2014 Winter - Higher Things Magazine (with Bible Studies)

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In This Issue:

A-Caroling We Go!

• David’s House • Church Universal, Church Triumphant...Church Relevant?

• Seven Steps to Staying Sane During the Holidays

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. h i g h e r t h i n g s . o r g / WINTER / 2 0 1 4

W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 _ 1

Cross train your brain.

“The Core really made me think outside of the box and forced me to answer difficult questions, not accepting an “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” answer. It involved a lot of connection-making, which really helped me articulate my responses to difficult questions.”

Education should strengthen your brain, challenge you to ask questions, and build a strong foundation for your future.

In Concordia University Irvine’s *nationally recognized Core curriculum, you will learn about God and service to the world through the cross of Christ. You will cross disciplinary boundaries by studying biology with theology, mathematics with philosophy, and history with literature. You will wrestle with questions and concepts of life that have endured across the centuries. You will cultivate sound academic habits and skills that apply across the curriculum, to your future careers, and life.

Exercise your mind. Exercise your faith. Cross train your brain.

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 2

*Concordia University Irvine is a member of the Association for Core Texts and Courses’ Liberal Arts Institute. This prestigious institute— composed of 12 universities that include Columbia, St. John’s, Pepperdine, and Notre Dame—promotes “the integrated and common study of world classics and texts of major cultural significance” in general education programs across North America.

www.cui.edu/core

Scan here to learn more about the Core.

Contents T A B L E O F

Volume 14/Number 4 • Winter 2014

By Rev. George F. Borghardt Don’t worry about donning your beanies or slipping on your mittens to go a-caroling. All you need to do is embark on a frolicking read through Rev. Borghardt’s joyous reminders of Jesus during this Christmas season.

6 David’s House

By Rev. Mark Buetow “The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed,” is an ancient maxim about the Old and New Testaments attributed to church father, Augustine. Rev. Buetow highlights this insightful saying by illustrating the amazing connection between David, King of Israel and Jesus.

8 Church Universal, Church Triumphant…

Church Relevant?

By Kelly Klages Universal, triumphant, invisible. These are just a few of the historically grounded adjectives that describe God’s church.

Now “relevant” seems to be the latest trending descriptive, but what’s wrong with a church trying to be relevant? Kelly examines why this is a dangerous path for the church to take.

10 Seven Steps to Staying Sane During the Holidays

By Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn You don’t have to chronically suffer from depression in order for the holidays to drag you down. Regardless, sometimes the blues can catch you by surprise. With a blend of humor and empathy, Rev. Peperkorn lists out some ways to keep your balance during the holiday craziness.

12 The Satisfying Assessment of James Sire: Why Worldviews Matter Seven Apologists Every Christian Should Know, Pt. 3

By Rev. Mark A. Pierson In this third part of his apologetics series, Rev. Pierson profiles Christian author James Sire, who has a knack for understanding worldviews and teaching others to decode them. You’ll soon discover why Sire is a vital part of your apologetics repertoire.

14 The Walking Dead

By Rev. Dave Haberstock Zombies…they’re everywhere…but that’s only in cable TV series and at the nearest Comic Con, right? Well, think again. The reality is we are all dead people who think we’re alive, and the only solution to the apocalyptic madness, as Rev. Haberstock explains, is Christ alone.

®

Volume 14/Number 4/Winter 2014

Special Features 4 A-Caroling We Go

HigherThings

20 Considering the Vocation of Military Service

By Kay Maiwald Have you decided yet what direction you might want to go for your career? Luther believed the vocation of soldier is a noble and honorable profession for a Christian. As Kay looks at Luther’s perspective, she brings to bear her own experience as the mother of two servicemen.

22 Let It Go: Your Identity in Christ Trumps Your GPA

By Ramona Tausz There’s a lot of pressure in academic circles to make the grade, to stand out, to be exceptional. It can become far too easy to let your GPA become your primary focus. Ramona examines the fine line between pursuing excellence and succumbing to idolatry and reminds us that ultimately it’s Jesus and Him crucified in which we have our identity.

Bible Studies for these articles can be found at: higherthings.org/ magazine/biblestudies.html Editor

Katie Hill Art Director

Steve Blakey Editorial Associates

Rev. Greg Alm s Rev. Paul Beisel Rev. Bart Day Copy Editors

Lu Fischer Dana Niem i Bible Study Authors

Rev. Mark Buetow Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Rev. Sam uel Schuldheisz Subscriptions Manager

Elizab eth Carlson IT Assistant

24 The Return of the King

By Dr. Joshua T. Mears Professional sports appeals to many of us because in a way it satisfies our need to rally behind a hero. NBA basketball is no different. Joshua shows that as exciting as LeBron James can be to follow, he will always fall short when compared to the person and work of the true King, Jesus Christ.

Jon Kohlm eier ___________

Board of Directors President

Rev. George Borghardt Vice-President

Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher Treasurer

Regular Features 18 HT 2015 Conferences Te Deum Registration Details!

28 Catechism

Intro to the

Small Catechism

By Rev. William M. Cwirla Now is the perfect time to pull your Small Catechism from the shelf, blow off the dust, and rediscover its value. Before Rev. Cwirla delves into even more Catechism goodness, he lays out its origin and development and why it is the essential tool for nurturing our faith.

30 Bible Study

David’s House

Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Buetow’s article on P. 6.

Chris Loem ker Secretary

Rev. Joel Fritsche Rev. Brent Kuhlm an Eric Maiw ald Sue Pellegrini Matt Phillips Rev. Chris Rosebrough ___________

Executive Council Deputy Executive/Media

Rev. Mark Buetow Conference and Retreats Executive

Sandra Ostap ow ich Business Executive

Connie Bram m eier Technology Executive

Stan Lem on

Higher Things® Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly

by Higher Things, Inc., PO Box 156, Sheridan, WY 82801. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2014. Higher Things® and Christ on Campus® are registered trademarks of Higher Things Inc.; All Rights Reserved.

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A-Caroling We Go!

By Rev. George F. Borghardt

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 4

Merry Christmas! Say it. Sing it! Say to your

friends. Say it to your family, too! Merry Christmas!

Smile at the people at school. Kiss your loved ones. Text your family and friends. Tell them that Christ has come to save you—to take away your gloom and

your tears. He has come to bring you presents that won’t end up on the curb the day after Christmas. He has come to bring you forgiveness of your sins!

Scenes of the Nativity, Eleventh Century, Constantinople.

“Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for His bed; Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ was her little child” (LSB 376:1).

The Gospel is in the Word—the Word made flesh placed in your ears and mouth. Set aside the joy you get from presents and reindeer, and hear again the Gospel of Luke: Caesar Augustus wanted money, so he had a tax—that’s why there was a census in the ancient world. And Quirinius?

St. Luke tells us these guys’ names so we’d know when Jesus was born! You can Google it: “When Quirinius was governor in Syria,” and discover that’s about the time Jesus came.

Then the Gospel takes our eyes off ancient Rome and the big-wigs there, and plants them on a little nowhere town called Bethlehem, on a man named Joseph taking his betrothed, Mary, to be registered for the census.

She was pregnant with child by the Holy Spirit. She, a Virgin, had conceived by the Word of God spoken by an angel.

Now did Mary walk beside Joseph all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem? I hope not. What we know for sure is that there was no parade, no chariot. The Church has always hoped that she rode into town—even if only on a donkey.

But, the Gospel doesn’t say!

Place to place they went. Sorry, we have no room for you. Nope, all booked up. Not a single room for God. No room in Bethlehem as the silent stars go by… “Yet, in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight” (LSB 361:1).

If we had known, would we have built a temple? Maybe had cameras and held a press conference? Or had helicopters overhead and Geraldo at the manger giving a push-by-push account?

No, that’s not God’s way. He comes and finds no place in our world. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin found a stable or a cave and she brought forth her firstborn Son…. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv’n! So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heav’n,” (LSB 361:3).

The Virgin had no attendants.

She had no doctor, no epidural, no anesthetic. Not even a midwife! God’s Son gets no royal purple or a crown on Christmas. She wrapped Him in whatever she could find, swaddling cloths, and laid him in a food trough where animals eat. I hope she put some straw in there! The Gospels don’t say.

There’s no doubt that she prepared it the best she could for her Son. “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, the Little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay” (LSB 364:1). God in a manger.

God in the Flesh. Not on a throne. Not attended by angels. But, cold…lying where animals eat.

On Good Friday, He’ll get His purple robe and crown of thorns. On that day, the One who was placed in a wooden trough on Christmas will be nailed to a wooden cross. This is what God does to save you! He doesn’t judge or condemn you. He doesn’t pick you up with His fingers, pinching His nose like we would when we pick up a dirty diaper.

No, He takes on your flesh and comes right into this world where you are at with all your dirty sins to save you from your sins. He fills your songs with joy.

He lifts you up out of your sins and your death. He shows you His mercy in Christ.

Leave your sins! Drop your gloom, your scheming, your lust, and leave your impatience behind. Turn from the evil and hatred you have for others. Repent of your negativity, sadness. Leave behind your pain, your grudges, your blaming others for what you have done.

In this most holy season, when we should be so patient and kind with each other, we are the most BahHumbuggity. We fight. We scream at each other. How dare that person do this, how dare they say that, on Christmas! We’ll put them in their place!

Then, they’ll have a Merry Christmas!

Repent of all those sins—and receive today His gifts. Turn not because of the threat of hell. No, turn because of the goodness of God who sent His Son into your flesh to save you!

“Why lies He in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading. Nails, spear shall pierce

Him through, the Cross be born for me, for you. Hail, Hail the Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary”(LSB 370:2).

Stop thinking that others need to change or repent. No, you need to repent. Be the one who sings, “Come let us adore Him,” as you join the shepherds beholding the Baby Jesus…

Shepherds. Those guys. Can’t forget about them. Can’t get any lower than the shepherds watching their flocks by night! To them goes the proclamation from an angel standing on the earth.

Standing—because God is on the earth to save you.

“Don’t fear any more. I’ve got good news. Unto you is born in the city of David, in Bethlehem, a Savior, Christ the Lord. You’ll see this strange sight of a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”“Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to newborn King; Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!’ Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies; with the angelic host proclaim, ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’ Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’”(LSB 380:1).

Those shepherds found that Baby, just like those angels said, and then they made that Gospel known widely to the surrounding area. They left the Virgin Mary, quietly rocking her Son, treasuring all that God had done for her and for you through her Son. “No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as, the curse is found!” (LSB 387:3).

Christ is born. Sing it with the angels. Say it! Proclaim it on the rooftops of your homes and with your lives! He has come. God and sinners are tight again. No more separating God from you and His creation.

“Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Glory to God in the highest! Merry Christmas!

Rev. George F. Borghardt serves as the senior pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinois. He is the president of Higher Things.

His email is revborghardt@ higherthings.org.

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Editorial Credit: meunierd / Shutterstock.com

David’s House

By Rev. Mark Buetow

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 6

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. “ 2 Samuel 7:12-14 When I was a kid, my parents used to read me bedtime stories from a Bible storybook. I heard the main stories about Adam and Eve and Noah and Moses and King David and Jesus, but I never understood how they fit together. What does David have to do with Jesus? I suspect if you ask most Christians, they’re not sure either. But the

fact is, the Old Testament is all about Jesus in a very important way. When Jesus was born, He was born in a particular time and place from a particular family line. When the eternal Son of God became man in the womb of Mary, He was choosing a particular woman from a particular family tree. That family tree, as it turns out, went

all the way back to Abraham (according to Matthew’s genealogy) and all the way to Adam (according to Luke’s). And Jesus’ family tree was traced through King David.

The birth of the Son of God on Christmas means that God the Father keeps His promises. And that’s really what the Old Testament is all about. It begins with the promise of a Savior to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) and then it tells the story about how the Lord kept that promise by choosing a particular man, Abraham, and his family to be the family in which the Savior would eventually be born (Genesis 15). Seeing the connection between Jesus and these Old Testament saints helps us to understand how the Lord unfolded all these things to bring about the birth of Jesus to save the whole world—past and present—from sin.

Jesus is often called the “Son of David,” a reference to the fact that He was born from King David’s line. If you go back and read about David in 1 and 2 Samuel, you’ll see that his life is one picture after another that points to Jesus. He was a shepherd boy. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

He defeated Goliath the Philistine.

Jesus defeated the devil, our giant enemy. David conquered the enemies of God’s people and established the kingdom of Israel. Jesus defeats our enemies, sin, death, and the devil by His death and resurrection.

David also wanted to build a house for God. He built himself a nice palace and then decided the Lord shouldn’t be living in a tent (the Tabernacle which was a movable tent) but in a nice house instead. But the Lord had better plans for David. He said, “No, you won’t build me a house. But I’ll build yours and it will last forever,” (the words I referenced above). What the Lord meant was, “The Savior is going to come from your ‘house,’ that is, your family. And that Savior will be an everlasting King.”

King Solomon, David’s son, did end up building a more permanent house for the Lord. It was a mighty temple in which the Lord Himself lived. Within that temple there was the Ark of the Covenant and all the sacrifices. That temple got torn down. When Israel returned from exile in Babylon, they rebuilt the temple. It wasn’t quite as big and awesome as before.

Later, that temple got torn down, too. A Gentile king named Herod rebuilt it again with loads of money, making it the most impressive temple yet. That’s the temple that was there in Jesus’ day. But remember what Jesus told them? “Tear down this temple and

in three days I will build it again.” But He was talking about His body.

The Romans eventually destroyed the temple Herod built. And there has not been a temple ever since. But the Lord kept His promise. He kept His promise by sending His Son in the flesh. King David’s family and the temple were pictures and foreshadowings of something greater: Jesus. Jesus the Good Shepherd. Jesus the King of Kings. Jesus the One greater than the Temple because He Himself IS the temple, the very bodily dwelling of God on earth (John 1:14).

David was from the town of Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was born there because that’s where David was from (and so Joseph and Mary had to return to the town of their ancestors).

But He was also born there because “Bethlehem” means “House of Bread” and Jesus is the Bread of Life.

The more we read and hear the Old Testament, the more the New Testament makes sense.

The more we read and hear the New Testament, the more we see what the Old Testament is about. All of it is about Jesus.

The Old Testament points to Him. The New Testament is the eyewitness testimony about Him and the preaching of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins in His Name. What at first seems like stories that aren’t really connected, is really a complete and consistent message: God keeps His promises. He keeps those promises in Christ, through the family of real people—in this case King David’s family.

