what is it about Lutheran beliefs that makes them so

[LutheranChick]

We take good theology for granted.

What a wonderful thing, indeed, to be taking for granted!

 

[WildStrawberry]

Here is my devo for tonight's meeting.

[FONT=&quot]Hope[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]A friend recently asked “what makes Lutherans so HAPPY over the coming end times?” It brought about a discussion of how Lutherans seem to just “take things in stride” as opposed to other Christians.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With all I could have said on the subject, the answer really comes down to just one word. Hope. Now, being thoroughly Lutheran, I have to ask “what does this mean?” The online free dictionary defines hope as “1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation or the archaic use “To have confidence; trust[/FONT]”
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We Lutherans seem to understand the whole concept of hope in Christ based on God’s promise of salvation and that promise is a “sure thing” as it says in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And because we have that confidence, we also have the "modern" type of hope. We CAN look forward to Christ's Second coming with GREAT Confidence and Expectation! We can do so because, when it all boils down, Jesus did it all FOR us. As Luther said in the Explanation to the 3rd article of the Apostles' Creed: "We can not, by our own reason or strength, come to faith in Christ Jesus, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Because of this hope, this complete confidence and trust we can have in God, we Lutherans should be nothing but happy and joyfully LONGING for the end times to come. It doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us, but it DOES mean that because of God’s boundless grace, His absolute love that gave us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of our Lord, that, even in the hour of our deepest need, we can have that hope, clear and true, that we are forgiven and we will see salvation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Amen. Even so, Come Lord Jesus! Amen.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
Kae

 

[Tofferer]

Well done. I think it is really summarizes, and quite well at that, why we do not get overwrought with the idea of "end times" and also how we understand the hope we, as Lutherans, have. Bravo Zulu on a job well done.

 

[LutheranChick]

Here is my devo for tonight's meeting.

[FONT=&quot]Hope[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]A friend recently asked “what makes Lutherans so HAPPY over the coming end times?” It brought about a discussion of how Lutherans seem to just “take things in stride” as opposed to other Christians.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With all I could have said on the subject, the answer really comes down to just one word. Hope. Now, being thoroughly Lutheran, I have to ask “what does this mean?” The online free dictionary defines hope as “1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation or the archaic use “To have confidence; trust[/FONT]”
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We Lutherans seem to understand the whole concept of hope in Christ based on God’s promise of salvation and that promise is a “sure thing” as it says in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And because we have that confidence, we also have the "modern" type of hope. We CAN look forward to Christ's Second coming with GREAT Confidence and Expectation! We can do so because, when it all boils down, Jesus did it all FOR us. As Luther said in the Explanation to the 3rd article of the Apostles' Creed: "We can not, by our own reason or strength, come to faith in Christ Jesus, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Because of this hope, this complete confidence and trust we can have in God, we Lutherans should be nothing but happy and joyfully LONGING for the end times to come. It doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us, but it DOES mean that because of God’s boundless grace, His absolute love that gave us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of our Lord, that, even in the hour of our deepest need, we can have that hope, clear and true, that we are forgiven and we will see salvation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Amen. Even so, Come Lord Jesus! Amen.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
Kae

Fantastic! So appropriate also, as Sunday was "The Last Judgement" Sunday.

 

[DaRev]

You wanna WOW 'em? Add this somewhere within...

"In the Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, the word translated "hope" is the Greek word "elpis" which means 'the Christian attitude of patient waiting, the expectation of the Divinely provided future.'"

Here is my devo for tonight's meeting.

[FONT=&quot]Hope[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]A friend recently asked “what makes Lutherans so HAPPY over the coming end times?” It brought about a discussion of how Lutherans seem to just “take things in stride” as opposed to other Christians.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]With all I could have said on the subject, the answer really comes down to just one word. Hope. Now, being thoroughly Lutheran, I have to ask “what does this mean?” The online free dictionary defines hope as “1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation or the archaic use “To have confidence; trust[/FONT]”

