Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch (c.35-110) was an apostolic church father. He was a student of John the Apostle and was known to talks, write, and emphasizes like John. He frequently quoted Matthew. He was martyred by being fed to wild animals (probably lions).

The Lord's Supper

Cyprian of Carthage

Cyprian of Carthage (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (c.200-Sep 14, 258) was classically trained and converted to Christianity in his middle age. He was influenced by Tertullian (who coined the terms "trinity" and "three persons with one substance") and eventually died a martyr. He was one of the Latin Church fathers and taught that there was no salvation outside of the Church.

The Lord's Supper

Gregory the Great

Gregory the Great (c.540 - 604) was a church father who was one of the Great Latin Fathers, and the last of the eight doctors of the church.  He was best known for developing the liturgy, Gregorian chants, commentaries, sermons, and is credited for the start of medieval church. Because of this, he is known as the "Father of Christian Worship".

Labor Day

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. What does the Bible have to say about our labor?

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:17-19

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
Ecclesiastes 5:18

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1 Corinthians 3:8

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Revelation 14:13

John the Baptizer

John was a forerunner of Christ, as we hear frequently, but why? Why did Jesus need a forerunner? Jesus himself says that John was the fulfillment of the old testament prophets (Matthew 3:4), by pointing directly to the Messiah, rather than forward to Him. Mark 1:3 explains how John was the "voice of one crying in the wilderness" prophesied in Isaiah 40:3. He was a kind of Elijah (Malachi 4:5) before Lord.

But, why and how did John prepare the way? John was like a triage diagnosis before seeing the doctor. Jesus brings medicine, but people need to know they are sick.

Also, John preaches and practices baptism, repentance, forgiveness of sins, just like in our liturgy. The whole ministry of John is essentially reproduced at beginning of service, followed by the service of the Holy Communion, just like Jesus dying and shedding his body and blood after John. At the end of John's ministry he states that he must decrease so that Jesus can increase. This is just like the Pastor's vestments, which covers him and why he stands behind a pulpit when preaching the gospel.

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo (Nov 13, 354 - Aug 28, 430) is a church father who was one of the four great Latin fathers, so one of the eight doctors of the church. He is best known for writing his Confessions and City of God. He also helped to start the idea of Just War Theory and documented the doctrine of original sin, total depravity, and predestination for the first time.  He was influenced by Ambrose, mother Monica.

Original Sin

Sola Gratia

The Lord's Supper

Johann Gerhard

Johann Gerhard (Oct 17, 1582 – Aug 17, 1637) studied theology and philosophy (and a couple years of medicine) and graduated in 1605.  By 1616, when he was only 33 years old, he became the senior theological professor at Jena and was soon considered the greatest theologian of his time. He was also a prolific author.

Gerhard helped to develop Lutheran scholasticims during the Lutheran High Orthodoxy period, which lasted from 1600 to 1685. The main purpose of this was to educate people to defend the faith, especially against the Jesuits at the time.

One interesting thing that he contributed was the seven duties of a pastor in his "Commonplaces: Locus on the Ministry"

1. Preaching the heavenly Word
2. Administering the sacraments
3. Praying for the flock entrusted to him
4. Honorable managers of their life and behavior
5. Take care of the administration of church discipline
6. Preserve ecclesiastical rights
7. Take care of the poor and visit the sick

Irenaeus of Lyons

Irenaeus of Lyons (?-c.202) was the earliest of the non-apostolic church fathers. He was a disciple of Polycarp (who was a student of John). He was best known for his book Against Heresies, in which he argues against Gnosticism.

Sola Fide

The Lord's Super

Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria (c.378–444) was a church father and a prominent figure during the council of Ephesus in 431(the fourth ecumenical council) His early arguments were against Arians and in support of Nicaea, but he is best known for his vehement disagreement with and arguments/writings against Nestorius.

Original Sin

Sola Fide

Justification by Faith is the Key to Understand Scripture and Distinguish Between Law & Gospel

The Lord's Super

Maundy Thursday

In Genesis 14:18, we read, "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."  Jesus is compared to Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:11-28. Melchizedek and his actions were a "type" and a foreshadowing of Jesus.

At the Lord's command, the Israelites celebrated their first Passover on the night before their exodus from Egypt. Lambs without blemish were killed and prepared. With the lamb, the Israelites ate unleavened bread. The blood of the lamb, which was painted on the doorposts, was the sign that would spare the Israelites from the tenth plague to come upon Egypt, namely the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12).

The similarities between the Passover meal and Holy Communion are quite apparent: both are meals of commemoration in which bread is an indispensable component. The cup of wine which is drunk at the end of the Passover meal symbolizes the joy resulting from the Israelites' deliverance from Egyptian captivity. The blood of the Passover lamb effected deliverance for the firstborn of the Israelites. This is a reference to Jesus Christ as the "Lamb of God" who was sacrificed: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1: 29, 1 Peter 1: 19).

