Blog

This is the first of a series discussing the nature of the church’s liturgy. May the reflections in this series help us all engage in the liturgy more fruitfully, for the glory of God, for our edification, and for the well-being of the world. One of the most important ways to understand and appreciate our divine service better is to ask ourselves the very important question: fo ...

In Christ’s Church there are Spiritual fathers who govern and guide God’s people according to His Word. In this sense St Paul boasts his fatherhood in 1 Corinthians 4:15, where he says, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Now, since they are fathers, they are entitled to their honour, even above all others. But to spiritual fathers the least amount of hon ...

The Fourth Commandment takes us into the discipleship at its most mundane level, life in the family. “The fourth commandment is ‘the first and greatest commandment because it relates to that point at which I was called into life by God through my parents – called into purely physical, yet at the same time social life…I did not choose my parents, the place or language of my birt ...

Many Christians believe that worship is what happens when the church gathers to praise, give thanks, and glorify God - because of faith that grasps the gifts of God in Jesus Christ. But Lutherans do not see worship like that as this makes worship primarily our service & sacrifice to God. Rather, Lutherans understand that worship is God serving us; That in worship, as we rec ...

Baptism is the “frontier” sacrament because it begins life in Christ. When a person is baptised, the Spirit creates a life in Christ that knows no end. This life is then sustained during one’s earthly pilgrimage through the hearing of God’s Word and receiving the Lord’s Supper. Baptism, that simple moment of water, Word & Spirit, is a rite of Christian initiation – by it we ...

The word ‘epiphany’ means manifestation, appearance or showing plainly. We celebrate the epiphany of Jesus not just to the wise men, but to all people. Epiphany is the 6th January, 12 days after Christmas, it has been estimated that this would have been the time taken for the Magi to travel to Bethlehem.  Often celebrated the Sunday before the 6th Jan or together on the Sunday ...

By the First Sunday after Christmas, our culture has completely finished its observance of Christmas; But in the church, because we know that the blessings of Christmas are never finished, we continue to celebrate Christmas for a full twelve days. December 26 is Boxing Day, a day on which historically ‘Masters’ presented gifts to their servants, reversed, in a small way, the ro ...

Advent prepared us for the coming of the saviour, the fulfillment of the promise first made in the Garden of Eden in response to the sin of Adam & Eve. Christmas is the day we celebrate that hope fulfilled. Jesus is the only hope of the world, because Jesus is the only one who could set us free from our sins. The commemoration of the nativity of Our Lord puts before us once ...

Now, the second theory as to why Christmas is celebrated on Dec 25th. May I warn you; it seems very tenuous to us moderns. In the ancient world few people knew the day they were born, but the day of their death was recorded. As early as the third century, many Christians communities thought March 25 was the day Christ was crucified. This is the day of the spring equinox. March ...

We are getting closer to celebrating the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. Sometimes people wonder why we actually celebrate Christmas on that particular day.  There are two theories. The first has to do with the winter solstice, which was celebrated on Dec 25th in the ancient world. On this day, the Romans held a pagan feast to the unconquered Sun-God in which they acknowledge ...