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KEY LUTHERAN TEACHINGS On this 500th Anniversary of the Reformation of the Church, let’s review some key Lutheran teachings: Grace Alone: Luther insisted that we are “justified by God’s grace as a gift” (Romans 3:24) rather than by good works. We do not... Read More →

LUKE 10=GOOD SAMARITAN + GOOD STEWARD! Bible Background: Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to one of the religious experts who may or may not want to really ‘know’ what it takes to love God and love neighbor. This Samaritan has ‘steward’ written... Read More →

MATTHEW 25=WE ARE CHURCH FOR THE COMMUNITY Bible Background: In Matthew’s gospel, this is the last teaching of Jesus before the plot turns to Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. It completes 2 chapters of teachings about the ‘end times’. This judgement... Read More →

“LORD, LET MY HEART BE GOOD SOIL!” Bible Background for Matthew 13: Chapter 12 of Matthew is a series of controversies with the religious leaders. Chapter 13 involves a series of parables, and a partial answer as to why Jesus teaches with parables-and why some... Read More →

Ephesians 2:19f We Are Church Together! Bible Background: Ephesians 2 is one of Paul’s most important chapters of writing. He reminds the church at Ephesus: a) we are saved by grace through faith, b) Christ has broken down the dividing walls between us and God and each... Read More →

MATTHEW 20=GOD’S ECONOMY Bible Background: Parables (stories from life, often with an unusual twist) are one of Jesus’ main teaching methods in the Gospels. Often we’re tempted to allegorize them (as in: the Landowner=God, the all-day workers are the Jewish... Read More →

GENESIS 50=JOSEPH+BROTHERS+FORGIVENESS! Bible Background: The story of Jacob’s family (and then Joseph and his brothers) occupies half of Genesis! This gives us background on the ’12 tribes of Israel’. It’s a story of dysfunction, treachery, and... Read More →

Genesis 1=The First Story of Creation Bible Background: The 1st story of the Bible is fittingly, the 1st creation story! Genesis 2 offers another account, which is quite different! That tells us the writers/editors of Genesis weren’t trying to solve all the mysteries of... Read More →

HOLY COMMUNION IN THE ELCA Holy Communion and Holy Baptism are the two sacraments Lutherans observe. A sacrament is: 1) Commanded by Christ, 2) is a way we experience God’s grace, and 3) combines a physical element (i.e. bread/wine) with God’s promises. Lutherans... Read More →

The Sacrament of Holy Communion What is Holy Communion? Holy Communion is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread and wine, instituted by Christ himself for us to eat and drink. Where do the Scriptures say this? Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul say: Our Lord... Read More →