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All Saints Day
November 2016
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PASTOR'S MESSAGE
Dear Friends in Christ,
On
Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, during our worship services we will commemorate those who have been called to their eternal rest since last All Saints Day:
Marvin
Elroy Sell
September 27, 1930--November 4, 2015
Hilda Frances Pieper
October 4, 1927--June 23, 2016
Let us give thanks to God for these faithful servants whom God called to faith and now rest from their labors.
Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10
Pastor James L. Kroonblawd
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I believe in the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints
What is the holy Christian church?
The holy Christian church is the communion of saints, the total number of those who believe in Christ. All believers in Christ, but only believers, are members of the church (invisible church).
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THE THIRD ARTICLE OF THE CREED
by Rev. Jason D. Lane
The phrase in the creed, communio sanctorum, can be translated in one of two ways. It can mean "communion of the saints" as a further explanation of "the holy Christian Church" or it can mean "the communion in the holy things," also a fair translation of the Latin. But either way, whether it is the holy communion of saints who gather around the Word and Sacraments or the Word and Sacraments themselves, it is the Holy Spirit who does it, who gathers the church throughout the world, calling sinners to repentance and creating faith through the ministers He sends and the sacraments they administer.
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MARTIN LUTHER'S WORDS
Hear my prayer, O Lord.
The life of a saint is more a taking from God than a giving; more a desiring than a having; more a becoming pious than a being pious. Thus St. Augustine says that faith obtains what the Law demands. Hence imploring, desiring, searching is the true essence of the inner man, as in Ps. 34:10: "Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing," and in Ps. 105:4: "Seek His presence continually." Again, Ps. 14:3 says of the proud saints: "There is none that seeks after God"-they have already found Him.
Luther, M. (1999). Luther's works, vol. 14: Selected Psalms III. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 14, p. 196). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
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FROM THE BIBLE
"You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." Eph.2:19-22
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Each year on October 18 the Church celebrates with great joy the Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist
St. Paul once called Luke "the beloved physician" (Colossians
4:14). He was, thus, a doctor of the body, but even more has the Church so honored him as a doctor of the soul. Apart from accompanying St. Paul on some of his missionary travels, St. Luke wrote more than one-third of our New Testament. He carefully researched and set in order an extensive account of the life of our Lord Jesus, the third canonical Gospel. He also researched the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, adding his own memoirs of his time with St. Paul.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, our Father, Your blessed Son called Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul. Grant that the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments may put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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SAINTS: MORE THAN A 'SHORT LIST'
by Dr. Gregory J. Wismar
Is the Lutheran Church short on saints? By some standards, it appears that it might be. There are other Christian denominations that seem to have at least one saint (or more) assigned to every day of the year. The Lutheran listing, as represented by the saints included in the table of "Feasts and Festivals" and the list of "Commemorations" in Lutheran Service Book, is not that extensive. "Feasts and Festivals" presents us with about two dozen names, and "Commemorations" adds fewer than a hundred more. Are these people the only genuine saints in the history of the Christian Church?
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FROM THE BIBLE
"If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."
Rom.8:9
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A POEM WRITTEN LONG AGO TO COMMEMORATE THE REFORMATION PRAISES HALLOWEEN WITH THESE WORDS:
Blest Halloween that struck the hour
When Luther's hammer rose and fell
At Wittenberg in heaven-born power
And rang dark popery's funeral-knell,
When long and cruel night was gone
And smiling rose the promised dawn!
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MARTIN LUTHER'S WORDS
"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." Psalm 51:3
The difference between the true saints and the sham saints is this: the former see their transgressions and realize that they are not what they should be and want to be. Therefore they judge themselves and are not concerned about others. The others, however, do not perceive their own wickedness; they imagine they are as they should be. They always forget about themselves and sit in judgment on the wickedness of others. They pervert this psalm and say: "I perceive the sins of others, and the sins of others are always before me." This is because they have their own sins on their back and a log in their eyes (Matt. 7:3-5).
Luther, M. (1999). Luther's works, vol. 14: Selected Psalms III. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 14, p. 167). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
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FROM THE BIBLE
"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."
John
10:16
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FACES OF THE REFORMATION
Explore the past through the people who lived it! In the months leading to the 500th Anniversary to the Reformation, you will meet 25 men and women passionate about the Reformation re-discovery of the Gospel-either for or against it. Each person is an unforgettable face of the Reformation era.
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| click to meet Frederick the Wise |
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| click to meet Hans and Margarethe Luder |
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EDITOR'S NOTE
TLO Disciple, with a topical study in each issue, is distributed primarily via email on the first of every month. Print copies are available by contacting the TLO Church office at
651-454-7235 or the
Church Office via email.
Calendars, volunteer information, serving groups and the like will accompany the TLO Together, on the last Wednesday of the month. Click here to subscribe to TLO Together . This publication is also mailed upon request.
Soli Deo gloria
2950 Highway 55
Eagan MN 55121
p:651-454-7235 f:651-454-0109
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