Preachrblog

10 Common but Bad Arguments for “Contemporary Worship” and 10 Quick Rebuttals 1. “You Traditionalists aren't interested in outreach” A: This is simply not true. We simply disagree on how it should be done. Worship should not be “targeted” to the unbeliever or “seeker”. 2. “You Traditionalists are afraid....” A: If by fear you mean concern, yes. But too often the “fear” argument is used to diminish valid concerns without having to address them honestly. 3. “It's just your preference” A: No, in fact, my preference for music is quite different than what I believe is appropriate for worship. You should be glad that my preferences aren't the standard! 4. “It's style, not substance” A: There is much about style that affects and effects substance. I know a sad or happy or angry song when I hear it. “The medium is the message” 5. “Contemporary is more user-friendly” A: There's an argument to be made here, but not without some holes. For one, user-friendliness is not without...

(The following is a sermon preached at our sister congregation, St. John's in Racine) Matthew 20:20-26 July 11th, 2010 “How Righteous?” Dear Friends at St. John's. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Also, greetings from your brothers and sisters at Grace Lutheran Church, where I serve. I think a great deal of my own congregation, and the times I've visited here at St. John's you've always been kind and welcoming to me too. You're nice people. I'm sure if I needed a favor you'd do your best to help me out. You probably also do your best to serve your neighbor, and love God with your whole heart. I think that even Pastor Quinn would assure me that you're good people – God's people in this place. But are you good enough? Jesus has some pretty striking words for us today in Matthew's gospel. Words which might be hard to swallow. He says, “unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the...

Lord God our Father, You kept Abraham and Sarah in safety throughout the days of their pilgrimage, You led the children of Israel through the midst of th esea, and by a star you led the Wise Men to the infant Jesus. Protect and guide those who travel to our synodical convention in Houston. Make their ways safe and their home-comings joyful, and bring all of us at last to our heavenly home, where You dwell in glory with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Luke 10:1-20 July 4th, 2010 “Woe and Peace” A happy 4th of July to all of you. I know many of us will be taking part in the celebration of our nation's birth with cookouts, parades, fireworks and the like. We'll feel patriotic and nostalgic. And it's a good thing to love our nation and give thanks to God for America – and to ask his blessing on it. It's always interesting to relate a national holiday with our Christian faith. For we Christians are in the world, but we are not of it. We live here in time and space in a certain nation, now. But our true citizenship is in heaven, our eternal home. I think in many churches today preachers are talking about what a great country we have. And in many churches today preachers are talking about what a terrible country we have. And there's probably a lot of truth in all of that. We have our good and bad points in this country. But the important message for us today is not about the U.S.A., even though it's our n...