As we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus, we are seeing God keeping His promises. He kept His promises to David and Israel. He keeps His promises to you. The promise is that you have a Savior, born in the City of David, to be One even greater than David and the temple—to be the King of Kings and God-inthe-flesh, all so that you and I are now made a part of that family of God, too. David wanted to build God a house. But the Lord built a house for David and you and me—an eternal dwelling whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and serves as the deputy and media services executive for Higher Things. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.

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Church Universal, Church Triumphant...

Church Relevant?

By Kelly Klages

T

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 8

hese days, news items seem to come out weekly about apparently conservative Christian groups making concessions to leftist social values and paradigms. This fall, for example, Hillsong pastors Brian Houston and Carl Lentz famously evaded condemnation of gay marriage, speaking instead of “being in conversation with people” and “not wanting to tell them how to live on their own journey.” What’s going on here? I would propose that this is not just a case of people going from right to left. What the American church has called “conservative” for so many years, though it may have been socially or politically conservative, has actually been underpinned with theological liberalism from the very beginning.

It’s good for Lutherans to be aware of these trends so we can watch out for those things which would pull us away from a real Savior who rescues us from our real sins. Here are some examples...

Law/Gospel confusion. A common denominator, universal to people of every stripe, is the disappearance of the centrality of the Gospel. We used to associate “love is all you need” with a more left-wing dismissal of doctrine and objective truth in favor of “love.” But it is just as common to hear Christians of a more conservative type say that the most important and defining teaching of Christianity is “love God and love your neighbor.” Such

an emphasis on the Law may result in sermon after sermon on personal betterment and moral transformation, or it may result in a focus on social justice issues or environmentalism. It’s ultimately the same. Evangelicals who are disillusioned with moral navelgazing do not have far to go to find the “emergent” or “emerging” church emphasis on social and global issues.

In both cases, the true Gospel does not seem particularly central to their faith.

baptizing. Once such conservative Christians notice that the passage does not talk about sharing your personal testimony or going on mission trips, but rather involves pastoral teaching and baptizing, they may naturally assume that all believers should therefore be able to be ordained. And if you’re not okay with that (as the reasoning goes), then you obviously don’t care about all those people going to hell, ergo, you’re not mission‑minded!

Pragmatism and “mission” by any means possible. In more conservative circles, an emphasis on the church’s mission had long been tempered by the desire to remain faithful to the Word. Charles Finney’s 19th‑century revivalism and its successor, the Church Growth Movement, began changing that. New measures were employed in the American church with the question, “Is it fit to convert sinners with? Does it work?” The big tents went up, the popular and dynamic speakers were chosen, and sensationalism reigned.

Self-proclaimed conservative Christians began with the idea that the church’s job is to get everyone into heaven and out of hell; over time, such an important mission would be seen as something that the church could try to use any means possible to accomplish.

The acceptance of women’s ordination is a good example of where “mission at all cost” can lead.

Church groups like Bill Hybel’s Willow Creek Association began to question Scripture’s teaching on women’s ordination, eventually rejecting it.

After all (pragmatically speaking), if women have certain talents and the goal is to get people out of hell, any means possible is best if it works, right?

Conservative evangelicals came up with spiritual gifts inventories a few decades ago; who is anyone to tell me that I can’t use whatever gifts and talents that I am successful with to serve the greater good? Today, it’s not uncommon to find women raised in morally conservative churches using Matthew 28 as justification for the idea that all believers are called to be “ministers,” including preaching and

“Just me and my Bible”: hardcore individualism and autonomy. In the past it was called soul liberty or individual freedom, a casting off of church hierarchy and creeds. Americans came to love it. If you are sitting alone with your Bible and you think that God is speaking to your heart, and you’ve got no particular confession of faith to which you’ve subscribed, then the Bible can become putty in your hands.

Whatever you “feel called to do”— validated by positive circumstances around you that seem to affirm whatever it is you’ve decided you want to do—is sufficient for knowing truth.

Subjective relativism is not far behind, and you can even call it “biblical!”

The glorification of the will. In North America, forging your own spiritual destiny found fertile ground and remains an important component of both political and Christian “conservative” values. You choose your life path, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and are responsible for how transformed and successful your life is. It’s not hard to draw a direct line between this and the liberal mindset that values “choice” above all (as heard in the rallying cry of the pro‑abortionists). The glorification of the will is strong in the Old Adam, regardless of political affiliation.

I once read an article by a liberal Baptist pastor who spoke of his acceptance of homosexuality as a lifestyle. His rationale? The teaching of the age of accountability! If it might be demonstrated that homosexuals (like infants) don’t really have a choice, they can’t be held accountable, he thought.

Even many conservative Baptists have taught that it just wouldn’t be fair of God to condemn infants who don’t have a choice and can’t make a decision. Similarly, a growing trend among even conservative, missionminded Christians is that we can’t assume that those in far-off lands who haven’t heard and received the Gospel in faith are really condemned, because choice is everything.

A fear of being irrelevant or out-ofstep with the culture. Evangelicalism practically began, in the 20th century, with a desire for cultural relevance.

Just like any progressivist movement, it envisioned world-transforming power, clamored after the next Big Thing, scorned Christianity’s link with tradition and the past, and mocked those who resisted change. But over time, fear of irrelevancy inevitably caused many Evangelicals to make more and more concessions. Christians who had always self-identified as conservative were being pulled along by their progressivist culture more than they’d realized.

The reality is that whenever the Law is the dominant force in the church, it turns into a celebration of the human will and its accomplishments, and a wagging finger against those who don’t measure up to the list of culturally‑accepted dos and don’ts. The solution is a Law that kills, that exposes our true depravity and helplessness, and a Jesus who does not merely help and inspire but who lives, dies, and rises for the forgiveness of sins and our salvation—the Gospel. The world will do what it wants. And Jesus will do what He wants, which is to continue to save sinners by crucifying the Old Adam and raising to life a new man in Christ.

Kelly Klages lives in Morden, Manitoba with her husband Alex and their three children. She is the author of Water with the Word: A Baptism Q&A and Hosanna, Loud Hosanna: Illustrated Hymns for Children.

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Seven Steps to Staying Sane During the Holidays

By Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn

For some of us, the holiday season is not always a season to be joyful. It’s dark and dreary. There are lots of people around. Our routines are interrupted. And don’t even get me started on bad memories! While it may be a time to remember glad tidings of great joy, very often I simply want to crawl in a hole and have someone wake me up when it’s all over. Even if you don’t struggle to this degree, the holidays have a way of bringing about the blues when you least expect it.

So what are we to do when the world wants us to be happy and joyful, and the dreads come upon us? Here are seven things to keep you going:

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 10

1. Don’t be surprised that heaven on earth doesn’t seem fully baked yet. Jesus did not come into the world to make you happy, at least not “Elf” happy. He came to rescue a world broken by sin. While the work is finished in His death and resurrection, the cleanup continues until the Last Day.

2. When I am trapped by my own thoughts and fears and doubts, it is important to get outside of my own head. Listen to the great hymns of the church. And I don’t mean “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” sort of hymns. I mean the real ones–the ones that give us the riches of God’s mercy in His Son. It helps. It really does. Take a look at Paul Gerhardt’s magnificent Advent hymn, “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You” in the sidebar.

In it you will find a picture of our Lord that shows His longing to care for YOU. It’s worth your time to sing or listen to hymns such as these.

3. Give yourself permission to recharge. When things in your life are crazier than usual, a little time alone can do a lot of good, especially for us introverts! Take a walk. Dive into a book. Do something that will allow you to have time for yourself.

4. Pray and Meditate on God’s Word. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s what you would expect a pastor to say, but it is actually helpful. It’s through hearing and receiving God’s Word that the Holy Spirit creates and nurtures faith.

Faith gets you outside yourself and puts your focus on Christ and His gifts, rather than on you and your failures or wrongly perceived successes. It’s a good thing! Trust me. Maybe try the Higher Things Reflections for Advent and Christmas! You may find you really like them. And even if you don’t like them right away, it is worth the discipline to hear God’s Word every day.

5. Embrace the madness. For me, I find that sometimes I have to remind myself that things really are crazy and I’m not making it up. You just have to roll with it for a time. Things will slow down again, but enjoy the ride while you’re on it.

6. Try not to eat every single thing that has sugar in it for a month. I like candy canes and cookies as much as the next pastor, but sugar does actually put you in a depressive state. The sugar high will crash. And a month of that up and down crashing will actually make you feel sluggish and depressed. I have found that if I can say I won’t have any Christmas goodies until, say, after supper, that will at least keep me from the threat of slipping into a sugar coma all day long.

7. Just like it is okay not to be “Elf” happy, in the same way it is okay not to be the Grinch. Jesus did come into our flesh and blood to save us. That is good news! No matter what is going on around you…ups or downs…this Gospel doesn’t change!

Well, there you have it. It won’t fix everything, but these pointers will help keep you from going completely crazy when the holly jolliness of Advent, Christmas and the New Year presses down upon you. The world’s happiness may come from getting more stuff, or some vague sense of “peace on earth,” but our peace comes from knowing that Jesus Christ is for us all the way. And that is very good news indeed!

Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rocklin, California. He is the founding editor of Higher Things Magazine, where he served from 2001–2006.

1 O Lord, how shall I meet You, How welcome You aright?

Your people long to greet You, My hope, my heart’s delight!

O kindle, Lord most holy, Your lamp within my breast To do in spirit lowly All that may please You best.

2 Your Zion strews before You Green boughs and fairest palms; And I too will adore You With joyous songs and psalms.

My heart shall bloom forever For You with praises new And from Your name shall never Withhold the honor due.

3 I lay in fetters, groaning; You came to set me free.

I stood, my shame bemoaning; You came to honor me.

A glorious crown You give me, A treasure safe on high That will not fail or leave me As earthly riches fly.

4 Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought You down to me.

Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty.

Oh, love behond all telling, That led You to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race.

5 Sin’s debt, that fearful burden, Cannot His love erase; Your guilt the Lord will pardon And cover by His grace He comes, for you procuring The peace of sin forgiv’n, His children thus securing Eternal life in heav’n.

6 He comes to judge the nations, A terror to His foes, A light of consolations And blessèd hope to those Who love the Lord’s appearing.

O glorious Sun, now come, Send forth Your beams so cheering, And guide us safely home.

LSB 334

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7

Apologists Every Christian Should Know PART 3

Must Reads by

James Sire:

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The Universe Next Door: The best introduction to worldview analysis. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— Naming the Elephant: A further exploration of worldview. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All? Considers reasons for faith, focusing on Christianity. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— Chris Chrisman Goes to College: A Christian questions his faith at a secular school. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics: Insights from Sire’s experiences and the Apostles’ examples. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— For a thorough look at what it means to think Christianly in a secular world, see Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey. ­­­­­————————­­­­­— For a different yet effective approach to understanding unbelievers’ views, see Tactics by Greg Koukl.

The Satisfying Assessment of James Sire:

Why Worldviews It’s been

happening to you your whole life. It happens the second you open your school textbook. It happens when you watch something on Netflix. And it is happening right now as you read this magazine. Competing forces, opposing philosophies, worldviews at war—and you’re caught in the middle. From classroom lectures to advertisements, to fictional novels, to song lyrics, you are constantly bombarded with messages that tell you what to believe, how to act, and how to understand this world. What you think is true, what is right, what really matters, how you see yourself and others, and what lies beyond this life are all determined by an overarching worldview.

It’s the lens through which you interpret all things and make sense of the world. It’s the air your mind breathes. But if that air is toxic— if that lens is cracked and dirtied—the consequences can be dire… both for this life, and the next.

Take, for example, these different understandings of death.“You are going to die, and you will die alone, and then you won’t exist.”“Suffering, pain, and death are illusions. They are not bad or evil, and neither are they good. The universe knows no such distinctions.”

“Death is whatever you interpret it to be.

So is life. So is everything else, because truth is relative.” Such sentiments stem from different worldviews, and have been used to justify everything from abortion, to genocide, to pulling the plug on Grandma. And of course, they all deny the biblical belief that the wages of sin is death, that good and evil are real, and that Jesus both died for our sins and conquered the grave in objective history.

So if you think thoughts are harmless, think again. You and your worldview are squarely set in the crosshairs of those who oppose Christ.

Instead of retreating from the battlefield of ideas, Christians are called to stand and fight: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This includes defending one’s faith on intellectual grounds—using apologetics—by

removing the roadblocks set up by those who dismiss the Good News. To do this most effectively, Christians need to know their opponents’ positions and how to evaluate them. One of the most useful apologetic tools for accomplishing this task is worldview analysis, a tactic James Sire has been promoting for over 40 years.

A World of Difference Sire has spent his career working with young adults who find themselves confronted with various conflicting ideas about the world. This has allowed him to consider at length what people believe and why they believe it. Most significantly, Sire has developed a succinct understanding of worldviews, sorting through the primary assumptions that direct people’s thoughts about almost everything. This approach is helpful because behind any given roadblock lies a hidden, unspoken worldview that may need to be considered first. For example, if someone objects to the Christian belief that Jesus is God because they have a pantheistic worldview (which holds that everything is God), it may be pointless to cite the numerous verses

Matter

By Rev. Mark A. Pierson

where Jesus demonstrates His divinity.

The problem, from their worldview, is not that Jesus is God, but that He alone is God. Worldview analysis, then, can act as an x-ray machine that provides a deeper diagnosis than what is seen on the surface.

This is why supposed contradictions in the Bible get so much attention. But inner coherence matters most regarding a worldview’s central tenet, which, for Christianity, is found throughout Scripture: God’s Son comes to save sinners from sin, death, and the devil.

So what is a worldview?

It’s a commitment to certain assumptions about the world that affects how we think, speak, and act.

To determine what those all-important assumptions are, Sire uses seven basic questions: 1) What is ultimate reality?

2) What is the universe? 3) What is a human? 4) What happens at death?

5) How do we know things? 6) What is morality? 7) What is the meaning of history? Indeed, people’s answers reveal how they view the world and their place in it.

Correspondence: Any historical film will be criticized if gets the facts wrong.

Worldviews, too, need to match reality for them to be viable. For example, if Muhammad isn’t a prophet, the Islamic worldview is fatally flawed. Conversely, many have been so compelled by the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection that they have adopted the Christian worldview.

The War of the Worldviews Worldview analysis consists of more than learning the different answers to these seven questions and categorizing people accordingly. (And Sire is not advocating that we ask them during evangelism!) The key aspect involves assessing which worldview is worthy of commitment, and deserving and demanding our allegiance. Of course, Sire is well aware that the assessment itself can be shaped by one’s current worldview. But he makes an appeal to the laws of logic, which govern how all people think, and notes the reasonableness of recognizing how each worldview possesses four characteristics: coherence, correspondence, satisfaction, and livability.

