Use this link to see the growing list.

I’ll post an update later today, toward evening, about whether things are looking up for Wednesday, including confirmation class at Concordia.

VBS2011002 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011044 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011006 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011050 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011030 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011048 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011013 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011042 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011003 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011033 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011038 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011035 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011021 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011008 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011017 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011055 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011047 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011009 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011027 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011040 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011031 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011039 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011023 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011001 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011010 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011014 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011018 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011054 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011028 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011052 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011049 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011011 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011041 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011045 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011025 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011053 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011036 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011019 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011034 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011005 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011029 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011051 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011026 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011043 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011012 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011032 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011037 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011020 by Bethany and Concordia

VBS2011016 by Bethany and Concordia

More to come…

Christians recognize this meaning through our customs and traditions. Some of our practices serve as capsules for God’s Word itself, like the liturgy of the Church and the lectionary of readings, prayers, and other related morsels that cover the entire Church Year. Other things we do serve the lesser, but still important function of reminding ourselves of what’s important. In this way, the traditions we have received from our forefathers help to preserve the meaning they contain. Likewise, the traditions we choose to pass on to the next generation fulfill their purpose insofar as they communicate our faith and our values through time.

Though human traditions are by definition neither commanded nor forbidden by God, we should not lightly discard them. Instead, we should try to retain their full importance by understanding the meaning behind them and following them for the sake of that meaning.

Sometimes the meaning has a lasting importance, but sometimes it does not. Sometimes we remember the meaning of a tradition very well, but other times we retain the practice and unfortunately forget the whole reason why. There are good reasons to end a tradition, and it’s no sin to do so. But as long as we do understand a particular practice, it seems wise to remember it, and share that meaning as much as we can. (See Joshua 4:5-7.)

We should also understand that traditions vary from place to place, from church to church, from synod to synod, and from family to family. This is not bad, but it can lead to confusion if we fail to understand and teach the meaning behind the traditions. We can promote unity between churches by being aware of other practices and the reasons for them, and possibly even adopting the same practices for the sake of good order. There are many examples of this in church history, such as the church orders written by Johannes Bugenhagen and Martin Chemnitz.

Our parish consists of two congregations, and the younger of them is already over 25 years old. Some of our households are new to the Lutheran Church, while others grew up in it. Our families each have their own ideas of which traditions are important, and for what reasons. So I invite all of our families to submit a list of those Christian traditions that you like to observe, along with a short description of each one. Please include (as appropriate):

1. The date or days that apply,
2. a title,
3. a description of how it is observed,
4. its origin, and
5. its purpose or meaning.

We can assemble all of them into a growing anthology that will help us to understand one another and to promote unity within and between our congregations. The anthology could possibly be published as early as January.

Heavenly Father, we give thanks to you . . .

• for continuing to pour out your love and mercy.
• for sending your Son to rescue us from the power of sin and damnation by granting us your free and full forgiveness.
• for caring for us daily, though we do not deserve any of your kindness.
• for having your holy angels watch over our coming and going.
• for the abundance of foods we enjoy as you daily provide for our sustenance.
• for enabling us to have medicines and doctors and nurses to treat our ailments, as we rely on your healing power to restore health in keeping with whatever is your good and gracious will.
• for blessing our nation and granting us the freedoms we enjoy.
• for good and seasonable weather where we can enjoy the wonders of your creation.
• for giving us men and women who are willing to risk their lives as they faithfully serve in our armed forces.
• for granting us churches to attend where your Word is preached and your sacraments are properly administered.
• for pastors, teachers and missionaries.
• for giving us opportunities to further your kingdom through the efforts of our synod, our Lutheran elementary schools, our Bethany College, and our Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.
• for providing us with the means of grace whereby you grant us your highest blessings as secured through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
• We also thank you for giving us the outlet of prayer to bring our petitions before your throne and to praise your holy name.

In Jesus’ name we pray and live. Amen.

Bull Barn Party 2011

Photo Story Church 2010-11

The American home, by far the most important school for Christianity, is in shambles. And of all the reasons, one of the foremost is that we think we are too busy to practice the basic principles of Christian living. Our lives are busy, but too often we confuse self-centeredness with legitimate tasks. To have a successful home we must serve each other, not ourselves.