Bread is a symbol for human sustenance. Twelve loaves of the "Bread of the Presence" were placed on a table in front of the veil to the Most Holly Place. Each Sabbath, they were eaten by the priests and replaced. (Exodus 25:30). Bread proclaimed the actual presence of God, but this was before his incarnation.

"The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. -Leviticus 17:11-14

In Israel, wine was also a symbol of joy and of future salvation (Isaiah 55:1)

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup

    with foaming wine, well mixed,

and he pours out from it,

    and all the wicked of the earth

    shall drain it down to the dregs. -Psalm 75:8

Your words were found, and I ate them, -Jeremiah 15:16

Jesus is the word made flesh (John 1:1)

Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.  They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” -Jeremiah 25:15-16

"[Jesus said], "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

"The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

"When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?... After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." -John 6:48-57, 60-61, 66

This also fulfilled the prophecy in Jeremiah 9:17, "Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women." Bread and wine, the elements of the Lords Supper in the new covenant which was established through Jesus blood of the covenant (mentioned earlier in 9:11), give joy (among other feelings) to Gods people, reminding them that the price has been paid for their sins. This is right after the prophecy that was fulfilled in Palm Sunday.

Jesus promised us his life. The life is in the blood. The way to get his life in us is by drinking his blood.  Bread is the symbol for all we need and what sustains us.  What better way to give us his body than through the bread. Isn't it awesome that he found a way to give us his body and blood in, with, and under bread and wine so that we are not cannibals?

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? -1 Corinthians 10:16 

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist. -2 John 1:7

There are three physical advents of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The first is when baby Jesus was born. The second is in the Eucharist. The third is when he will come again to judge the living and the dead.  Note that the last two verses use the present tense.The current advent is in the flesh.

The Baptism of Our Lord

A common question is why Jesus was baptized since he was sinless and already had the holy spirit. To understand this, it is important to understand what Jesus really came to do and who he was and what baptism is. For this we must begin in the old testament.

After sprinkling blood over the tabernacle and its furnishings to cleanse and consecrate it, a goat was brought to Aaron. He laid his hands on its head and confessed all the sins of the people. Thus he was anointed to die for sins that were not his own. The goat was then led out to the wilderness and left to die, bearing the sins of the people. Thus it was called the scapegoat. 

This looks forward to Jesus work, but also his baptism. Holy Baptism washes away sins and actually gives you the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus was perfect and sinless and already had the Holy Spirit, he had no need. And yet he fulfilled all of the law, from circumcision, to baptism for us. Only by fulfilling all righteousness could he be the scapegoat. In our baptism, the water that washed away our sin, and became dirty with it, was used to baptize Jesus. Having no sins of His own, in his baptism, he was soaked with all the sins of the world. John anoints Jesus to die for our sins.  And like the type before Him, Jesus is led out into the wilderness. He is led out to be tempted by the devil, to be accused and slandered for your sin. But, having overcome the devil, Jesus is again cast out into the wilderness to die. And He does, bearing your sin.

At Jesus’ baptism the descent of the Spirit and the voice of the Father, the Christian sacrament of baptism is instituted, and it shows us the trinity in who's name we are to be baptized.  This also fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”, proving Jesus to be the messiah. Once Jesus is anointed to die and identified as the messiah, he begins his ministry.  The descent of the spirit also allowed him to use more of his divinity and perform miracles.

The Naming and Circumcision of Our Lord

In Matthew 1:21, the Angel who visited Joseph told him to name his son, Jesus, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Because Abraham was given a name with his circumcision, Israel gained the custom of naming their children at the circumcision.  So, when Jesus was eight days old, being the Seed of Abraham, he was given the name Jesus at his circumcision, thus fulfilling the law and the prophecies about him.

Why Circumcision?

Circumcision was a way that God wrote his covenant permanently onto the bodies of his people. Into the very organ which made him as a son, was the sign that he was a son of the Father. Circumcision also showed to man that his flesh was sinful and that every child born from his union with a woman was born in sin, as David confessed in Psalm 51. Bodies matter to God. Today, when baby boys and girls are little, they are “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, in which they are also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised Jesus from the dead,” (Colossians 2:11-12). No longer is one tiny part of the body cut away, but the liquid blade of baptism cuts away the old sinful nature. For if anyone is in Christ, he is reborn righteous and a new creation. It is no longer we who lives, but Christ who lives in us, and we who live in Christ.

Why the name of Jesus?

Jesus has three offices: prophet, priest, and king. People with equivalent names to Jesus in the Old Testament were a prophet, a priest, and a king, being types for the coming one who would fulfill all three roles perfectly.