Coherence: Has something in a movie sequel ever bothered you because it failed to match the previous film? A worldview can also contain inconsistencies, bringing into question its truthfulness.

Satisfaction: While no worldview answers everything, worldviews should, nonetheless, explain what they claim to explain. This is because worldviews function as master stories, as narratives about mankind’s origin and destiny, meaning and purpose. Evolution, for example, tells a version of this story, yet it has no satisfactory answer for where matter came from, or how life came from non-life.

Christianity, of course, does.

Livability: This is a subjective characteristic, but remains an important one. What worldview speaks to you personally, fulfills the longings of your heart, and sustains you through life’s hardships?

For those who feel the sting of sin and see death as the enemy, only the Christian worldview offers an immediate solution at no cost: Christ’s forgiveness, life, and salvation, which provide hope for the future and strength for each day.

Worldview Everlasting The world is not neutral. You cannot simply bury your head in your personal beliefs and think you will be left alone.

Such an approach is impractical and naïve. This is why worldview analysis is a helpful, proactive, apologetic tool. By naming the elephant in the room, Sire provides a way to detect the underlying assumptions behind opposing beliefs, and to stand against them.

The best reason to hold the Christian worldview is because it is centered on the Christ who made the world, entered the world, and died and rose for the world. Thus, we would be wise to adopt His worldview as our own. As C. S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Christ is our Sun. His Word is the Light by which we see the world. And that matters, both now and for eternity.

Rev. Mark A. Pierson is the assistant pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Long Beach, California, and has a passion for evangelism and apologetics. You can email him at markapierson@gmail.com

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The

Walking Dead

By Rev. Dave Haberstock

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Zombies

are everywhere these days: in video games, movies, TV shows, yes, even in my Catechism classes. But one of the most popular locations of all is AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

Zombies are so popular because they teach us a truth that the Law written on our hearts confesses to us at almost every moment of our lives, which is...

You are a zombie–a “Walking Dead” zombie to be exact. In that fictional universe the zombies don’t just eat brains. They eat the living. They devour the flesh of anything that moves and breathes, especially and primarily human beings, in whom is the breath of life, the breath of God. All human beings in the “Walking Dead” universe are infected with the virus or disease that causes zombie-ism.

When they die, they turn. Everyone in that universe is one of the walking dead. Many of the living give up and choose to become zombies. Many of the living are already zombie-like predators, preying upon the living, killing to “stay alive.” Some even eat the herd, hunt, and BBQ the living for food. To be alive in that world is already to be a zombie.

Nor does it seem to matter how you live, because the worst always comes out in you, as that harsh realm always robs you of virtuous choices, reducing every situation to a catch 22: Kill or be killed. Every meaningful exchange in that world becomes a discussion about whether you can “come back” from what you’ve had to do. They are already dead—dead in sins and transgressions; alive, but merely waiting to become what they already know they are.

through the skull of Golgotha, by a Heel smashing the undead nerve endings in that zombie-snake mind. That undead zombie-snake bit that Heel. It infected that Heel with death. ‘Twas just a flesh wound, but it caused death in the flesh of that Man: Jesus Christ. He ought to have turned zombie Himself, except for two facts: He’d already crushed death, and all its works and all its ways, and His flesh is incorruptible, indestructible. Though it dies, it lives! And it gives life to zombies.

You are a zombie, already limping around like an undead thing, seeking to devour the living. But this Living One gives His flesh to be eaten by zombies.

And lo and behold, the zombies live! Their color improves. Their desire for a pound of flesh wanes, for they are no longer zombies. They are now men, trapped in the flesh of a zombie. This living flesh of Jesus gives life to both the living and the dead.

But like so many bad horror movies, the unnatural evil comes back, sequel after awful sequel. So this Ninja of Ninjas Living One gives His living flesh to the flesh eaters. It slays them and makes alive. They still have corruptible bodies. Decaying bodies. Bodies that will betray them and turn on their loved ones in a moment’s notice. But this Man’s flesh is both the cure and the promise. It slays zombies and raises men, living men, on this side of eternity. But it does not fully deliver that promise yet.

The fullness of that life is yet to come. g a.or

You are a zombie. The sin nature you were born with has predetermined that you are a zombie, preying upon the “living”, never able to make up for the choices you’ve made—the things you can’t help but do. It is a fact of your birth. Photo : cove nantchattanoog You are already infected. It is what you are.

Even while you are “alive” your actions will hardly You are a zombie. But that is good. For you are be better than the mindless, undead zombies that also a living being, given life by the Living One, seek to kill you. You cry out, “But I’m a human being, Jesus Christ. Whenever your zombie nature raises with the ability to love and choose.” But that is false. its ugly head, that merely drives you back to the Your “love” is ultimately for yourself, not for others.

Living One. To His life. To His boot heel that crushes Self-love is not real love. Real love is turned outward down sin and Satan under our feet. To His Water and toward God and your neighbor. Self-love is turned Word which wash you clean of corruption. To His inward. You are your own idol. And you do not freely double-edged sword which gave and gives you life. “choose.” Your nature chooses for you. Zombies In the “Walking Dead,” the living can look forward do what zombies do. They may “choose” to eat this to nothing other than becoming the walking dead. human or that human, but it’s all still determined by But in this life, you look forward in Jesus to one day the zombie nature. Even though you are not fully having death put down once for all and being able zombie but “alive” you do not choose what is good, to live forever with Him. Jesus, whose flesh is the but only what is easy, expedient, or “necessary.” cure for zombie-ism, is the One who will someday The only way to deal with your zombie state is turn your “Zombieland” into His Promised Land. to die to it. A head shot. A crushing blow. From a gun, sword, sharp stick, bat, or the heel of a boot Rev. Dave Haberstock is the pastor of crushing the skull of the snake, I mean, zombie.

Epiphany Lutheran Church in Thunder That is you. You must die. Die to sin. Die to self.

Bay, Ontario. He can be reached at Die to Satan, whose power was crushed by a stake pastorh@tbaytel.net.

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July 14-17

Concordia University Nebraska Seward, NE

July 28-31

Visit tedeum2015.org or email conferences@higherthings.org for more details.

“The band of the apostles in glory sing Your praise; The fellowship of prophets their deathless voices raise.

The martyrs of Your kingdom, a great and noble throng, Sing with the holy Church throughout all the world this song: ‘Oh all majestic Father, Your true and only Son, And Holy Spirit, Comforter—forever Three in One!’” (LSB 941, st. 2)

This summer’s 2015 Higher Things Conferences will rejoice in the gift of the Te Deum, a hymn of praise that gives us a foretaste of what’s happening in worship in heaven and on earth.

Calvin College Grand Rapids, MI

July 21-24

Higher Things 2015 Conferences

Te Deum

University of Nevada Las Vegas, NV

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Te Deum

Higher Things 2015 Conferences

July 14-17

University of Nevada Las Vegas, NV

Why Higher Things?

We live in a culture of blurry religious distinctions and doit-yourself spirituality. Youth, especially, need solid ground that will nurture lasting Christian faith. Rather than treating youth as an adolescent subculture and confusing them with religious experiences that cannot be replicated at home, Higher Things believes in challenging youth to learn the pure doctrine of the Christian faith. By teaching them the same message that they hear at home, youth grow in the fullness of the Christian faith as they come to appreciate historic liturgical practice and its unique focus on God’s gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation for us delivered in Word and Sacrament.

The Theme: Te Deum

Te Deum, Te Deum Laudamus, “We Praise You, O God.” All praise, all glory, all honor, all everything goes to you, O Lord, for You sent Your Son who died on the cross for us. He rose again. He saves. He is the sacrifice that makes us — and our praise — acceptable to You. In the Te Deum, we confess all that God the Father did for us in the sending of His Son. And by faith, we join our voices with those apostles, prophets, martyrs, and of the whole Church of all times and places, in praise and worship of the Holy Trinity…giving us a glimpse right into the divine Throne Room of heaven itself!

This summer’s 2015 Higher Things Conferences will rejoice in the gift of the Te Deum, a hymn of praise that gives us a foretaste of what’s happening in worship in heaven and on earth.

Registration

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Please note: Registration windows have changed! Download a Registration Packet with detailed registration information and instructions at TeDeum2015.org.

Registration will open on November 1, 2014 and close as each site reaches capacity. We work very diligently to keep costs as low as possible while providing the best conferences we can – every year!

The per-person rates below are based on the date your group’s registration fees are paid in full.

Additional fees may apply for registrations and changes made after May 1, 2015. Balances paid after May 1, 2015 will be subject to a $25 per-person late fee. See the detailed Registration Packet for more information about fees and deadlines.

University of Nevada — Las Vegas (July 14-17) Calvin College (July 21-24) Concordia University — Nebraska (July 28-31)

EARLY BIRD! Nov. 1 to Jan. 31

REGULAR Feb. 1 to April 31

LATE (May 1)

$345

$375

$400

July 21-24 Calvin College Grand Rapids, MI

July 28-31

Concordia University Nebraska Seward, NE

Your Registration Fee includes: • Conference Programming (Planning, Catechesis, Worship, Entertainment) • Three (3) Nights of Housing (double capacity) • Nine (9) Meals (Tuesday supper through Friday lunch) • Conference Handbook • Daily Services Book • Conference T-Shirt • Free issue of Higher Things magazine Not only can you register your group online at TeDeum2015.org, you can pay deposits and your balance online too! All you need is a valid HT Online account. If you don’t have one yet, you can sign up for one at www.higherthings.org.

Age Requirements

Higher Things conferences are generally planned for highschool-aged youth, but registrants may be any youth who have been confirmed prior to the conference, including middle school and college students. We recognize that the ages of confirmed youth vary from congregation to congregation, and just ask that if a group is bringing young people who are not yet confirmed or in high school, their group leaders be prepared to provide additional supervision accordingly.

Chaperones

Chaperones must be at least 21 years old at the time of Registration, and approved by the group’s pastor to serve in that role. There must be at least one (1) male chaperone for up to every seven (7) male youth in a registered group, and at least one (1) female chaperone for up to every seven (7) female youth in the group. There is no restriction on the number of chaperones that may register with a group. All chaperones and other adults in a group must complete the registration process.

If you are unable to recruit the necessary number of chaperones from your congregation for your youth to attend a conference, Higher Things will be happy to help you find other groups from your area who would be willing to “share” their chaperones with you.

Conference Capacities

The Higher Things conference at the the University of Nevada — Las Vegas has a capacity of 500 registrants. The conference at Calvin College has a capacity of 900, and the conference at Concordia University — Nebraska has a capacity of 700 registrants.

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Considering the Vocation of

Force Reconnaissance Marines with the Maritime Raid Force, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit perform a diving exit while conducting an initial High Altitude Low Opening jump out of an MV-22B Osprey at Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue Field, N.C. Photo by Cpl Todd F. Michalek.

Military Service

By Kay Maiwald

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A

boy sat on the floor of his bedroom, building an SH-60B helicopter out of LEGOs, dreaming of the day he could become a Navy pilot.

A teenager carefully wrote his name next to “USMC SEMPER FI” in the wet concrete at the base of a flagpole his family was installing.

You already have many vocations: son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, student, cousin, aunt, uncle, Sunday School teacher, employee. Our vocations in life are many, and are always changing. If you are in high school or even a bit younger, you are probably thinking about what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Perhaps you are like these boys, and have known for many years that you want to be a Marine, sailor, soldier, airman, or Coast Guardsman. Or maybe it’s something that has become of interest to you more recently. It’s possible that you hadn’t even thought of such a thing until you turned to this article.

Many questions may come to mind as you consider this decision, and the people around you will also have things to ask you.

Why do you want to join the military?

Lots of people are going to ask you why you want to serve, and why you are willing to do a job like that, while earning a salary that can make daily life challenging. That’s not always easy to answer. You may feel strongly about serving your country, protecting and defending the rights we have when they are threatened. Some join because they want to be part of something big. Others see that military training will give them discipline, certain specialized skills, and growth as an individual, while allowing them to serve their neighbor. You might simply want to play with cool toys and do amazing things! Still others feel that the military vocation is something they are simply drawn to for reasons they can’t explain.

What will you DO in the military?

There are many jobs within the military. If you want to be an officer, you’ll need a four-year college degree, and will probably want to attend one of the military academies, or go through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at a university. Choosing the enlisted route can mean heading for basic training right after high school. A recruiter can help you work through the lists of jobs that interest you and let you know whether they are open to officers or those who enlist. There are choices in every area, from aircraft to communications to medical, and dozens of things in between.

You are a Christian. How can you even think of doing this?

Should a Lutheran even consider joining the military? In his writing, “Whether Soldiers, Too, Can be Saved,” Martin Luther had a few things to say about whether a Christian could, in good conscience, wield the sword in such service. He points out that God desires peace and obedience, and has given government the sword because wrong and evil need to be punished in our world so that good order can exist. He assures us that a soldier who goes to war desiring to work towards peace and obedience can do so in good conscience, under the authority God has placed over him.

“Therefore,” Luther writes, “when they fight, they do it not for themselves or on their own account, but as a service and act of obedience to the rulers under whom they are, as St. Paul writes to Titus, ‘They shall obey the rulers.’”

Well, that’s great but I hope I don’t get deployed or ever have to face any danger.

Ah, now we’re really getting down to it. If you join the military, you might be put in harm’s way. You might get injured. You might die.

Don’t fool yourself about that. And there will be plenty of people who want to support your goals but don’t want you to ever actually do your job. People like your parents will probably experience a mix of pride and worry. So if you are talking to friends or relatives, how do you answer their concern in the most loving way possible? By saying this: “I am baptized!” You can remind them that whether you die tomorrow in combat or in your bed when you’re 95, you know to Whom you belong and you know the end of the story. It’s a chance to say that, because of the faith given to you in the waters of Baptism, you know that you are righteous in the sight of God because of the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, delivered to you in Word and Sacrament.

And you can tell them that because of this certainty, you can serve your neighbor and your country in this vocation without fear or worry, because you know that whatever happens to you in this life, you will spend eternity with your Savior.

I have never been in the military. I look with great respect upon those who have chosen this vocation in order to defend and protect people like me. If I see someone who is serving or has served, I try to shake his or her hand and offer my thanks. I understand the horrors of war only second- or thirdhand, because of those who have died to keep it away from our shores in my lifetime.

So what happened to those boys I mentioned at the beginning of the article?

The boy playing with his LEGOs went to college on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He’s an Ensign in the Navy and is in flight school.

