ProtestantBeliefs.com

The Gospel is not “hell-forward.” Indeed, the Gospel is God’s Grace-forward in the face of Jesus Christ. When proclaiming the Gospel the proclaimer ought to proclaim Christ first (God’s love all the way down for them), and explain that the Gospel is about what God has done, is doing, and will do for them in the free life of Jesus Christ. When speaking about sin, and its consequences, the proclaimer ought to place an emphasis on God becoming sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [in Christ]. This way the focus of salvation emphasizes…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For peace in our world… For access to humanitarian aid amidst conflicts in Israel and Palestine, Russia…

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. Association of Lutheran Church Musicians ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song. Ponder Anew: a continuing education conference for church musicians, pastors and worship leaders July 22-25, 2024 at Valparaiso University With an emphasis on practical skill-building, you will be able to attend workshops and in-depth learning sessions on a variety of topics. This conference…

I am contemplating making the jump to a different host for my online writing. WordPress, my current host, has become more focused on commercial websites than on blogging these days. My concern is that WordPress may discontinue support for blogging all together someday, and I’ll be out to lunch. Substack seems to offer the best alternative. It’s services are free (here I pay a minimal amount for ad free posting), and it offers a built in network and community. It also operates off of a newsletter premise, so when you subscribe you receive my post directly as newsletter recipients (I…

This month we celebrate the third anniversary of All Creation Sings, the worship and song supplement to Evangelical Lutheran Worship. As you look ahead to the incarnation cycle of the church year (Advent, Christmas, Time after Epiphany), consider these resources to support your new or continued exploration of All Creation Sings. Advent Looking for a simple framework for your Advent midweek service? The basic outline of Service of Word and Prayer (ACS pp. 42-45) can be contextualized to fit your needs. This video gives help for using the service. If you are a Sundays and Seasons subscriber, visit the SSCOM library…

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (ELCA) For many U.S. residents reading this blog post, our ability to think soundly about the Israel-Hamas conflict has been consistently interrupted by waves of conflicting images and emotions: stories of trauma and grief from Israelis impacted by the Hamas attacks on their homes, followed almost immediately by accounts from Gaza of deaths; both moments of horror followed quickly by a outrage and ambivalence gestated over decades by a binary debate over U.S. involvement in the conflict. We can certainly feel tired to act when we pile onto these emotions the ways social media and…

I have decided to migrate over to Substack, as I was contemplating in my last post. I will leave this blog up, of course!, with all of its archives intact. I have exported all of my posts, and I believe comments, over to my Substack (I think it is still in the process of processing all of that). I hope all of my readers and subscribers will follow me over to my new online writing home. It will still be the same type of material as I’ve engaged with here over the years, just on a different platform (with I…

In the United States, November is Native American Heritage Month. Racial Justice Ministries would like to elevate the voices and work of our Indigenous siblings by bringing attention to the multitude of events by the ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. A full list of offerings for this month can be found here, but there are two events that we would especially like to highlight: Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium In 2013, the Annual American Indian and Alaska Native Symposium at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago was renamed in honor of Vine Deloria Jr., an alum of Augustana…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For peace in our world… For all casualties of conflicts between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine,…

How does the Christian know the depth of sin; how does anyone? How does a Christian have knowledge of themselves; how does anyone? According to Scripture we only know the depth of human sin through God’s Self-revelation in Jesus Christ. To think sin, to think humanity even, from any other ground than the ground of God’s Light of Light for the world in Jesus Christ will give us a skewed sense, a perverted perspective on just who we are as fallen humanity. Until we come to the realization and understanding of the depth dimension of our status as fallen creatures,…