[FONT=&quot]We Lutherans seem to understand the whole concept of hope in Christ based on God’s promise of salvation and that promise is a “sure thing” as it says in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And because we have that confidence, we also have the "modern" type of hope. We CAN look forward to Christ's Second coming with GREAT Confidence and Expectation! We can do so because, when it all boils down, Jesus did it all FOR us. As Luther said in the Explanation to the 3rd article of the Apostles' Creed: "We can not, by our own reason or strength, come to faith in Christ Jesus, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Because of this hope, this complete confidence and trust we can have in God, we Lutherans should be nothing but happy and joyfully LONGING for the end times to come. It doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us, but it DOES mean that because of God’s boundless grace, His absolute love that gave us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of our Lord, that, even in the hour of our deepest need, we can have that hope, clear and true, that we are forgiven and we will see salvation.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Amen. Even so, Come Lord Jesus! Amen.[/FONT]

Kae

 

[LilLamb219]

You wowed us, Rev

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Pffft. DaRev is such a show off with his greek and stuff.

 

[filosofer]

"In the Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, the word translated "hope" is the Greek word "elpis" which means 'the Christian attitude of patient waiting, the expectation of the Divinely provided future.'"

[FONT= "Book Antiqua"]
I think a little caution needs to be exercised here. The word itself does not always have that sense. Context plays a major role in understanding its use. Thus, while I agree with the theology that you have stated, the word itself cannot carry that weight.

[/font]

 

[DaRev]

I think a little caution needs to be exercised here. The word itself does not always have that sense. Context plays a major role in understanding its use. Thus, while I agree with the theology that you have stated, the word itself cannot carry that weight.

This is true. I provided only 2 examples from the lexicon. But I think that what she is trying to imply through her devotion fits with that context.

 

[RadMan]

What a wonderful thing, indeed, to be taking for granted!

Happy Birthday LC

 

[WildStrawberry]

And of course I didn't check the thread BEFORE going to WG!

But they enjoyed it. Even chuckled at the "being thoroughly Lutheran, I have to ask "what does this mean"" part. *G*

Thanks Rev. So it was okay theologically? *G*

Kae

 

[Tofferer]

I don't know why, but tonight was just plain depressing. I ended up having to answer close to 75% of the questions that our professor asked in class tonight and all we discussed was 1 & 2 Kings. For a seminary, I am wondering how many of the students, especially those who are claiming themselves as preachers, are taking the class seriously? I would think that if they were serious about it, then I wouldn't be a position of being the only one that our professor can rely upon to have an answer to his questions. Am I wrong to think that way?

 

[Confess]

I don't know why, but tonight was just plain depressing. I ended up having to answer close to 75% of the questions that our professor asked in class tonight and all we discussed was 1 & 2 Kings. For a seminary, I am wondering how many of the students, especially those who are claiming themselves as preachers, are taking the class seriously? I would think that if they were serious about it, then I wouldn't be a position of being the only one that our professor can rely upon to have an answer to his questions. Am I wrong to think that way?

Golly no!!!

I would think that the love for the Word of God would drive any called man to thirst and desire to talk about it!!!

 

[LutheranChick]

Happy Birthday LC

Thanks, RadMan!

 

[Tofferer]

Golly no!!!

I would think that the love for the Word of God would drive any called man to thirst and desire to talk about it!!!

I guess it just burns me to think that somebody who is supposedly in the postition of a pastor would be so under qualified for the position. Even worse that I am in a class with three such individuals (one is also a windows user who thinks he knows more than I do about Linux, though that is more for the nerd thread). I can not begin to express how awkward I sometimes feel in class when I am told not to answer a question only for the instructor to have to change his mind and ask me to answer the question after nobody even attempts an answer (average wait time is approximately five minutes).

 

[Confess]

I guess it just burns me to think that somebody who is supposedly in the postition of a pastor would be so under qualified for the position. Even worse that I am in a class with three such individuals (one is also a windows user who thinks he knows more than I do about Linux, though that is more for the nerd thread). I can not begin to express how awkward I sometimes feel in class when I am told not to answer a question only for the instructor to have to change his mind and ask me to answer the question after nobody even attempts an answer (average wait time is approximately five minutes).

It is truly sad. We moved 850 miles because we found the same problem. Pray for them. That is all I can say other than I empathize.

 

[Tofferer]

It is truly sad. We moved 850 miles because we found the same problem. Pray for them. That is all I can say other than I empathize.

I do pray, but I fear that our times are now not that different than in Luther's day when many priest were wholly unfit to be in the pulpit.