The other young man left for Parris Island shortly after high school and is a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps. Their dad and I couldn’t be more proud. But much more important than that is the fact that they are both baptized children of God, and so we confidently know the end of the story.

Kay Maiwald is a proud military mom and has helped with various jobs within Higher Things. She and her husband, Eric, who serves on the HT Board of Directors, are members of St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Hancock, Maryland, where Kay also serves as organist.

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Let It Go:

Your Identity in Christ Trumps Your GPA

By Ramona Tausz

Chances are, if you’re a Christian youth, H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 22

you’re also a student. From grade school, to high school, to college, youth spend the first big chunk of their lives undergoing formal education. That period of time can get even bigger when you factor in graduate school, law school, or seminary. In short, “school” is a constant presence in young people’s lives. We exist in an academic world of grades, test scores, and exams. For years, our whole lives revolve around getting a great ACT score, being accepted to the best colleges, and maintaining a stellar GPA. And yet, our performance in this academic life and “world” that we live in has virtually no bearing on our eternal home and the life of the world to come.

The trouble is, we so often don’t act in light of this. Our salvation has been won and we’ve been declared perfect

by Jesus Christ. We already have the “one thing needful,” yet the world we live in tells us we still need to prove ourselves through our academic success. Don’t get me wrong—being a student is a God-given vocation, and thus we are called to fulfill this vocation faithfully as a means of honoring God’s gifts to us and serving our neighbor in the world. But like any of God’s gifts, we tend to pervert them and turn something good into bad. Going overboard in your vocation as student can easily become idolatry.

Christian youth today hear a lot about how their true identity is not in their clothes, their body image, their popularity, alcohol, or drugs. But for many youth, is it not a much more common temptation to find identity and fulfillment in academic performance? We tend to look at scholastic achievements and ambition as purely good, but as sinful human beings, we can twist even the positive accomplishments of the worthy vocation of student.

I was always a dedicated student, but when I began my freshman year of college, this focus took a turn for the worse. At college, my sinful nature, with its tendency to idolize academics, was more evident than ever. I became obsessed with getting perfect grades and was constantly comparing myself to other students. My own academic performance became everything to me. I started slaving away at my books until the early hours of the morning, and barely slept—abusing my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and disregarding God’s gift of health and rest. I made God’s blessings of learning and education into merely a means to my own glory. I stopped doing things purely for the sake of truth and my fellow man and instead did activities and assignments as a means to give myself accomplishments and build up my resume. Everything—even God’s Word, worship, and serving my neighbor— played second fiddle to the all-consuming focus of myself and my academic accolades.

I started ignoring the other vocations God had given me as daughter, granddaughter, sister, and friend by rarely talking to my friends, calling my family, or even serving or communicating with my campus neighbors and dorm-mates.

Of course, my tendencies haven’t miraculously stopped now that I am a sophomore. I will live with my sinful nature all my life, but I take comfort in the daily drowning of the Old Adam “by daily contrition and repentance...that a new man should daily emerge and arise” has helped me to continually repent of my idolatry and live in Christ’s forgiveness (SC IV).

Perhaps your obsession with academics hasn’t reached the extent of my idolatry. Perhaps it doesn’t seem that bad compared to other addictions. But don’t be fooled. Looking to anything other than God for fulfillment and identity is as damning as Baal worship. Repent of idolatry, even if it is only a slight tendency, and keep repenting. Say with St. Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14 ESV). Sin doesn’t just disappear; while we are on earth, our old Adam continually battles our new man.

Fortunately, however, our identity is no longer completely wrapped up in this old man. Neither is it found in our ACT score, our GPA, or any other sign of academic achievement.

Rather, our identity is found entirely outside ourselves, in Jesus Christ. We are no longer a mere number, such as a test score, but rather baptized children of God with our identity in Christ. As St. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We are defined not by our own glory and the things we do ourselves, but in Christ and what He did for us. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see us at all, but rather His precious Son. Your value is found not in grades or academic achievements, but in the price paid for you in pint after pint of Jesus’ holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.

My freshman year in college was self-inflicted hell-onearth: I relied on myself for success and thus had to drown again and again in failure and despair. I could never find peace and happiness and rest when I was trying to find fulfillment alone. True comfort and happiness can only come when Christ is our fulfillment.

Take comfort in the Gospel and look no longer for your identity in academics.

Rather, look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. Give thanks always for God’s gift of education, but also for the greater gift of His Son’s death on the cross.

Ramona Tausz is a member of Apostles Lutheran Church in Melrose Park, Illinois, and currently a sophomore studying English at Hillsdale College in Michigan. She writes for The Northern Light, a publication of the LCMS in the Northern Illinois District. You can contact her at rtausz@hillsdale.edu.

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King The Return of the

By Dr. Joshua T. Mears

H

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e left without us fully understanding why. We have often felt that we could not continue on without him leading the way. We have had moments throughout this time of separation when we felt abandoned. Because of that resentment we might question Him, feel anger at Him, and perhaps even despise Him because we think we know best about how He should save us. We have waited and yearned for Him to reclaim his throne. But His return is upon us. Because of that, we can be assured that we will never be left in last place again. We know the King IS coming to bring us home!

If, perhaps, you are a basketball fan, you might have had a fleeting thought that I was referring to NBA All Star Lebron James’ return to his hometown of Cleveland this season and the hope that he will make another run at an NBA team championship.

James, also known as King James, has been named to 10 NBA All Star Games, won four NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and has twice led his teams to NBA championships. But perhaps he is most well known for his abrupt departure in 2010 from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers when he chose to leave and play for the Miami Heat. Infamously he announced, “I am taking my talents to South Beach,” and sports fans everywhere began to question his reasons for leaving his hometown team. Since that time he has even been ranked as one of the most disliked athletes in all of sports. But his move back to Cleveland has inspired a fresh sense of hope in his fans.

King James is but a shadow of the reality I was referring to in the opening paragraph. It’s not unusual for our ordinary life experiences to mirror the greatest story: Jesus came to save His people by conquering sin and death on the cross and He rose again to bring us forgiveness of sins and new life! The anticipation that we as Christians should feel for the return of our Savior Jesus Christ on Judgment Day dwarfs the anticipation that basketball fans have felt about LeBron James in whatever city he has chosen to play. After all, it is at Jesus’ return when we will see our Lord face to face and be reunited for all time with our family of fellow believers in Christ.

But let’s admit it. Since the time of Jesus’s death, resurrection and Ascension we have struggled in our anticipation. There have been many times when we might have felt that Jesus should come back and save us immediately from all the sorrow and pain of this earthly life. There are also many days in which we have constant reminders of how our Old Adam is still with us, perhaps tempting us to be mad at God. We begin to convince ourselves that our current

suffering and pain must mean that we are alone and that there is a distance and separation from Christ and His grace.

It is during those times that we cling to His promises and the truth that He has given us in His Word and Sacrament. It is when we feel most separated and isolated that He is actually the closest in His watch over us. In 2 Timothy 4:18, Paul reminds us of that closeness and preservation when he says, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever.” And it is good to long for His coming with hope, just like John declares in the last few words of Revelation, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

So far in the early part of this NBA season, LeBron James has been incapable of “resurrecting” the championship hopes of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and we have to wonder whether he will even be worth the wait.

However, we know that our true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ has completed His resurrection and that He has conquered the greatest foe: death. And even more than that—we anticipate our own resurrection and it is through that we can have peace and freedom in spite of pain, suffering, and loneliness. Paul encourages us in this regard: “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we await for it with patience. (Romans 8:23-25 ESV). The True King will return. Until then we wait and watch in hope, knowing we are not abandoned and that we have already won the victory in Jesus.

Dr. Joshua T. Mears is a Christian psychologist with Christian Family Counseling. He attends Heritage Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota, where he is a youth leader.

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Teacher: Rev. Brent Kuhlman Contact: Loretta Meseke, wadeandloretta@hotmail.com Cost: $50

Away from Home, At Home in Christ January 23-24, 2015 University Lutheran Church in Bloomington, IN Teacher: Rev. Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher II Contact: Zach Wendling, zach.wendling@gmail.com Cost: $35

Jesus in a No-God, Gay World January 24, 2015 St. John Lutheran Church in Corcoran, MN

Teacher: Rev. George F. Borghardt III Contact: Erica Beyreis or Juli Burns, stjlyouth@stjlutheran.org Cost: $50 ($65 with overnight stay)

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February 13-15, 2015 Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan, WI

Teacher: Rev. Richard Resch Contact: Rev. John Berg, berg@trinitysheboygan.org Cost: $50 (through 1/15/15), $60 (1/16/15 - 1/31/15), $70 (after 2/1/15)

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 26

Commandments and Gifts April 10-11, 2015 Our Savior Lutheran Church in Houston, TX Teacher: Rev. John Drosendahl Contact: Rev. David Vandercook, pasvandercook@osl.cc Cost: $50/person

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Catechism

Gems of the The Small and Large Catechism:

By Rev. William M. Cwirla

It’s so easy to take the Small Catechism for granted.

Most of us spent a year or two memorizing it for confirmation class and now it sits up on the shelf like a trophy, never to be opened again. What a great sadness that is!

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 28

The Small Catechism and its companion Large Catechism are two of the greatest documents ever written in the history of the church. They are the heart and soul of the Lutheran tradition, embodying what everyone must know and confess to be a Christian. Together with the Scriptures and the hymnal, the catechisms are the core of the Lutheran “catechetical method”—how we hand on the faith to the next generation. They ask and answer the important questions: “What does this mean?” and “Where is this written?”

Armed with nothing more than the Small Catechism, you could teach another person the Christian faith. No wonder our Confessions call the Small and Large Catechism, “the layman’s Bible,” for they “contain everything which Holy Scripture discusses at greater length and which a Christian must know for his salvation.”

Luther wrote the Small Catechism after visiting the congregations of Saxony with Philip Melanchthon.

They were appalled by the conditions they observed. The common people had virtually no knowledge of the Christian faith and their pastors were no better.

Many people didn’t even

know the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ Creed or the Ten Commandments. To look at them, you wouldn’t even know they were Christians! And this, only eleven years after Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door! You can imagine Luther’s disappointment.

For several years, Luther had urged others to write a simple catechism for the common people, but nothing happened. After the Saxon visitation, Luther decided to do it himself. He made a simple booklet out of the core texts of the Christian faith: The Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, and provided simple explanations that were easy to memorize. These were even printed as wall charts—a huge innovation for the day. The Large Catechism is sermons on the Small Catechism, preached during 1529. Many of the common people couldn’t read very well, so by memorizing these texts and discussing them with their households, they could teach the Christian faith to their children and servants.

The method is really quite ingenious. In his

Reformation preface to the Small Catechism, Luther laid out a simple three-step learning process. First, learn the text by heart. Stay with the same text and recite it out loud. Second, discuss what the text means. Again, keep the explanations simple and constant. Also take your time, so you don’t get overwhelmed. Third, take up the Large Catechism for a fuller and richer explanation. In this way, Christian knowledge is built up, layer by layer, over the years.

Luther never envisioned a “confirmation class” from which one “graduated,” never to return to the catechism. Instead, he saw catechesis as lifetime learning, going over the basics again and again, as a little child goes back to his ABCs. You might think of the catechism as a seed or a nut in which is contained the entire Christian faith in a short and concentrated summary. Just as a seed contains everything for the full plant to develop, so the catechism contains everything for faith in Christ to grow to full maturity.

At the center of the catechism seed are the three basic texts of the Christian faith: The Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. These texts deal with repentance, faith, and prayer. The Ten Commandments provide a framework for the Law that diagnoses our sinful condition, maintains outward order, and disciplines the “old Adam” in the believer.

The Apostles’ Creed is the symbol into which we were baptized and is a faithful description of the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and their works of creation, redemption, and sanctification. The Creed teaches us who God is and what He has done as our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier.

The Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father, is the

prayer that Jesus taught His disciples (Matthew 6:9ff ). It is the most perfect prayer in the whole world because the Son of God Himself taught it. It has the Son’s guarantee that His Father is pleased to hear it and will act on it according to His good and gracious will.

The next layer of the seed is the sacraments: Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.

These are the means by which God shows Himself to be gracious to sinners and how He offers, delivers, and applies to each of us what Jesus won on the cross for everyone. Through the Word combined with water, bread, and wine, the Holy Spirit delivers Christ for all to you and for you. “For you” are the faith words. They call for faith and they create faith.

The third layer of the catechism seed is Daily Prayer and the Table of Duties. This is our “vocation,” or our calling as God’s priestly people. We are to sanctify the day with the Word of God and prayer, and we are to serve our neighbor where God has placed us in home, church, and state.

You can see why the catechisms are the “gems of the Reformation.” They make the Christian faith accessible to anyone, and they enable us to hand on the faith to our family, our friends, and those who come after us.

If you haven’t looked at the catechism since your confirmation, go find it and explore it again, now that you don’t “have” to do it. There’s a lifetime of learning in those simple sentences.

Rev. William M. Cwirla is the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California, and is a president emeritus of Higher Things. He can be reached at wcwirla@gmail.com.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 _ 29

David’s House A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY • Winter 2014

Introduction: This Bible study examines the connection between Jesus and King David showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to everyone of a Savior and His promises to David to establish His house and line forever. Jesus is a King in the line of David and yet is King of Kings.

Christ’s Kingdom is not merely an earthly kingdom in Israel but an eternal kingdom of salvation.

Background: During the period of the Judges, the Israelites kept demanding a king like all the other nations around them had. Finally the Lord relented and established Saul (of the tribe of Benjamin) as the first king. Saul, however, was unfaithful and the Lord took the kingdom away from him to give it to another king.

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 30

1

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Where does the Lord send Samuel to look for the next king of Israel? How is the new king selected? Who is chosen as the new king? What is the basis for this choice according to Samuel?

2

Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17. What does David desire to do? What does Nathan say about it? What does the Lord then say to David through Nathan? What is the Lord going to do for David and his family? What is the “house” that David’s son will build? What is the “house” that God will build for David?

3

Now read Luke 1:26-38. What announcement does Gabriel make to Mary? Whose Son will this Child be? Who is this Child’s father? What does this tell us about the Baby who will be born?

4

When Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, what do the crowds say? See Matthew 21:1-9. What do they recognize Jesus as? What is significant about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? See Zechariah 9:9 and 1 Kings 1:1-40.

5 6

What does Jesus ask the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46? What is He getting at with His question? How do they answer and why?