In His public ministry Jesus was a prophet urging Israel to repent and being rejected just like the old testament prophets (John 1:11). The Lord Himself affirmed that Hosea was a man of symbol. He instructed the prophet that his wife's desertion of her family for a life of whoredom pictured Israel's unfaithfulness to Jehovah. Just as Hosea bought his wife back from prostitution (Hos. 3:1-3), so Jesus paid the price to redeem His people from bondage to sin.

In His death, after Israel had rejected Him, Jesus was the high priest offering His own body as a sacrifice for sin. Joshua, the Old Testament high priest was shown to be a forshadowing of the great high priest (Zechariah 6:11-13)

When He comes again, Jesus will be the King of kings. Moses couldn't lead the people into the Promised Land, because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded, so Joshua took over for him.  Likewise, the beatings of the Law can’t bring us into the Promised Land. The Law that Moses gave can’t bring us into heaven. Against opposition from powerful enemies on all sides, this Joshua led the people of Israel into their promised land, the land of Canaan. So also, Jesus the King will someday lead all the redeemed into their promised land, the land of paradise. Only Joshua can lead us into the Promised Land; only Jesus can save us from the bondage of the Law.

Christmas Eve

Christmas History

Some early church leaders opposed the idea of a birth celebration for Jesus. Origen (c.185-c.254) preached that it would be wrong to honor Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honored. Birthdays were for pagan gods.

Not all of Origen's contemporaries agreed that Christ's birthday shouldn't be celebrated, and some began to speculate on the date (actual records were apparently long lost). Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) favored May 20 but noted that others had argued for April 18, April 19, and May 28. Hippolytus (c.170-c.236) championed January 2. November 17, November 20, and March 25 all had backers as well. A Latin treatise written around 243AD pegged March 21, because that was believed to be the date on which God created the sun, being the Vernal Equinox. Polycarp (c.69-c.155) had followed the same line of reasoning to conclude that Christ's birth and baptism most likely occurred on Wednesday, because the sun was created on the fourth day.

The eventual choice of December 25, made perhaps as early as 273, reflects a convergence of Origen's concern about pagan gods and the church's identification of God's son with the celestial sun. December 25 already hosted two other related festivals: natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. The winter solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier. Seeing that pagans were already exalting deities with some parallels to the true deity, church leaders decided to commandeer the date and introduce a new festival.

Western Christians first celebrated Christmas on December 25 in 336, after Emperor Constantine had declared Christianity the empire's favored religion. Eastern churches, however, held on to January 6 as the date for Christ's birth and his baptism. Most easterners eventually adopted December 25, celebrating Christ's birth on the earlier date and his baptism on the latter, but the Armenian church celebrates his birth on January 6. Incidentally, the Western church does celebrate Epiphany on January 6, but as the arrival date of the Magi rather than as the date of Christ's baptism.

The evergreen tree was an ancient symbol of life in the midst of winter. Romans decorated their houses with evergreen branches during the New Year, and ancient inhabitants of northern Europe cut evergreen trees and planted them in boxes inside their houses in wintertime. Many early Christians were hostile to such practices. The second-century theologian Tertullian condemned those Christians who celebrated the winter festivals, or decorated their houses with laurel boughs in honor of the emperor:

"Let them over whom the fires of hell are imminent, affix to their posts, laurels doomed presently to burn: to them the testimonies of darkness and the omens of their penalties are suitable. You are a light of the world, and a tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple."

But by the early Middle Ages, the legend had grown that when Christ was born in the dead of winter, every tree throughout the world miraculously shook off its ice and snow and produced new shoots of green. At the same time, Christian missionaries preaching to Germanic and Slavic peoples were taking a more lenient approach to cultural practices—such as evergreen trees. These missionaries believed that the Incarnation proclaimed Christ's lordship over those natural symbols that had previously been used for the worship of pagan gods. Not only individual human beings, but cultures, symbols, and traditions could be converted.

Of course, this did not mean that the worship of pagan gods themselves was tolerated. According to one legend, the eighth-century missionary Boniface, after cutting down an oak tree sacred to the pagan god Thor (and used for human sacrifice), pointed to a nearby fir tree instead as a symbol of the love and mercy of God.

Not until the Renaissance are there clear records of trees being used as a symbol of Christmas—beginning in Latvia in 1510 and Strasbourg in 1521. Legend credits the Protestant reformer Martin Luther with inventing the Christmas tree, but the story has little historical basis.

The most likely theory is that Christmas trees started with medieval plays. Dramas depicting biblical themes began as part of the church's worship, but by the late Middle Ages, they had become rowdy, imaginative performances dominated by laypeople and taking place in the open air. The plays celebrating the Nativity were linked to the story of creation—in part because Christmas Eve was also considered the feast day of Adam and Eve. Thus, as part of the play for that day, the Garden of Eden was symbolized by a "paradise tree" hung with fruit.

