Here’s the sermon.

The Man Who Lost Two Sons by Father Capon on 30 Good Minutes.org

When it comes to Lutheranism, you would think that the wonderful theology would inspire great architecture — and, in my opinion, it did. Back when Lutherans were just starting to build new churches, they built octagonal churches where you could see what was going on up front from anywhere in the church.

This was very different from the medieval cathedrals where the lay person wasn’t really involved in the professional work of Priests and Monks dispensing grace to the world.

Acoustically, it was built in such a way as to take advantage of a high ceiling for singing (wonderful sonorous reverberation) but they also placed the pulpit so that the preacher could be heard clearly by everyone. The alter, pulpit and font took center stage, because these are the center and heart of Lutheran worship. They also found interesting ways to connect the three visually, sometimes even physically.

Lutherans aren’t afraid of art. So the churches and fixtures were decorated with scenes from the life of Christ, historical moments from the Lutheran Reformation, various biblical scenes with reliefs and sculptures, carvings, paintings and stained glass all pointing the the great salvation we have in Christ.

More recently, about 12 years ago, a 50 year old Lutheran Church was blessed with the funds and went to the trouble of constructing a church building in this almost forgotten Lutheran tradition. Here a link to Our Savior Lutheran Church in North Houston, Texas.

They went to great pains and expense to explore what an architectural expression of confessional Lutheranism would look like. I”m dying to go visit.

Here are a few highlights:

Our Savior Lutheran History

Revelation in Stained Glass

The Pipe Organ

Just go to their ‘Search Catalog’ option on the right side. Enter the word, ‘Lutheran’ and look what you have at your fingertips FOR FREE! No small thing.

Anyway, they have around 38,000 resources in the catalog and they are growing.

Apostolic Theology: A Picture of True Preaching

This is only a part of the painting. Read More…

The Forth Sunday after Easter is coming up and I figured I would introduce you to a church site that has compiled many of Luther’s sermons. The link takes you strait to his sermon for (you guessed it)…

The Fourth Sunday after Easter!

John 16:5-15

A Sermon by Martin Luther; taken from his Church Postil; originally published in 1523

1. The meaning of this Gospel lesson we have also often heard elsewhere; the only trouble is, the words have not generally been understood to have the meaning of things with which we are familiar. Therefore we will explain it a little, in order that one may see that the same teaching is contained in these words, that is found in all the other Gospel lessons. It is a fine Gospel, but it also requires fine students. We will omit the first part and consider what the Lord says, that the Holy Spirit is to convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, and will see what the meaning of all this is.

2. In the first place, we see here that the world is accused of blindness and ignorance. All those who are without the Holy Spirit, however wise they may be in matters pertaining to the things of this world, are, before God, fools and blind. They do not like to hear this; and when they are told that their doings are of no account before God, it displeases them and makes them angry, because they insist that they are In possession of reason and the natural light, which God created in them. But what does this matter to us? There are the Scriptures and the Word of God plain and clear, that the Holy Spirit is to come to convict the world, because it does not know what sin, righteousness and judgment are. Thus it is determined, there it stands; let be angry who will, Christ does not care.

Read more…

Mark 1:4-11 / Baptism of Our Lord B / 08 January 2012 / Holy Trinity – Hacienda Heights, CA

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the Deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said….

Baptism. Right there in the first three verses of Genesis is Baptism. Water, Word, and Spirit. That’s what makes a baptism. So you might rightly say that light and life are the the result of the whole world being baptized. And you would be correct. And you would also immediately understand what Jesus meant when He said to Nicodemus that one must be born from above by water and Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. One must be born spiritually, “from above.” One must become a new creation by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, washed with water and the Word. Where water and Word and Spirit, there order, light, life, creation.

Read or listen to the rest here.

Now You’re Special To Me: Downton Abbey and the Adoption of Daisy
by David Zahl on Feb 28, 2012

Many of us struggled with the recently completed second season of costumed PBS/BBC megahit Downton Abbey. And for good reason. It zigzagged relentlessly, introducing subplot after ridiculous subplot, the bandaged Canadian stranger being the lowest blow, an understandable point of no return for some. Perhaps the culprit was the editing for US audiences, who knows, certainly a slower boil in the last few episodes would have gone a long way (though I’m not sure it could have saved the arc entirely).

Read more…

Here’s a link to the show and a way to watch episodes.

Masterpiece on PBS

The first season was great, the second had some worthwhile moments and was more character driven, I think, but lacked cohesiveness – still worthwhile in my book. Here’s hoping for the third season.

Excerpt from,

The Jesus Paradigm: This Stuff Needs to Get out

The mistake we make is that “now that I’m born again, my heart is corrected, so I can go ahead and whip all that sin in my life.”  Epic fail.  The heart is still a “haunted plain,” and while the Spirit takes ground on it gradually, it’s safe to assume that your default position is idolatry, that only death will free you, and that you can’t be trusted to “work for your sanctification” as many assume. The end result of this is not some worm theology, it’s joy in who Jesus is and what he’s done.

Read more…