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, His connection to King David was still explicitly shown as part of the Good News of the fulfillment of God’s promises. Read Acts 2:29-39. What connection does Peter show between Jesus and King David? What did Jesus do that David did not? How did David confess Christ if he lived before Jesus did?

7 8

Read Romans 4:1-8. What is the truth to which David also testifies? What does this teach us about the connection between David and Christ?

Finally, read Revelation 22:12-17. In what way does the Lord identify Himself? Why is this a comfort to us? What prayer does it call forth from our lips? How does this unite us with God’s people of all times and places?

To access the Leader’s Guide for this study, as well as Bible studies for articles in this issue and previous issues, as a part of an online HTOnline subscription, point your browser to: higherthings.org/magazine/biblestudies.html.

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“The Satisfying Assessment of James Sire: Why Worldviews Matter” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY WINTER 2014 Leader’s Guide Introduction: Pastor Pierson defines a worldview as “a commitment to certain assumptions about the world that affects how we think, speak, and act.” This study will look at portions of God’s Word that answer the seven questions that apologist James Sire uses to analyze different worldviews. In the end, we see that the Christian worldview is the one centered in Jesus Christ, who is God-in-the-flesh for sinners.

For each of the seven questions, discuss how they are answered by various religions or philosophies in the world. Then read the Scripture passages noted and see how the Christian worldview is formed by God’s Word.

1. What is the ultimate reality? Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-5; Romans 1:20-21.

God made all things. All creation is in and through Jesus Christ. Christians confess that the “ultimate reality” is a real creation which was made from nothing by the Word of God. Also, this reality is known by the creation but we have turned from believing there is a Creator who has made everything. For many, the answer will be “science” as at the basis for understanding a purely material world. What cannot be proven to exist by observation must not actually exist. Or, there is a metaphysical world that exists that is not observable or revealed to us by God’s Word.

2. What is the universe? Psalm 104:1-5; Colossians 1:15-18.

The universe, as God reveals it, is the creation of all that is “visible and invisible,” again, made through the Word who is Christ. The physical creation exists so that man can be made in the image of God and that Christ would become man to save us from our sins. A non-Christian worldview can answer this question based on science alone, or mythology, or in many other ways. It is remarkable that those who hold some other worldview than one informed by God’s Word nevertheless invent all sorts unseen realities such as the paranormal or the alien.

3. What is a human? Genesis 1:26-28; Acts 17:22-31

A human is a creature originally made in the image of God, into whom the Lord breathed the Breath of Life. This image was lost in the fall but is restored in Christ who is the eternal Son who became man in Mary’s womb. The human race is the crown of God’s creation because God became man (not an angel or some kind of animal). Thus the human race is at the center of God’s creation and plan as the object of His mercy, love, and salvation. A non-Christian worldview will often make humans no more special than any other animals. Some worldviews even express the idea that humans are the enemies of nature and the environment, etc. Science,

based solely on its observation and theories, concludes that we are nothing more than animals that have evolved the farthest to this point. Note that such worldviews have no real need for a Savior because there is really nothing for human beings but random chance and no future.

4. What happens at death? Job 19:23-27; Mark 16:5-7; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.

We believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. This is the clear testimony of God’s Word because Jesus rose from the dead. (Check out the Higher Things Apologetics issue, Spring 2011 for the discussion of how we know that tomb was empty). We confess based on God’s Word that we will be raised from the dead on the Last Day. Our mortal flesh will be changed into our resurrection body and yet we will still have bodies. There is a new heaven and a new earth— a physical paradise for eternity. Other worldviews vary from some other view of eternity (ghostly spirits, “nirvana,” etc.) to a simple nothingness and end of all existence at death. These are hardly comforting!

5. How do we know things? Psalm 19:1-10; Matthew 16:15-17; John 14:25-26.

The testimony of the creation is that there is a Creator. Someone had to make all of this. God goes further, however, when He reveals Himself in His Word and especially when He comes in the flesh. We learn about the world from observing and learning about it (Christians are NOT anti-science!) but what is behind this creation is revealed to us. Likewise, we must have the dire nature of our sin revealed to us as well as the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Other worldviews themselves are generally derived from how a person thinks things are known. A materialistic worldview says we can only know what we can sense or see. Some worldviews are based on emotions and opinions or the strange teachings of mystics. Science can only go so far in what it can conclude. Mysticism is detached from anything that can be verified by God’s Word.

6. What is morality? Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 3:19-26.

God teaches us simply that we should love Him above all things and love our neighbor as ourselves. But morality is not just the rules. It also includes our being able to keep those rules and commandments or not. Christian morality isn’t just the commandments but recognizing that we cannot keep them and must have a Substitute and be saved from God’s wrath. So Christ comes to fulfill the Law and to keep the Commandments for us while taking the punishment our sins deserved. Morality varies in different worldviews from very strict to really nonexistent. One thing is true, though: Hypocrisy is rare when you can keep changing your rules! The problem with most worldviews’ view of morality is that religion is often introduced as a way of fixing ourselves, not keeping the moral laws. The Christian Gospel is not that we can straighten up and fly right but that Jesus brings forgiveness for our sins and gives us His Spirit to walk in His Law and be perfect in Him.

7. What is the meaning of history? Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Luke 3:21-38; Galatians 4:4-7.

The center of all history is Jesus Christ. God’s plan was always to have a chosen people through whom the Savior would come for all people. Both before and since Jesus was born, lived, died, rose and ascended, the Lord is calling sinners into His family through the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. God worked out history to bring about the right time for the birth of Christ and everything since has been the story of the church and the spread of the Gospel. Empires rise and fall but the Good News of Jesus endures forever.

Worldviews may have all sorts of answers to this question but they will be based on the presuppositions and assumptions of those who hold the worldview. You can see that worldviews apart from Christ lead to such mistakes as the “Master Race” or environmental idolatry, or a hedonistic atheism that has no particular point or future or past.

8. If you were discussing worldviews with someone, how would summarize the Christian way of viewing the world for them? What tools could help you?

Simply put, everything was made through Jesus Christ, everything moves toward the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ, and we find our hope and future and present life in Christ. The Catechism is especially helpful in laying out simply what we believe as Christians and how it affects our daily lives and how we view the world and interact with one another

9. Close by singing or praying LSB 834, “O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth.” Discuss how this hymn captures and confesses the Christian worldview.

This hymn very poetically describes God’s plan for us, our fall into sin and His sending Christ to save us and the Spirit to deliver that salvation through His Word.

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“The Satisfying Assessment of James Sire: Why Worldviews Matter” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY WINTER 2014

For each of the seven questions, discuss how they are answered by various religions or philosophies in the world. Then read the Scripture passages noted and see how the Christian worldview is formed by God’s Word.

1. What is the ultimate reality? Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-5; Romans 1:20-21.

2. What is the universe? Psalm 104:1-5; Colossians 1:15-18.

3. What is a human? Genesis 1:26-28; Acts 17:22-31

4. What happens at death? Job 19:23-27; Mark 16:5-7; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.

5. How do we know things? Psalm 19:1-10; Matthew 16:15-17; John 14:25-26.

6. What is morality? Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 3:19-26.

7. What is the meaning of history? Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Luke 3:21-38; Galatians 4:4-7.

8. If you were discussing worldviews with someone, how would summarize the Christian way of viewing the world for them? What tools could help you?

9. Close by singing or praying LSB 834, “O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth.” Discuss how this hymn captures and confesses the Christian worldview.

A-Caroling We Go A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide Opening Prayer: We praise You, Jesus at Your birth; Clothed in flesh You came to earth. The Virgin bears a sinless boy And all the angels sing for joy. Alleluia! LSB 382:1 1. When does the season of Christmas begin? How long does it last?

Christmas is not only a day but a season (like Easter). Contrary to the way the world mimics Christmas, the season begins on December 24 with Christmas Eve and lasts until January 5th, the day before Epiphany. Though some count Epiphany as a “second Christmas” (and in many ways it is an extension), Epiphany is its own season which builds on the 12 day feast of Christmas. The famous 12 days of Christmas start at Christmas, not end at Christmas. It is a joyous feast that is simply too big to leave for one day, so the church marks this with the biblical number for completion: 12.

2. The Advent and Christmas season is marked by many important traditions, hymn singing being chief among them. Biblically speaking, where does this excellent tradition find its heritage? See Luke 1:46-55, 67-79 and 2:14, 29-32. What do these biblical canticles teach us about Christmas?

Many of the hymns we sing at Christmas either paraphrase or directly quote large parts of Scripture. This goes back to the Psalms, the hymn book of the OT, where God’s people repeatedly sing the praises of the God who rescued and redeemed them. We also see this throughout the NT, in the Gospel of Luke in particular with the canticles sung by Mary (the Magnificat), Zechariah (the Benedictus), the Angels (the Gloria in Excelsis), and Simeon (the Nunc Dimittis). All of these canticles find a home in the weekly prayer offices as well as in the Divine Service propers.

Moreover, each of these biblical canticles focuses our attention on the person and work of Christ crucified for us, one of the hallmarks of a solid biblical, Lutheran hymn.

3. Read John 1:1-14. Who is the Word whom John writes about? What does John say about the Word? Where does the Word still become flesh for us? Read Matthew 26:26-28.

The Word is God, and more specifically, the second person of the Trinity: Jesus. In verse 14 we find the major clue (though there are several more before this verse); the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus dwelt, or tabernacled as the Greek literally says, among us in our humanity. Christ’s incarnation is not only good news because Christ has come in our flesh to save us, but it is also good news that He remains in our flesh. He does not shed His humanity at His ascension like a snake. In fact, the Word remains flesh. In Revelation Jesus is the Lamb

standing and yet slain for us. And Jesus still becomes flesh for us in the Lord’s Supper where He feeds us with His own body and blood.

4. Read Luke 2:1-20. How did Luke get the story of Jesus’ nativity if he was not present? What details to the Christmas story are given to us here? What parts do we often add to Luke 2 that are not included in the Gospel writer’s account?

Many scholars and Christian apologists think that Luke spent a good deal of time taking historical notes from Mary in person since she was an eyewitness (and a most valuable one at that). Since Luke was not there in person, he needed reliable firsthand information. No one could be better than Mary! In fact, when Luke writes “she treasured up these things and pondered them in her heart,” this may be a one of his clues, rhetorically speaking, that he researched Jesus’ birth using Mary’s vital eyewitness testimony.

Answers may vary for the second and third questions. Challenge the participants to think critically based on what we assume Luke says and what he actually says. Another helpful exercise is to compare all the nativity accounts from John, Matthew, and Luke.

5. According to Matthew 1:18-25, why is Jesus born?

The angel’s word to Joseph is clear: “You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus is the NT Greek version of the OT Hebrew name Joshua (Yeshua). It literally means Yahweh Saves. Jesus’ name is as He does. Jesus saves. This is why He is born.

This is why He lived and grew up in wisdom and stature before God and man. This is why He is baptized, tempted, why He teaches, heals, and preaches. This is why He suffered, bled, and died.

For you. To save you from your sins. Just like Moses couldn’t get Israel into the promised land and needed Joshua to do it, so, too, the Law won’t get you into the kingdom of God, but your new Joshua, Jesus (Yahweh Saves!) will bring you into the promised land through His death and resurrection for you.

6. Pastor Borghardt reminds us that Advent and Christmas are also seasons for repentance, preparing us for the forgiveness given to us by Jesus. Where does the Christmas story teach us repentance?

Mark 1 and John 1 both record John the Baptist appearing in the wilderness preaching a baptism for the repentance and forgiveness of sins. Repentance is preparation. Advent prepares us for Christ’s coming by repenting us of our sins. In the humility of Christ’s birth we see how He was made low for us who were brought low in our sin so that by His poverty we might be made rich, and by His humility we would be exalted.

7. Read Galatians 4:4-7. How does Christ fulfill and keep the Law for us?

Jesus is born under the law, meaning He subjected himself to the law, its demands and its punishments, not for His sake, but for ours. He who gave the Law in perfection kept it in perfection for us who could not perfectly keep it. Jesus obeys every last word, letter, and spirit of the Law, all for you. This is why He is circumcised on the 8th day. This is why He repeatedly teaches that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and why the greatest commandments are to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus has truly done this for us—we who could not and would not do this on our own. It is like a strong man stooping down, low, lower than the earth…even the grave…to raise us up again on His shoulders. It is finished. Jesus keeps the law, fulfills the law for you, and thereby redeems you and buys you back from sin, death, and the devil.

Closing Prayer: Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O Holy Ghost to Thee Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving And unending praises be, Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory Evermore and evermore. Amen.

LSB 384:5

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A-Caroling We Go A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

Opening Prayer: We praise You, Jesus at Your birth; Clothed in flesh You came to earth. The Virgin bears a sinless boy And all the angels sing for joy. Alleluia! LSB 382:1 1. When does the season of Christmas begin? How long does it last?

2. The Advent and Christmas season is marked by many important traditions, hymn singing being chief among them. Biblically speaking, where does this excellent tradition find its heritage? See Luke 1:46-55, 67-79 and 2:14, 29-32. What do these biblical canticles teach us about Christmas?

3. Read John 1:1-14. Who is the Word whom John writes about? What does John say about the Word? Where does the Word still become flesh for us? Read Matthew 26:26-28.

4. Read Luke 2:1-20. How did Luke get the story of Jesus’ nativity if he was not present? What details to the Christmas story are given to us here? What parts do we often add to Luke 2 that are not included in the Gospel writer’s account?

5. According to Matthew 1:18-25, why is Jesus born?

6. Pastor Borghardt reminds us that Advent and Christmas are also seasons for repentance, preparing us for the forgiveness given to us by Jesus. Where does the Christmas story teach us repentance?

7. Read Galatians 4:4-7. How does Christ fulfill and keep the Law for us?

Closing Prayer: Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O Holy Ghost to Thee Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving And unending praises be, Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory Evermore and evermore. Amen.

LSB 384:5

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“The Small and Large Catechisms: Gems of the Reformation” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide 1. Pastor Cwirla mentions that the Greek word from which we get the word catechism, means to instruct or echo back what we have heard. Read Luke 1:1-4. How does Luke start the gospel in this same pattern? Where do we hear that word instruct? What is Luke telling Theophilus about the gospel that he (and all who read it) are about to hear?

The Greek word is transliterated as catecheo, which means to instruct, hear, echo back. Luke’s gospel–as with the other gospels (esp. Matthew)–is deeply catechetical. This is the way of the Christian life: hearing God’s Word, listening and responding both to God and man. Theophilus is now brought into this instruction by his catechist, Luke, who instructs him in the work, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus (and the ascension in Luke/Acts). In the same way, the gospels should work catechetically on us as well, instructing us in the ways of Christ, his Word, promises and gifts of life and salvation. We hear and respond. That’s also the pattern of Divine Service. God serves us with His saving gifts and we respond with thanks and praise.

