Grace Notes 2023-09-20

With this week’s offering I will close my series addressing the Woke, Progressive ideology dominating our culture. And perhaps a good way to close is with a Scriptural truth that is falling off the radar. Importantly, we will turn to a Biblical informed worldview.

As Lutherans we know the teaching as the Doctrine of Original Sin. This is the truth that is largely ignored, certainly among Progressivists and sadly it does not always inform a good number of churchgoers. Simply stated, Original Sin has to do with our inclination to sin from the day of our birth. The Psalmist laments during his confession in Psalm 51 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” And accordingly, he intones in Psalm 14:3 “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

The Second Article of the Augsburg Confession further teaches that all who have been born after the fall of Adam have inherited his fallen nature. This, among other things, means that we do not possess in our fallen nature true fear, love, and trust of God. Without proper faith, we distrust God’s goodness – his commands and promises. We prefer to do what makes sense in our own eyes. Because of this sinful nature we cannot, without the help of God, avoid sinning.

I’ve heard it expressed this way. We do not have a sinful nature because we sin. Rather, we sin because we have a sinful nature.

At least a couple of serious errors accompany progressive thought. The first is that we are making progress morally. We confuse a certain progress scientifically and technologically with the idea we must be making progress in all things. And the second error is believing we can fix the problems and injustices in the world, when we ourselves, every one of us, needs fixing. There is one Savior of the world. And the complete fixup does not happen in this age…

Since You Asked…

Are announcements necessary? And should they be included as a part of the liturgy?

Not all announcements are necessary! Nor should they be allowed to disrupt the rhythmic flow of the service. It is likewise important that announcements be kept to a minimum. But certain announcements are important. Information that will enhance participation in the worship, information pertaining to further Christian service, and information for regarding further opportunities for spiritual edification are such announcements of importance, and they are worthwhile to promote publicly to the assembly. We have chosen the beginning of the worship service as the most helpful and least disruptive placement for announcements.