Children in today’s average American home suffer from what we might call “parental drain.” Their parents “drain” themselves with their own activities so that little is left of them, emotionally, to give to their children. Parents need the little time they have at home to relax. Children are often made to feel like intruders upon their parent’s badly needed relaxation. The obvious problem is that children are placed lower on the list of priorities than work and recreation. The results are tragic.

Parents, especially working mothers, ought to consider carefully whether they are “burning themselves out” for others and for unnecessary material benefits so that little is left for their most important possession of all, their children. The higher standard of living offers little satisfaction to a child who lacks the comfort of parental attention and guidance. The lack of understanding in teen years most surely results from lack of communication ten years earlier. This is not to say that a mother cannot work outside the home or that the father cannot be busy. We are saying that children should not be “sacrificed” on the list of priorities because of covetousness. Children should be given the highest priority next to God himself.

But by far the most critical problem in the average American home is the lack of family worship — real, creative worship. Religion is practiced as a sideline. Too often religion is compartmentalized into the Sunday morning slot. The rest of the week, God is just on call. Even in homes where there are daily devotions, they are usually not as creative and effective as they should be.

The successful family in this culture must learn to know and worship God in their home, the arena of greatest influence. Children must learn in the home to know God’s Word well enough to meet challenges to their faith. We emphasize the home because it is estimated that the average child is under the influence and instruction of the church only one percent of the time. A Christian day school education raises the percentage considerably, but even so, a masterful job of education must be performed in the home to meet the challenges of today’s culture.

Dr. Hendricks compares child-raising in today’s environment to building a fire in the rain:

Inculcating Christian standards is like building a fire in the rain. It requires willful determination, against all odds, to do what seems impossible. It calls for expertise — for know-how which understands the nature of the child and the nature of the hostile world. It demands a stubborn perseverence to keep fanning the flickering flame, to keep protecting the hot coals. A warm young life, glowing for Christ, is the most needed commodity in the damp, depressing chill of the marketplace today.

Christian parents may be tempted to think that if they send their children to Sunday school, vacation Bible school, or perhaps a Christian day school that then they have done their duty in instructing their children. Surely, a Christian parent will want to make use of these agencies which the church offers to feed the lambs, but what God told Moses to tell the parents of his day applies to us today, too, “And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). From this we see that the important matter of instruction is not to be a hit-and-miss affair, but a constant daily thing in the home. In this picture we see a family gathered around a table where the father, or one of the family, reads a section from the Bible or devotional book; we see a mother reading a Bible story to her little ones at bedtime; we see a parent answering the hundred and one queries of the youngsters. Fortunate the children that are brought up in this atmosphere! To be pitied, truly pitied, are the children who never hear God’s name mentioned in the home, except perhaps in cursing.

In his German Order of Worship, 1526, we read: “For if the parents and guardians are unwilling to take such pains with the young, either personally or through others, Catechism [instruction] will never be established.”

In this he was confirmed by the experiences he had while on his tour of visitation. If the children were to memorize the Catechism and learn to understand it, they must be instructed and questioned individually, a task to which the Church was unequal, and for the accomplishment of which also the small number of schools was altogether inadequate. Parents, however, were able to reach the children individually. They had the time and opportunity, too, morning, noon, and evening, at the table, etc. Furthermore, they had the greatest interest in this matter, the children being their own flesh and blood. And they, in the first place, were commanded by God to provide for the proper training of their children.

The fathers and mothers, therefore, these natural and divinely appointed teachers of the children, Luther was at great pains to enlist for the urgent work of instructing the young. They should see that the children and servants not only attended the Catechism-sermons in church, but also memorized the text and learned to understand it. The Christian homes should again become home-churches, homeschools, where the housefathers were both house-priests and house-teachers, performing the office of the ministry there just as the pastors did in the churches.

With ever-increasing energy Luther, therefore, urged the parents to study the Catechism in order to be able to teach it to their children.