. See how it fulfills circumcision? It places God’s name upon us. Baptism is Baptism because Jesus was baptized, because He was anointed for the sacrifice. As His circumcision ended and fulfilled circumcision and counted for us, so also His baptism began Baptism and counts for us. And since He was born under the Law, we are born above it.”
-Pr. David H. Petersen in God With Us, from the sermon for The Eighth Day of Christmas: The Circumcision of our Lord
The Brotherhood Prayer Book: A Hymn for the Holy Innocents
Audio: Listen to A Hymn for the Holy Innocents chanted
Sweet flowerets of the martyr band,
Plucked by the tyrant’s ruthless hand
Upon the threshold of the morn,
Like rosebuds by a tempest torn;
First victims for the incarnate Lord,
A tender flock to feel the sword;
Beside the very altar, gay,
With palm and crown, ye seemed to play.
Ah, what availed King Herod’s wrath?
He could not stop the Savior’s path.
Alone, while others murdered lay,
In safety Christ is borne away.
O Lord, the Virgin-born, to Thee
Eternal praise and glory be,
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore. Amen.
Salvete, flores martyrum by Aurelius C. Prudentius, d. 413, trans. by H.W. Baker, alt.
From The Brotherhood Prayer Book
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Collect: O God, whose martyred innocents showed forth Thy praise not by speaking but by dying: mortify all vices within us, that our lives may in deed confess Thy faith which our tongue uttereth; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
The picture a 19th-century fresco from the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer, Germany. Find similiar pictures here. Many thanks to Pr. Sean Daenzer for chanting.
New: A review of An Explanation of the Common Service
“The answer, ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it,’ to the question of, ‘why do we do what we do in worship?’ is not only unhelpful, but it’s also false. We do know ‘why we do what we do in worship.’ Sometimes we just don’t know where to find the answer to the question. An Explanation of the Common Service helps give concrete answers to questions that would otherwise be left in abstract thought and speculation. What would seem to be a daunting number of questions and answers (250) is eased by the reality that the book is just 120 pages in length, which includes a history of Christian hymnody; liturgical colors and their significance; and index and glossary.”
Many thanks to Pr. Mike Grieve for an excellent and thorough review. It is well worth reading in its entirety at Lutheran Treasures of the Old Missouri Synod.
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