These plays were banned in many places in the 16th century, and people perhaps began to set up "paradise trees" in their homes to compensate for the public celebration they could no longer enjoy. The earliest Christmas trees (or evergreen branches) used in homes were referred to as "paradises." They were often hung with round pastry wafers symbolizing the Eucharist, which developed into the cookie ornaments decorating German Christmas trees today.

The custom gained popularity throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, against the protests of some clergy. Lutheran minister Johann von Dannhauer, for instance, complained (like Tertullian) that the symbol distracted people from the true evergreen tree, Jesus Christ. But this did not stop many churches from setting up Christmas trees inside the sanctuary. Alongside the tree often stood wooden "pyramids"—stacks of shelves bearing candles, sometimes one for each family member. Eventually these pyramids of candles were placed on the tree, the ancestors of our modern Christmas tree lights and ornaments.

It also took a long time for trees to become associated with presents. Though legend connects the idea of Christmas gifts with the gifts the Magi brought Jesus, the real story is more complicated. Like trees, gifts were first a Roman practice—traded during the winter solstice. As Epiphany, and later Christmas, replaced the winter solstice as a time of celebration for Christians, the gift-giving tradition continued for a while. By late antiquity it had died out, although gifts were still exchanged at New Year's.

Gifts were also associated with St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra (in modern-day Turkey), who became famous for giving gifts to poor children. His feast day (December 6) thus became another occasion for gift exchanges. During the early Middle Ages, Christmas gifts most often took the form of tributes paid to monarchs—although a few rulers used the holiday season as an opportunity to give to the poor or to the church instead (most notably Duke Wenceslas of Bohemia, whose story inspired the popular carol, and William the Conqueror, who chose Christmas 1067 to make a large donation to the pope).

Like trees, gifts came "inside" the family around the time of Luther, as the custom of giving gifts to friends and family members developed in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Often these were given anonymously, or hidden. One Danish custom was to rewrap a gift many times with different names on each wrapper, so that the intended recipient was only discovered when all the layers were opened.

In the English-speaking world, the union of gifts, trees, and Christmas was due to the influence of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, a native of Saxony (now part of Germany). German immigrants had brought the custom of Christmas trees with them in the early 1800s, but it spread widely after Victoria and Albert set up an elaborate tree for their children at Windsor Castle in 1841. At this point, Christmas presents were usually hung on the tree itself.

German and Dutch immigrants also brought their traditions of trees and presents to the New World in the early 1800s. The image of happy middle-class families exchanging gifts around a tree became a powerful one for American authors and civic leaders who wished to replace older, rowdier, and more alcohol-fueled Christmas traditions—such as wassailing—with a more family-friendly holiday. This family-centered image was widely popularized by Clement Moore's 1822 poem, known today as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (which also helped give us our modern picture of Santa Claus).

As many of us make trees and gifts the center of our own Christmas practice, we would do well to remember that they are ultimately symbols of the One who gave himself to unite heaven and earth, and who brings all barren things to flower.

Advent 4 - Love

Today is the fourth and last Sunday in Advent. Today is all about love for it is Christmas Eve tomorrow!

• 4th CANDLE – THE ANGEL CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF LOVE – The angels announced the good news of a Savior.  “…I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10b-11).  God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” 
  (John 3:16-17)

on a lighthearted note: some people call today Christmas Eve Eve; Christmas Eve squared; or Christmas Adam because Adam came before Eve.

Advent 3 - Rejoice (Gaudete)

Today is the third Sunday in Advent and is a little different than the rest. Today is Gaudete Sunday (Latin for rejoice. color is pink or red instead of blue or purple, for a more joyful feel. 


3rd CANDLE – THE SHEPHERD CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF JOY – The angels sang a message of JOY! “…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:7-15)

Advent 2 - Peace

Today is the second Sunday of Advent and the church year. Today we remember that we have the Peace of the Lord and we focus on preparation for Christmas:

• 2nd CANDLE – THE BETHLEHEM CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF PREPARATION – God kept his promise of a Savior who would be born in Bethlehem.  Preparation means to “get ready”. Help us to be ready to welcome YOU, O GOD! “As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.‘ (Luke 3:4-6)

Ambrose of Milan

Ambrose of Milan [c. 340 – 4 Apr 397] was one of the four great Latin church fathers, and so one of the Eight Doctors of the Church. He is widely considered the most influential theologian in the fourth century and is known for coining the term, “When in Rome”. He defended Christianity against Arianism.

Sola Fide

Sola Gratia

The Lord's Supper