Like with most firstborns it was impressed upon me that I set a good example for my younger siblings. But I did not excel academically, musically, or athletically. That is to put in mildly! And yet I had a crafty rationale for the mediocrity. Out of concern for my four younger siblings I did not want to set the bar too high and simply overwhelm them. It was an act of charity on my part, don’t you see? … Is it an act of charity when in many of our churches we have been lowering the bar in recent decades?. It is thought we might attract more people that way. But we forget, the bar is not ours to set! Clearly, in the Bible the bar is set very high, impossibly high! And it is important that we understand this.
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Grace Notes 2025-10-01The use of the Psalms is often missing in congregations departing from good liturgical worship. And the consequent lack of familiarity with them robs us of having a richer prayer life.
Last week I mentioned elements often missing when good liturgical worship is not employed. The first thing I mentioned was the reading of Scripture Lessons, including the Old Testament. So, why is it important to include such readings?
This week I am sharing with you a list of 12. Twelve things that often are missing apart from good liturgical worship, such as we value in the Lutheran Tradition. I would argue it is not good to be without the following 12…