2. In a way, learning the catechism is like learning to pray. God speaks and we listen. We listen and we repeat God’s Word. How do the psalms work in the same way, echoing God’s Word as we listen and repeat those words? Take Psalm 31 as an example.

Answers may vary on the responses as to the Psalms. Encourage the participants to be specific and, when possible, cite a particular example from a psalm. There are a myriad of psalms that could be used in this manner. We even use them this way in Divine Service in the Introit and other parts of the liturgy. Take some time to look through the LSB and locate where in the Service the Psalms are located. It might surprise some how many times they are used in worship in a catechetical way.

3. In addition to the Small Catechism, Luther also wrote hymns in order to teach the catechism and the Scriptures to all people, young and old. Look at some of these hymns in LSB: These are the Holy Ten Commands; We All Believe in One True God; Our Father Who From Heaven Above; To Jordan Came the Christ Our Lord. How do these hymns continue to instill the catechism’s and scripture’s teaching? What is it about a hymn that helps teach us to learn in an enduring way?

Music is a handmaiden to the Gospel, Luther once said. How true indeed. Music carries the Gospel so easily into our ears. Good hymns and liturgy shape our life and understanding of the Word of God and the Catechism. Compare it to an illustration of a house. The foundation is the Scripture and everything else built upon it–catechism, hymns, etc–reflects the foundation and are stronger because of it. A good hymn will point us back to Christ and his work in the Scriptures.

Think of all the times in day that that one song gets stuck in your head. Hymns can work the same way. They can carry the Gospel and get it stuck in our heads.

4. Are there hymns in the Bible? Where do we hear God’s people singing in the OT and NT? See Exodus 15; and the songs of Luke 1 from the mouth of Zechariah, Mary and Simeon.

There are numerous hymns in the Bible. The Psalms are often called the prayerbook of the Bible.

But song is all over the Bible. In particular songs of praise attend the mighty works of rescue and redemption accomplished by the Lord on behalf of his people, such as the exodus victory at the Red Sea in Exodus and his promises being fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation and birth in Luke 1.

These biblical songs give us the richness of the Word of God and fill our mouths with his praise (Much like we pray in Psalm 51:15–O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise).

5. Pastor Cwirla reminds us that catechisms were around long before Luther wrote his in 1529.

What was unique about the way Luther arranged the Small and Large Catechisms? How does the outline of Luther’s catechism focus our attention on Christ at the center? How does it clearly communicate Law and Gospel?

Luther reordered the catechism, scrubbing out the abuses that the Roman Catholic church and papacy had added over the centuries–additional sacraments, virtues, etc–and filtered everything through the article of Justification, much like he would do with his reform of the Divine Service.

Luther’s unique order emphasizes the centrality of Christ Crucified in all things, from the 10 Commandments to the Table of Duties, Christ and his atonement for us is at the center. Luther, therefore, moves us from Law to Gospel in each chief part, but also as a whole, from the 10 Commandments to the Sacraments.

6. Pastor Cwirla gives us many good reasons for memorizing the catechism and the Scriptures.

What are some of the reasons he lists? Read Luke 1:46-55 and 1 Samuel 2:1-11. What are the parallels? What does this reveal about Mary’s knowledge of Scripture? How does this shape our understanding and use of the catechism and Scripture?

Answers will largely be based on Pastor Cwirla’s remarks; however some may come up with additional responses not mentioned in the article. When it comes to Mary and Hannah’s song, there is a clear parallel both in context, style and tone of their respective songs. Ultimately, the promises made to Hannah and the work done by her son, Samuel are fulfilled in the child Mary is about to give birth to, namely, Jesus. Mary’s song, the Magnificat, reveals that Mary had a deep knowledge of the OT and in particular, had memorized many things from the song of Hannah to the Psalms. Jesus also had memorized Scripture upon his lips and in his prayers throughout the NT. Clearly memorization is an important part of the Christian life–look at Psalm 119, “On your word I meditate day and night…”. The reason for memorization of the Scriptures and the catechism is that it would become a part of the very fabric of our being, as much, and as easily, as we breathe.

7. Read Acts 2:42. What were the Christians of the early church doing? How is this similar to what the church does today? What was the apostles’ teaching? In what ways does Luther’s Small Catechism function the same way for us today? How is the catechism a complement, not a substitute for Scripture?

In Acts 2 we see the Christian church reading of the Scriptures, focus on the apostles’ teaching, which came directly from Jesus and was handed down, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread (i.e. the Lord’s Supper) and the prayers (i.e. an ordered liturgy). This is in direct parallel to what happens in the Divine Service today, Scripture, liturgy, Lord’s Supper, Christian fellowship and the like. This is the heart of the Church because this is where Christ himself is present and promises to dwell with his people. Luther’s Catechism continues to hand down to us the apostles’ teaching which are the words and promises of Christ, the very substance of the catechism itself.

In this way, the catechism is that road map that shows us the clear light and path of Scripture’s teaching. Another useful analogy is that of the key/legend on the map showing you what is important and central to the life of the Christian Church.

8. In his final question, “What should we do with the catechism?” Pastor Cwirla says that the catechism is a book we don’t grow out of, but rather one we grow into. How does this way of looking at the catechism reflect the wisdom of Proverbs 22:1-6 and Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:1-5?

Proverbs reminds us to train a child up in the way they should go. How similar this is to David’s words in Psalm 119, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The catechism is like that too, a lamp on the road of the Christian life. Our children learn every day by everything they say and do and by everything they see others say and do. The question is what will our children be learning? And what are we teaching them? The catechism, hymnal and Scriptures form the primary way that we train up our children. Similarly, in 2 Timothy, Paul gives thanks to God for Timothy’s family, Lois and Eunice, who had catechized Timothy and as a result, he was well trained and given a good foundation for his future vocation as pastor. And the same is true for us, no matter what vocation God calls us to, the foundation given in the catechism and Scriptures will serve us as we continue to grow into the catechism and never grow out of it.

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“The Small and Large Catechisms: Gems of the Reformation” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

1. Pastor Cwirla mentions that the Greek word from which we get the word catechism, means to instruct or echo back what we have heard. Read Luke 1:1-4. How does Luke start the gospel in this same pattern? Where do we hear that word instruct? What is Luke telling Theophilus about the gospel that he (and all who read it) are about to hear?

2. In a way, learning the catechism is like learning to pray. God speaks and we listen. We listen and we repeat God’s Word. How do the psalms work in the same way, echoing God’s Word as we listen and repeat those words? Take Psalm 31 as an example.

3. In addition to the Small Catechism, Luther also wrote hymns in order to teach the catechism and the Scriptures to all people, young and old. Look at some of these hymns in LSB: These are the Holy Ten Commands; We All Believe in One True God; Our Father Who From Heaven Above; To Jordan Came the Christ Our Lord. How do these hymns continue to instill the catechism’s and scripture’s teaching? What is it about a hymn that helps teach us to learn in an enduring way?

4. Are there hymns in the Bible? Where do we hear God’s people singing in the OT and NT? See Exodus 15; and the songs of Luke 1 from the mouth of Zechariah, Mary and Simeon.

5. Pastor Cwirla reminds us that catechisms were around long before Luther wrote his in 1529.

What was unique about the way Luther arranged the Small and Large Catechisms? How does the outline of Luther’s catechism focus our attention on Christ at the center? How does it clearly communicate Law and Gospel?

6. Pastor Cwirla gives us many good reasons for memorizing the catechism and the Scriptures.

What are some of the reasons he lists? Read Luke 1:46-55 and 1 Samuel 2:1-11. What are the parallels? What does this reveal about Mary’s knowledge of Scripture? How does this shape our understanding and use of the catechism and Scripture?

7. Read Acts 2:42. What were the Christians of the early church doing? How is this similar to what the church does today? What was the apostles’ teaching? In what ways does Luther’s Small Catechism function the same way for us today? How is the catechism a complement, not a substitute for Scripture?

8. In his final question, “What should we do with the catechism?” Pastor Cwirla says that the catechism is a book we don’t grow out of, but rather one we grow into. How does this way of looking at the catechism reflect the wisdom of Proverbs 22:1-6 and Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:1-5?

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“Church Universal, Church Triumphant…Church Relevant?”

A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide In this Bible study, youth will explore the central teaching of the Lutheran Church, which is the central teaching of the Christian Church. Many churches in America abandon this central teaching for the sake of being relevant to a culture that wants nothing to do with this teaching. Youth will identify how churches deviate from this teaching in five different ways, and what God’s Word has to say about it.

1. In search of relevancy, many churches abandon the central teaching of the Christian Church. Read Romans 3:21-31. How would you summarize the central teaching of the Christian Church? Why, according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4, do churches abandon this central teaching?

The central teaching of the Christian Church, and the Lutheran Church in particular, is that a sinner is freely justified by God on account of Christ, apart from works. This section of Romans, chapter 3, is one of the clearest descriptions of what is known as the “material principle,” or the central teaching of the Lutheran Church. The reason why churches abandon this teaching, St. Paul writes, is because people have “itching ears.” It is offensive to sinful man that his best works give him no standing before God. Many churches and preachers will scratch the itch of human nature and convince people they can justify themselves by their own works.

2. Read Luke 10:27-28. Here Jesus teaches that if you love God and love your neighbor, you will live. How does the lawyer then confuse Law and Gospel and depart from the central teaching of Christianity in Luke 10:29? How is a misplaced emphasis on the Law, such as social justice or environmentalism, the same as the lawyer in Luke 10?

Even though the teaching, “love God and love your neighbor” is Christ’s own teaching, when it is presented as the most important and defining teaching of Christianity, the central teaching is abandoned. The lawyer in Luke 10 doesn’t take the teaching of the Law as a teaching of repentance for his lack of love, rather he tries to justify himself by his own works. But we believe and teach that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Social movements like social justice and environmentalism confuse the Law with the Gospel by emphasizing these social works over and against the good news that Christ justifies the ungodly apart from their works.

3. Pragmatism gets rid of means if they don’t produce results. What are the means by which we obtain faith? Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. Are these means by which God

creates faith and the fruits of faith effective means? How can missions divert a church from the central teaching of the Christian Church?

In the parable of the sower, Jesus prepares us that His divinely inspired means of grace— His Word and Sacraments—are not pragmatic in the sense that they do not produce the results that we wish to see. But when it does produce fruit, it produces it in abundance.

When a church focuses on missions in a pragmatic way (focusing on results), mission itself replaces the justification of the sinner as the central teaching of Christianity.

4. Even though the Word and the Sacraments are the means by which God creates faith, a person and a Bible alone will never come to faith. Read Romans 10:14-17. How does the Word of God come to an individual? How does individualism and autonomy depart from the central teaching of the Christian faith?

Faith comes from hearing the Word of God, and hearing the Word of God comes through preaching. Since an individual is justified freely as a gift, it’s necessary that there be both a giver and a receiver of the gift. An individual alone with a Bible makes himself both the giver and the receiver, and the gift of the Gospel is lost.

5. How does the glorification of the will depart from the central teaching of the Christian faith? Read 1 Corinthians 2:14 and Romans 8:7. How does the human will interact with the things of God? Read John 15:12-17 and 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7. Whose choice is important when it comes to the things of God? St. Paul writes that the natural man does not accept the things of God and is hostile to God. The choices that we make according to the human will are against the work of God. We do not choose Christ, He chooses us. And by choosing us, He makes us into willing creatures who desire to do His will. The central teaching of the Christian faith is that justification is God’s choice and God’s choice alone.

6. A fear of irrelevancy has caused many churches to adapt their churches to the culture, always bowing to the latest trends in the world. Read John 16:33 and 1 John 5:1-12.

What happens when Jesus comes into the world? How does a fear of irrelevancy depart from the central teaching of Christianity?

Christ assures His disciples that He has overcome the world. And because Christ has overcome the world, the Christian has also overcome the world. Cultural relevancy does not testify to faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit, the blood, and the water testify, that is, the Word of God, the Sacrament of His body and blood, and Holy Baptism. The testimony of men is culturally relevant, but the testimony of God is greater. The preaching of Christ, the Lord’s Supper, and Baptism are God’s pledges and promises that, when the world and its cultures are gone, your life in Christ endures beyond these things

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“Church Universal, Church Triumphant…Church Relevant?”

A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

1. In search of relevancy, many churches abandon the central teaching of the Christian Church. Read Romans 3:21-31. How would you summarize the central teaching of the Christian Church? Why, according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4, do churches abandon this central teaching?

2. Read Luke 10:27-28. Here Jesus teaches that if you love God and love your neighbor, you will live. How does the lawyer then confuse Law and Gospel and depart from the central teaching of Christianity in Luke 10:29? How is a misplaced emphasis on the Law, such as social justice or environmentalism, the same as the lawyer in Luke 10?

3. Pragmatism gets rid of means if they don’t produce results. What are the means by which we obtain faith? Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. Are these means by which God creates faith and the fruits of faith effective means? How can missions divert a church from the central teaching of the Christian Church?

4. Even though the Word and the Sacraments are the means by which God creates faith, a person and a Bible alone will never come to faith. Read Romans 10:14-17. How does the Word of God come to an individual? How does individualism and autonomy depart from the central teaching of the Christian faith?

5. How does the glorification of the will depart from the central teaching of the Christian faith? Read 1 Corinthians 2:14 and Romans 8:7. How does the human will interact with the things of God? Read John 15:12-17 and 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7. Whose choice is important when it comes to the things of God?

6. A fear of irrelevancy has caused many churches to adapt their churches to the culture, always bowing to the latest trends in the world. Read John 16:33 and 1 John 5:1-12.

What happens when Jesus comes into the world? How does a fear of irrelevancy depart from the central teaching of Christianity?

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“David's House” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader's Guide Introduction: This Bible study examines the connection between Jesus and King David showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to everyone of a Savior and His promises to David to establish His house and line forever. Jesus is a King in the line of David and yet is King of Kings. Christ's Kingdom is not merely an earthly kingdom in Israel but an eternal kingdom of salvation.

Background: During the period of the Judges, the Israelites kept demanding a king like all the other nations around them had. Finally the Lord relented and established Saul (of the tribe of Benjamin) as the first king. Saul, however, was unfaithful and the Lord took the kingdom away from him to give it to another king.

1. Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Where does the Lord send Samuel to look for the next king of Israel? How is the new king selected? Who is chosen as the new king? What is the basis for this choice according to Samuel?

