In The House Of The Lord

It is in the house of the Lord where we meet our God. We have an intimate conversation with him. We tell him our greatest and darkest secrets. He declares how much he loves us through his Son living, dying and rising for us. We tell him our desires and our fears. He admonishes the proud, soothes the hurting, and comforts the despairing. We let him know that so much of our lives are lived apart from Him and His will for our lives. He invites us to dine with him at his holy Table.

All of this is done in one place – the House of the Lord.

As King Solomon was building the temple in Jerusalem, he realized the immensity of what he was building for God. He prayed, “Will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built” (2 Chron 6:18)! The heavens cannot contain our Lord. Yet he still deigns to dwell among us in his temple, his church, his house.

Perhaps Jacob was the first to grasp the depth of God dwelling on earth among His people. After Jacob’s dream about the connecting of heaven and earth, he prayed, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Gen 28:16-17).

The worship services in the house of the Lord are where the people to whom we minister – both members and visitors – meet their God face-to-face. They hear his voice through spoken, sung, and read Word. The people respond with their prayers and praise. God gives his sacraments. The people present their offerings. The people come into God’s presence with the invocation of the Triune God and they leave God’s house with his threefold blessing.

Most people – perhaps even long-time members – may not realize how much is being taught them in every worship service. The ancient liturgy of the Christian church answers many questions with which people wrestle. Questions about the nature of God are answered in the Invocation and Benediction of the Divine Service. Inquiries about the love of God are fulfilled in the Confession and Absolution. Challenges toward the divinity of Jesus are countered in the creeds. Debates about homosexuality or the divine callings of men and women are confronted in the Marriage Rite. Uncertainties about life after death, heaven and hell are made certain in the Funeral Rite.

I believe that almost every question our people may have is at least introduced – if not answered outright – throughout the liturgy. That is why an adult confirmation class or Bible Information Class (BIC) on the basic doctrines of Scripture has been developed based upon the element of the liturgy of the Christian Church.

The old thesis lex orandi, lex credendi (“The law of prayer is the law of belief”) remains true. In the House of the Lord is based on this thesis: “What we believe influences how we worship. And how we worship reflects what we believe.” What this Bible couruse attempts to do is to walk students through the liturgy, while at the same time teaching them the doctrines that each portion of the liturgy proclaims. As the students become more comfortable with God’s teachings, they become more comfortable in God’s house. And vice versa.

This is the outline of In the House of the Lord:

#1 – Invocation – Trinity

#2 – Confession, Absolution and Kyrie – Law and Gospel

#3 – Gloria in Excelsis – Praise and Worship

#4 – Word and Sermon – Scripture, truth, false doctrine and Christian fellowship

#5 – 1st Article – Creation, evolution, and preservation

#6 – 2nd Article – Redemption, justification, and the two natures of Christ

#7 – 3rd Article – Sanctification, conversion, and faith

#8 – Offering – Stewardship

#9 – Prayer – Lord’s Prayer
The most http://www.slovak-republic.org/education/universities/ cialis cheap canada important of all the proposed fibromyalgia treatments is to offer an understanding ear. Furthermore, issues related to browse for source viagra buy usa nerves, atherosclerosis, and diabetes are a major concern for everyone. The reason may be anything; viagra online discount you have the lock inside it? is the key of your vehicle (body, mind, soul) creating in line with universal laws and your divinity. Foods that are rich in zinc play a key role in the cialis prices in india production of semen in the climax to enjoy intense sexual pleasure in lovemaking.
#10 – Baptismal Rite from Occasional Services – Baptism

#11 – Communion – Lord’s Supper and communion fellowship

#12 – Song of Simeon and Benediction – Peace and evangelism

#13 – Marriage Rite – Blessings of marriage, roles of men and women (also discuss living together, homosexuality, etc.)

#14 – Funeral Rite – Death, resurrection and Judgment Day

Each lesson contains a student’s guide with questions and Bible passages. Throughout the lesson, the Bible passages establish the basis for God’s doctrine. Then the student sees that doctrine revealed in the text of the liturgy that is presented at the end of each lesson.