Samuel is sent to Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem. Jesse is the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. Jesse has eight sons. They all passed in front of Samuel to be chosen, but no one was. The youngest, a shepherd boy was then called and he was the one chosen by God through Samuel anointing him with oil. This was David.

2. Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17. What does David desire to do? What does Nathan say about it? What does the Lord then say to David through Nathan? What is the Lord going to do for David and his family?

What is the “house” David's son will build? What is the “house” that God will build for David?

David, having secured Israel and defeated her enemies, wants to build a permanent house for the Lord.

Until this time, the Lord dwelt in the tabernacle which was a portable tent. But the Lord tells David he will not be the one to build such a house. Solomon, David's son will build the temple and it will be a marvelous building filled with God's glory. But there will come a greater Temple, when God comes in the flesh. This is the “house” God will build for David—that He will dwell in the flesh as one of David's descendants! And this Descendant, Jesus, will establish a kingdom that lasts forever. That's the kingdom of His church, where grace and forgiveness are given to all.

3. Now read Luke 1:26-38. What announcement does Gabriel make to Mary? Whose Son will this Child be? Who is this Child's father? What does this tell us about the Baby who will be born?

Gabriel announces to Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus. He will be in her womb when the Holy Spirit hovers over her (through the angel's preaching). He will be the “Son of the Most High,” that is, God's Son. But He will also have the throne of His father, David. This is calling attention to the fact that Jesus is true God, because He is the Son of God and also true man, because He is born of the human line and family of David.

4. When Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, what do the crowds say? See Matthew 21:1-9. What do they recognize Jesus as? What is significant about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? See Zechariah 9:9 and 1 Kings 1:1-40.

The crowds shout “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They anticipated Jesus as the Son of David and king, although they didn't how what sort of king He would be. The prophet Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. In David's day, when his successor was in question, he had Solomon put on his donkey and ridden in to Jerusalem for all to see. Jesus riding into Jerusalem is a clear and unambiguous sign that He is indeed the Son of David and the rightful king.

5. What does Jesus ask the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46? What is He getting at with His question?

How do they answer and why?

Jesus asks how the Messiah can be both the Lord of David and David's son. The Pharisees can't figure this out. Jesus is teaching them to confess that the Savior must be both true God (David's Lord) and true man (the son of David). The Pharisees will not understand what sort of Savior Jesus is unless they confess that He is both God and man, so they can't answer Jesus' question.

6. After Jesus' death and resurrection, His connection to King David was still explicitly shown as part of the Good News of the fulfillment of God's promises. Read Acts 2:29-39. What connection does Peter show between Jesus and King David? What did Jesus do that David did not? How did David confess Christ if he lived before Jesus did?

Peter quotes the Psalms in a way that shows that not only did David write the Psalms pointing ahead to Jesus but David also believed the promises of God in Christ, looking ahead to their fulfillment. David was dead and still buried but Jesus rose from the dead. The Good News of Christ's death and resurrection were pointed to by David and were fulfilled when Jesus accomplished His saving work.

7. Read Romans 4:1-8. What is the truth to which David also testifies? What does this teach us about the connection between David and Christ?

David believed that sinners were justified by grace. That is, their sins are forgiven freely through God's grace. This is accomplished because of Christ. The connection between David is more than just one of a bloodline. It is the fact that in Christ, the promises the Lord made to David, and that he believed, are fulfilled and kept. It demonstrates for us that the Lord works the same in the Old Testament as He does in the New Testament. That is, we are saved by grace through faith. There is not somehow one way of God doing things in the Old Testament and a different way in the New Testament. Rather, the Old Testament looks ahead to Christ and the New Testament testifies of Jesus. We can say that David was a Christian in the same way that we are heirs of Abraham in and through Jesus Christ.

8. Finally, read Revelation 22:12-17. In what way does the Lord identify Himself? Why is this a comfort to us? What prayer does it call forth from our lips? How does this unite us with God's people of all times and places?

Jesus identifies Himself as the Root and Offspring of David. Despite being the bright and shining Morning Star, He is still the same Jesus who was born in the family of David. This is a comfort because it means we are not to fear this Jesus but welcome and rejoice in Him. Thus this promise calls forth from us the “Come, Lord Jesus� prayer as we eagerly await His return in glory. In the meantime, we rejoice to be among those saints who rejoiced to welcome King David, conqueror of Israel's enemies, the crowds of Palm Sunday who rejoiced when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and the whole church who awaits His return on the Last Day.

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“David's House” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Introduction: This Bible study examines the connection between Jesus and King David showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to everyone of a Savior and His promises to David to establish His house and line forever. Jesus is a King in the line of David and yet is King of Kings. Christ's Kingdom is not merely an earthly kingdom in Israel but an eternal kingdom of salvation.

Background: During the period of the Judges, the Israelites kept demanding a king like all the other nations around them had. Finally the Lord relented and established Saul (of the tribe of Benjamin) as the first king. Saul, however, was unfaithful and the Lord took the kingdom away from him to give it to another king.

1. Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Where does the Lord send Samuel to look for the next king of Israel? How is the new king selected? Who is chosen as the new king? What is the basis for this choice according to Samuel?

2. Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17. What does David desire to do? What does Nathan say about it? What does the Lord then say to David through Nathan? What is the Lord going to do for David and his family?

What is the “house” David's son will build? What is the “house” that God will build for David?

3. Now read Luke 1:26-38. What announcement does Gabriel make to Mary? Whose Son will this Child be? Who is this Child's father? What does this tell us about the Baby who will be born?

4. When Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, what do the crowds say? See Matthew 21:1-9. What do they recognize Jesus as? What is significant about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? See Zechariah 9:9 and 1 Kings 1:1-40.

5. What does Jesus ask the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46? What is He getting at with His question?

How do they answer and why?

6. After Jesus' death and resurrection, His connection to King David was still explicitly shown as part of the Good News of the fulfillment of God's promises. Read Acts 2:29-39. What connection does Peter show between Jesus and King David? What did Jesus do that David did not? How did David confess Christ if he lived before Jesus did?

7. Read Romans 4:1-8. What is the truth to which David also testifies? What does this teach us about

the connection between David and Christ?

8. Finally, read Revelation 22:12-17. In what way does the Lord identify Himself? Why is this a comfort to us? What prayer does it call forth from our lips? How does this unite us with God's people of all times and places?

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“Seven Steps to Staying Sane During the Holidays” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide Introduction: The Christmas holiday season is often a time of much over-produced emotion and artificial attempts at “peace” and “joy.” This study will anchor us in Christ in whom true joy is found. This is a firm foundation and good reminder not just in the holiday seasons but any time of year.

1. What are some of the things that make the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Year’s) such a happy time of year for many people? What are some of the things that make it a miserable time of year? What should everyone’s focus be on in this season?

Answers will vary. Joyful expectations include parties, family gatherings, shopping for and getting presents, extra worship services, opportunities to serve the less fortunate in the community and so on. Miserable holidays may be because of the loss and grieving of a spouse or child, bad memories, too much hustle and bustle, money worries, and so on. Whether we find our joy in many of these seasonal things or find sadness for a variety of reasons, our true joy and hope are really in Christ. He and His arrival are what is most important in these last days of the year.

2. Read John 16:19-22, 33. What does Jesus say about the disciples having joy? What will there life be like in this world? Where is their true joy going to be found? What does this tell us with respect to how we should approach busy times like the holidays?

Because Jesus is leaving (going to the cross and His three days in the tomb), the disciples will be sorrowful. But He will return and they will have the joy of seeing Him alive after His resurrection. Jesus then warns them that in this world they will have tribulation. It can be anything from struggles with sin to outright persecution. Nevertheless, they are to be of “good cheer” because Jesus has overcome the world. The real source of their true joy is Jesus’ death and resurrection by which sin and death are defeated. That is what is most important when we are living in the holiday season: the coming of Christ for our salvation, not everything else.

3. Read Luke 10:38-42. What is Martha upset about? What does Mary desire? What do these sisters teach us that is so important especially during busy holiday times? How might we do as Mary did during the holiday season?

Martha was busy with all the housework and preparations for having Jesus come to visit. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His Word. There is nothing wrong with preparing and decorating and doing all the things that we do for the holidays. Yet none of that is ever more important than hearing God’s Word. Advent, especially is a good time to prepare and do as Mary did by hearing

the Word of God and receiving the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood in the extra services our congregations may have. Keep in mind that the gift Christ gives us is not a “not busy” life but the gift of hearing His comfort and promises.

4. We often cause ourselves much stress and worry by all of our holiday doings. For what purpose are the Scriptures given to us? See Romans 15:4-6. What does this remind us as we consider the tension between preparing with God’s Word and preparing everything else for the holidays?

The Scriptures were written for our COMFORT, not to make us feel guilty or to overload us with some pious burdens that prohibit us from enjoying the gifts and celebrations of the holiday season. One the one hand, we needn’t get so caught up in everything that we become scrooges or grinches because we’re making more of the holiday details than we need to. On the other hand, we don’t have to have some super-piety that prohibits us from enjoying many celebrations and comforts. Either way, the focus is on us instead of Christ. Christ came to bring us comfort and peace, not to burden us more.

5. Read Luke 21:33-36. What does Jesus warn against? What is passing away and what doesn’t pass away? Where is there comfort for those who are burdened by all of these things that pile up on us at this time of year?

Jesus’ words rescue us from the various traps we are lured into in the holiday season: carousing, drunkenness, the cares of life. Whether it’s the partying or the sorrow or despair or regrets, the Lord is rescuing us from such things by drawing us to Himself. The holiday season with all its glitz is a good time to reflect that all things are passing away. Just consider how fast the Christmas decorations will come down from stores! But Christ’s Word does not pass away and therefore neither do those who have been sealed by His Word and water. This is a great comfort in that our Lord knows we need saving from such things and He comes to do exactly that.

6. Discuss the suggestions that Pastor Peperkorn gives in his article for staying sane during the holiday season. Which ones do you find particularly helpful? What else could you add to the list?

Which of these do think is most important?

Answers will vary. Pastor Peperkorn’s suggestions are these: 1. Don’t be surprised that heaven on earth doesn’t seem fully baked yet.

2. When I am trapped by my own thoughts and fears and doubts, it is important to get outside of my own head. (listen to some hymns!)

3. Give yourself permission to recharge.

4. Pray and Meditate on God’s Word.

5. Embrace the madness.

6. Try not to eat every single thing that has sugar in it for a month.

7. Just like it is okay not to be “Elf” happy, in the same way it is okay not to be the Grinch.

Probably of all these, the most important would be the advice that directs us to prayer and hearing God’s Word. There we will have the sure and certain hope of Christ delivered to us.

7. Pastor Peperkorn gives us great suggestions for overcoming our own craziness. What are some ideas for going outside of ourselves in service to our neighbor to demonstrate Christ’s love for others and take the focus off of ourselves?

Answers will vary but could include visiting shut-ins and widows for caroling or sharing a meal; volunteering at a shelter or participating in activities for underprivileged children, making gifts instead of buying them, and so on.

8. Read Philippians 4:4-7. Why do we rejoice at all? What does God give to us in Christ? How does Christ’s overcoming of sin and death give us this? What does it mean that the Lord is “at hand?”

Jesus is right here! He arrives each Divine Service and wherever His Word is preached. There, the One who was crucified and raised gives to us a true peace which is not the end of hustle and bustle and sadness and problems but the peace of a clear conscience before God and the comfort and certainty of our sins being forgiven. Thus Christians rejoice at all times with a true rejoicing.

That’s not the same as a “good mood” which can come and go but true rejoicing is the glad assurance and confidence we have in Christ that all things are good for us in Him, even when they seem bleak or overwhelming. (Paul wrote these words from prison after all!).

9. Close by singing LSB 334 “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?” or other favorite Advent or Christmas hymns.

http://higherthings.org

“Seven Steps to Staying Sane During the Holidays” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

1. What are some of the things that make the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Year’s) such a happy time of year for many people? What are some of the things that make it a miserable time of year? What should everyone’s focus be on in this season?

2. Read John 16:19-22, 33. What does Jesus say about the disciples having joy? What will there life be like in this world? Where is their true joy going to be found? What does this tell us with respect to how we should approach busy times like the holidays?

3. Read Luke 10:38-42. What is Martha upset about? What does Mary desire? What do these sisters teach us that is so important especially during busy holiday times? How might we do as Mary did during the holiday season?

4. We often cause ourselves much stress and worry by all of our holiday doings. For what purpose are the Scriptures given to us? See Romans 15:4-6. What does this remind us as we consider the tension between preparing with God’s Word and preparing everything else for the holidays?

5. Read Luke 21:33-36. What does Jesus warn against? What is passing away and what doesn’t

pass away? Where is there comfort for those who are burdened by all of these things that pile up on us at this time of year?

6. Discuss the suggestions that Pastor Peperkorn gives in his article for staying sane during the holiday season. Which ones do you find particularly helpful? What else could you add to the list?

Which of these do think is most important?

7. Pastor Peperkorn gives us great suggestions for overcoming our own craziness. What are some ideas for going outside of ourselves in service to our neighbor to demonstrate Christ’s love for others and take the focus off of ourselves?

8. Read Philippians 4:4-7. Why do we rejoice at all? What does God give to us in Christ? How does Christ’s overcoming of sin and death give us this? What does it mean that the Lord is “at hand?”

9. Close by singing LSB 334 “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?” or other favorite Advent or Christmas hymns.

http://higherthings.org

“The Return of the King” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide Opening Prayer Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors, And weep no more! O Zion’s daughter sing,To greet your coming King; Now wave the victor’s palm And sing the ancient psalm:Lift up your heads, you everlasting gates. Your King awaits. LSB 339:1 1. Are there any other kings in reality or fiction that give us a glimpse of the true King, Jesus?

In a general sense, all good kings reflect the giver of their authority, who is God, and point to Him, just as Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no authority if it were not give you from my Father.” In more particulars, often times in literature, film, and drama, the figure of the king can be a symbol or a shadow of the reality of Jesus as King. Take, for example, King Aragorn or King Theoden in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or King Caspian, King Edmund and High King Peter in The Chronicles of Narnia. Even Aslan is the Son of the Emperor over the Sea, thus making him in a sense, the King over all of Narnia. Even though these non-fictional and fictional kings are not the King Jesus, they can, in many respects, reflect something of our true King, Jesus. Consider discussing how that is the case in the examples that are listed or given.

2. What promises, events, and words in Scripture identify Jesus as King, particularly in 2 Samuel 7:1-11; Isaiah 9:1-7; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 1:26-38; John 18:33-40?

In Samuel the Lord promises David that his throne would always have someone to sit upon it, that it was eternal and without end. Isaiah 9 continues to flesh out this promise by telling us what kind of Savior this would be: unto us a child is born and upon his shoulders… Mary hears the fulfillment of this promise come to fruition in her own womb as the angel announces that she will be the Mother of God, the Son of David who is also David’s Lord. He will be the King and will reign on David’s throne forever.

Mark 11 details Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday at the beginning of Holy Week.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem as the Messiah, though on a borrowed donkey, not a warhorse. The crowds shout, “Hosanna, Lord save us!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Palms are waving, voices chanting. It is all very Messianic and pointing to Jesus as King. What kind of king He is finally is revealed in His passion on Thursday and Friday of that same great week of our salvation. After all, as Jesus tells Pilate at His trial, His kingdom is not of this world.

As we sing in the hymn, His is no earthly kingdom it comes from heav’n above. And yet His kingdom comes to us in the flesh and blood of Jesus the God-man. Wherever Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God. Thy Kingdom come indeed! His kingdom comes in bread, wine, water, and word for you.

3. What kind of King is Jesus? Read John 19:17-30.

Contrary to many of the messianic expectations of the Israelites, Jesus is not an earthly king who was born to establish an earthly kingdom and remove the Romans from power. He was born, rather, to remove the devil from his self-appointed throne. There is only room for one king in Israel, and in our hearts. Jesus would rule and reign in us alone by His word and sacraments. To accomplish this He must first undergo His coronation in suffering and death for us. Jesus is a King, but a suffering King who wins the victory–not by feats of strength and glory–but by the glory of His death, and in weakness of the cross, born for us. His birth and death are both humble for us.

4. What did King Jesus promise at his ascension? See Acts 1:6-11.

Jesus promises His disciples and His church that He would return in the same manner in which He ascended. Jesus’ ascension is not His absence, but rather His presence for the church. He ascends to the right hand of God. This is a position of power, not a specific location. Jesus isn’t locked in heaven. He ascends that He might fill all in all and have all things put under His feet in subjection to Him. This is why He promises in Matthew 28 that He will always be with us even as we await His return in the flesh, just as the disciples saw Him ascend in the flesh. He will return and we shall see Him as He promised, face to face.

5. How do we wait for the return of King Jesus, especially in Advent and Christmas? Luke 21:29-36; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

John the Baptist calls us to wait by preparing. And in Advent one of the main ways we prepare is by repenting of sin. Die to sin. Live with Christ. This is a daily gift which results from our Baptism. By repenting and receiving forgiveness we continue to live in our Baptism, which is also a daily gift. Though written at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, His words to the disciples in Matthew 28 remind us that Baptism and His Word (doctrine, teaching, etc.) are what prepare us for His return on the Last Day. For as we wait His second coming, He comes among us in the places where His promises are given to us: water, word, body and blood. Paul points us to this reality in 1 Corinthians 11, that we receive the blood of Christ and therefore proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. What a joy it is that Jesus makes His advent among us and for us in His body and blood to prepare us for His second advent, that we would be made ready for His return.

Closing Prayer The King shall come when morning dawns And light and beauty brings.

Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray: Come quickly, King of kings!

LSB 348:5

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“The Return of the King” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

Opening Prayer Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors, And weep no more! O Zion’s daughter sing,To greet your coming King; Now wave the victor’s palm And sing the ancient psalm:Lift up your heads, you everlasting gates. Your King awaits. LSB 339:1 1. Are there any other kings in reality or fiction that give us a glimpse of the true King, Jesus?

2. What promises, events, and words in Scripture identify Jesus as King, particularly in 2 Samuel 7:1-11; Isaiah 9:1-7; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 1:26-38; John 18:33-40?

3. What kind of King is Jesus? Read John 19:17-30.

4. What did King Jesus promise at his ascension? See Acts 1:6-11.

5. How do we wait for the return of King Jesus, especially in Advent and Christmas? Luke 21:29-36; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Closing Prayer The King shall come when morning dawns And light and beauty brings.

Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray: Come quickly, King of kings!

LSB 348:5

http://higherthings.org

“Considering the Vocation of Military Service” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide This Bible study will consider the broader teaching of Christian vocation with attention toward the specific vocation of military service. One of Martin Luther’s most informative writings on vocation—a writing referenced in this article—is his essay, “Whether Soldiers Too Can Be Saved.” This essay can be accessed at http://gnesiolutheran.com/luther-whether-soldiers-toocan-be-saved, and provides excellent background reading for the Bible study leader.

1. Define “vocation.” Identify the vocation(s) that you currently have. How and for what reasons might your vocation change?

Common usage of the word “vocation” identifies is simply as the job you do. For instance, vocational schools train students to perform a certain trade or work. But in Christian usage, vocation incorporates much more than simply a job. The word “vocation” means “calling,” and is used to describe the Christian teaching that God calls Christians to particular stations in life to love and serve their neighbors. When the Small Catechism tells us to “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments” (Small Catechism, Confession, Which are these?), it is speaking of the various vocations to which God calls us.

Youth might identify one or two vocations in their current lives. The article lists, “son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, student, cousin, aunt, uncle, Sunday School teacher, employee.” Lead the youth to see vocation wherever they have opportunity to serve their neighbors. Their vocations will change when God presents them with new opportunities in life to serve new neighbors.

2. The particular vocation of military service carries with it a wide variety of expectations and work, some of which may include violence. How can wielding a sword (or a rifle) be out of love and service to your neighbor? Read Romans 13:1-7.

Luther writes, “For the very fact that the sword has been instituted of God to punish the evil and protect the good and preserve peace, (Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 3:1) is proof, powerful and sufficient, that fighting and slaying and the other things that war-times and martial law bring with them, have been instituted by God. What else is war than the punishment of wrong and evil?

Why does anyone go to war, except because he desires peace and obedience?” The use of force and fighting is of service to the neighbor when its goal is peace and obedience, to defend the neighbor against evil and to execute God’s vengeance.

3. Luther quotes St. Paul in Titus 3:1: “They shall obey the rulers.” The word for “obey” is a word that is often used with respect to vocation and indicates that God is the One who works through a particular vocation. How is it that God works through the vocation of soldier?

God works through the vocation of soldier (and government in general) to execute His Law in its first use. The first use of the Law is as a curb and it restrains sinful behavior with threats and coercion and punishment. This is known as God’s “alien work,” that is, a work that’s contrary to His nature. The office of soldier, and the rifle that he bears, is only necessary because of the absolute sinfulness of the flesh that must be restrained to preserve justice and peace. “For civil government deals with other things than the Gospel does. Civil rulers do not defend minds, but bodies and bodily things against obvious injuries. They restrain people with the sword and physical punishment in order to preserve civil justice and peace” (Augsburg Confession XXVIII. 11).

4. God gives a great and dangerous gift in the vocation of soldier. How can we help to ensure that this gift is not misused for evil? Read 1 Timothy 2:1-2 We Christians are invited to remember kings and others in authority in our prayers. This includes even non-Christian rulers and soldiers, but is especially for Christian rulers and officers of the government. Our prayers are for peaceful and quiet lives, free from violence and warfare. Our prayers are that the soldier need never take his rifle from his soldier, but if he does, it’s to ensure peace.

5. The vocation of soldier not only requires him to “bear the sword,” but often will put him in the path of violence. Read Ephesians 6:10-20. How does God provide protection for a soldier?

The “whole armor of God,” is literally the “panoply of God.” The panoply refers to the armaments of the hoplite, which was the ancient Roman citizen-soldier. The hoplite was named after his shield, which was used not only to defend himself but also his fellow soldier. God gives a spiritual panoply: truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With these things, a soldier—as well as any Christian—is defended, not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil. Even if a soldier’s body should fall in battle, the armor of God defends him against the attacks of the devil and eternal death.

6. How can what you learned about the vocation of soldier be applied to other vocations: police, teacher, lawmaker, railroad worker, etc.? How can you apply it to your own vocation?

Youth may offer a variety of ideas on how God works through various vocations to serve the neighbor.

7. Read Matthew 16:24. What does the vocation of every disciple of Jesus have in common?

The calling of Jesus is to take up your cross and follow Him. The cross is the cross of Christ that is given to you in your baptism. This baptism and cross turns regular work into holy work. The cross of Christ sanctifies the work of your various vocations because the cross of Christ washes you and your works clean from all sin.

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“Considering the Vocation of Military Service” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

1. Define “vocation.” Identify the vocation(s) that you currently have. How and for what reasons might your vocation change?

2. The particular vocation of military service carries with it a wide variety of expectations and work, some of which may include violence. How can wielding a sword (or a rifle) be out of love and service to your neighbor? Read Romans 13:1-7.

3. Luther quotes St. Paul in Titus 3:1: “They shall obey the rulers.” The word for “obey” is a word that is often used with respect to vocation and indicates that God is the One who works through a particular vocation. How is it that God works through the vocation of soldier?

4. God gives a great and dangerous gift in the vocation of soldier. How can we help to ensure that this gift is not misused for evil? Read 1 Timothy 2:1-2

5. The vocation of soldier not only requires him to “bear the sword,� but often will put him in the path of violence. Read Ephesians 6:10-20. How does God provide protection for a soldier?

6. How can what you learned about the vocation of soldier be applied to other vocations: police, teacher, lawmaker, railroad worker, etc.? How can you apply it to your own vocation?

7. Read Matthew 16:24. What does the vocation of every disciple of Jesus have in common?

http://higherthings.org

“The Walking Dead” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014 Leader’s Guide The Zombie Apocalypse has not yet come, but zombies are among us in popular culture. This Bible study will expose the Old Adam as the Walking Dead, and point to a New Man who begins to arise in Holy Baptism.

1. Zombies lumber their way through pop culture at virtually every turn. The current popularity of zombies may be due in part to what we share in common with them. How does Scripture describe the evil of men in Psalm 27:2 and Isaiah 9:18-21?

Evildoers “eat up my flesh” and “devour the flesh.” These images are evocative of evil and its ultimate end. Zombies have an overwhelming and insatiable hunger for human flesh. They are a parable for what your sin does to your neighbor.

2. Read Ephesians 2:1-3. In what way can you be called the walking dead?

You were dead in your sins, St. Paul writes. Even though you are a walking, talking, living, breathing person, there is a death at work in your body because of sin. The outward signs don’t show this death, but it is at work in you from the moment you are born.

3. Rev. Haberstock writes, “Zombies do what zombies do. They may “choose” to eat this human or that human, but it’s all still determined by the zombie nature.” Do you have the power to choose, or are you like a mindless zombie? In what way does your nature influence the choices you make? See Augsburg Confession, Article II. While you are not completely mindless like a zombie, your power to choose is severely inhibited by your human nature. As the Augsburg Confession states, “Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam [Romans 5:12], all who are naturally born are born with sin [Psalm 51:5], that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence” (AC II.1). Though you are free to make choices in the lower things (like choosing a meal from a menu, deciding on an outfit for church, or whether to go to a party or not), your nature is bound to sin in the higher things. You cannot choose to do a work that is pleasing to God; all of your works are corrupted by your sinful nature.

4. The only way to defeat a zombie is with a headshot. The same is true of the one who first worked the corruption of your human nature. How does God promise to defeat the serpent in Genesis 3:15? How does He fulfill this promise?

The Seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, promises God. He will deliver a headshot, though not without suffering his own wound. The defeat of Satan, and the death that He worked, was accomplished by the death of Christ. He crushed the head of the devil by receiving His own wounds—heel, hands, head, and side. The death of Christ is the death of death itself.

5. The death of Jesus was unlike other deaths. He is not only the Crucified One, He is also the Risen One. Read Psalm 16:10. How is Jesus’ resurrection different from the walking dead?

Jesus’ body did not decay in the grave. He did not see corruption. He rose again on the third day to new life, not walking death. He is no zombie, but a truly living person, inside and out.

6. This resurrection and life that belongs to Jesus is available for the walking dead. Read John 11:25. How does the resurrection and life of Jesus become yours? Now read John 6:49-58. How does Jesus put a new spin on zombie lore to deliver His life to you?

The resurrection and life of Jesus are given to and received by faith. Whoever believes in Jesus receives His life and resurrection. This gift is a gift attached to His flesh. Jesus says, “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” (John 6:53-54). It should be noted that there are two kinds of eating of Jesus’ flesh. There is a spiritual eating by faith, and a physical eating of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament. The first leads to the second and the second strengthens the first.

7. According to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, where are we to look for this new life in Christ?

The new life that Christ gives is a hidden reality. You are outwardly wasting away, but inwardly you are renewed. There is a New Man, a new creation that is begun by the Word and flesh of Jesus, which is hidden under the walking dead who are renewed by the washing of regeneration and renewal. And so you are no longer the walking dead, but the walking risen.

8. What is the promise for those who have received the life of Christ by faith in 1 Corinthians 15:42-49?

The life and resurrection of Jesus ensures that you will also rise again on the Last Day. Though you are outwardly wasting away, the new life in Christ will end with your own resurrection to incorruptibility. The death that is at work in your body will forever be put to death, and you will be raised in a glorified body.

http://higherthings.org

“The Walking Dead” A HIGHER THINGS BIBLE STUDY Winter 2014

1. Zombies lumber their way through pop culture at virtually every turn. The current popularity of zombies may be due in part to what we share in common with them. How does Scripture describe the evil of men in Psalm 27:2 and Isaiah 9:18-21?

2. Read Ephesians 2:1-3. In what way can you be called the walking dead?

3. Rev. Haberstock writes, “Zombies do what zombies do. They may “choose” to eat this human or that human, but it’s all still determined by the zombie nature.” Do you have the power to choose, or are you like a mindless zombie? In what way does your nature influence the choices you make? See Augsburg Confession, Article II.

4. The only way to defeat a zombie is with a headshot. The same is true of the one who first worked the corruption of your human nature. How does God promise to defeat the serpent in Genesis 3:15? How does He fulfill this promise?

5. The death of Jesus was unlike other deaths. He is not only the Crucified One, He is also the Risen One. Read Psalm 16:10. How is Jesus’ resurrection different from the walking dead?

6. This resurrection and life that belongs to Jesus is available for the walking dead. Read John 11:25. How does the resurrection and life of Jesus become yours? Now read John 6:49-58. How does Jesus put a new spin on zombie lore to deliver His life to you?

7. According to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, where are we to look for this new life in Christ?

8. What is the promise for those who have received the life of Christ by faith in 1 Corinthians 15:42-49?

http://higherthings.org