Each lesson closes with a hymn used as a prayer. This is helps familiarize the students with the hymns, teaches them to use the hymns as prayers (either spoken or sung), and demonstrates that our hymns also contain and teach God’s doctrines just as much as the liturgy.

Each lesson contains the teacher’s guide with answers for the questions. Each lesson also has an accompanying presentation complete with questions, pictures, illustrations, and videos.

Each lesson also contains homework. Personally, my favorite part is the homework. Since people learn in different ways, the class is written in two different styles. The lessons are taught using a catechetical method. The homework is taught using a more narrative method.

Each homework lesson gives a brief history of a portion of the liturgy. Then it allows the student to read the Bible passages or accounts from which the liturgy is derived. For example, to learn about sin and forgiveness, the students examine David’s confessions in Psalms 32 and 51. To learn about the Kyrie, they hear blind Bartimaeus and the tax collector cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me.” To learn about the Gloria in Excelsis, they hear the song of the angels, the cry of John the Baptist, and the praise of the saints in heaven. In lessons 5 through 7, the students study each person of the Trinity in depth by using the articles of the Apostles’ Creed. In the homework, they examine the Bible passages that support each phrase in the articles of the Nicene Creed.

Each homework lesson connects the student to a portion of our Lutheran Confessions or the Large Catechism. There is a Bible passage to memorize to reinforce the lesson. There are daily Bible readings scheduled so that throughout the course of the 14 lessons, the students read Matthew through Romans.

There are a number of strengths to this course. Students acquire a deeper appreciation for worship and the liturgy. They are able to unite what they do on Sunday morning in church with what God tells them in His Scriptures. They gain an understanding that what Christians do in worship is not made-up or concocted, but that the concepts and even words come directly from Scripture. The course purposefully connects these new Christians with what Christians were doing centuries and even millennia ago.

The course is designed for “old-school” students where the lessons and homework are printed on paper and everything kept in three-ring binders. However, since the entire course is on Google Drive, the lessons and homework can be shared with students so they can bring their laptop or tablet with them for taking notes and doing the work. I have used both methods in teaching the course to my adult and youth confirmands.

There may be some perceived weaknesses in the course. This course does not really address the Ten Commandments. After all, the commandments are not a part of the liturgy. However, there are specific lesson where each of the commandments could be brought in (i.e. lesson #3 – 1^st-3^rd comm.; #5 – 5^th comm.; #8 – 7^th, 9^th-10^th comm.; #13 – 4^th, 6^th, and 8^th comm.). Nor does the course teach Bible history. The goal of the course is an introduction into the doctrines through the liturgy. I pray that biblical history will come in subsequent member classes.

Something else others have noticed is that there is a lot of information, videos, pictures, etc. They wonder how I can get through everything in an hour and a half. I admit that whether I’m preparing a lesson for coaching soccer or teaching a class, I like to have more than I might use. Then I can reduce where necessary. Because I have used the class with adult non-members in Bible Information Class, adult members in Sunday morning class, and with youth confirmands in our grade school, there is a lot of information contained in each lesson. If you choose to use the course, please feel free to cut, adapt, add, etc. (Especially since I have tried to illustrate lessons by using pictures of our sanctuary, paintings, stained glass windows, etc. at Epiphany.) The course is consciously written without numbered questions so that it may be easily adapted.

It is in the house of the Lord where creature meets Creator, the mortal encounters the immortal, and the temporal experiences the eternal. Therefore, everything we do in the house of the Lord is significant. Perhaps with this course, you can reinforce this significance so that your students can understand that what we believe influences how we worship and how we worship reflects what we believe. Then we can all rejoice with Solomon and Jacob in the immensity of meeting our God in His house.

Here is a link to the entire course on Google Drive: http://tinyurl.com/inthehouseofthelord

– A sincere thanks to Rev. Dale Reckzin for the initial structure for this course and Prof. Tom Kock for direction in many of the questions and answers. Also, thank you to the members and adult confirmands of Epiphany, as well as the confirmation students of Wisconsin Lutheran School in Racine who allowed me to field test this course on them. Together we have all gained a deeper appreciation for worshiping together in the house of the Lord.