Having received and been instructed from the Word of the Lord, we respond by confessing the Christian faith. This statement of faith is called a Creed (from the Latin word credo, “I believe”).

Romans 10:9–10
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

From the earliest times of the Church, there have been creeds. While certainly the Bible records some of the earliest creeds (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3, Philippians 2:11), challenges to correct doctrine required the Church to form responses that stated clearly the teaching of Scripture.

APOSTLE’S CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Apostle’s Creed is the oldest of the Christian creeds. It appears to have arisen out of the earliest worshiping communities as a concise and easily learned way to catechize converts what to believe about the person and work of God. This creed is often confessed at Baptism, personal devotions, and in corporate worship when the Lord’s Supper is not being celebrated.

NICENE CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life +of the world to come. Amen.

While the earliest creeds arose out of need to teach what to believe, there were times that Church needed to take a stand and teach what not to believe. Fourth century controversies over the work and Person of Jesus Christ caused chaos in the Church and threatened to destroy the true Scriptural teaching about Jesus. The Nicene Creed was formed in response to the false teachers. The larger second article, which teaches about Jesus, is in direct response, and condemns, the false teachings of that time. The Nicene Creed became the standard by which congregations, and a Christian, were in unity with the teaching of Scripture. The Nicene Creed, with it’s teaching that Christ came into the world “for us” to pay for our sins, and that He will “come again” have won it a place as part of our celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar.

ATHANASIAN CREED

Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, . . .

 . . . This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.

The third of the Church’s historic creeds is also her longest. The Athanasian Creed stresses the right teaching of the faith, and the unity, which comes only from a right confession. Because of its clear teaching on the nature of God, the Athanasian Creed is often confessed on Trinity Sunday.

These statements, while never seen as being the same as the inspired Word of God, are confessed because they clearly and accurately present the teaching of Scripture. Because their contents, then, are Scriptural, the doctrines they taught are held to be true and necessary for all members of the Church to confess. By confessing one of the Church’s historic creeds, we express our unity in the faith, a unity of what we believe, teach, and confess—a unity of faith that unities us with what the entire Church has confessed throughout the world and across the ages.

Prayer of the Church

1 Timothy 2:1–4
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Corporate prayer has always been a mark of the public worship of the One True God. It is both our duty and our privilege as God’s children to bring our concerns before Him. Within the Divine Service, the public prayer is a response to the Word and all that has been heard. The Prayer of the Church is the congregation’s prayer and all join this response to the riches that have been received, and uses the themes of the day as a focus for the petitions that are offered. In the Prayer of the Church teaches us to pray not only for our own needs but also for our neighbor. This is seen in the traditional invitation: “Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.” This is the longest prayer in the Divine Service and may include petitions

• for the local congregation and the Church at large,
• for right teaching,
• for protection from the assaults of the devil,
• for the government,
• for those who suffer,
• for the welfare and safety of ourselves and others,
• for the conversion of the unbeliever,
• and for the restoration of those who have left the Church.

All those in the congregation are invited to add their voices to each petition by responding with “Hear my prayer” or with the words from the Kyrie, “Lord, have mercy.”

The traditional position of the Prayer of the Church at the conclusion of the Service of the Word and before the Service of the Sacrament also teaches us the interrelationship of these parts of the liturgy. Having heard the Word read and proclaimed in the Service of the Word, the congregational members, as the body of Christ, carry out their God-given status as the royal priesthood of believers. We glorify God and intercede before Him, thereby serving Him and our neighbor. Then in the Service of the Sacrament, we are reminded and taught anew the very means by which God richly provides for our greatest need; for surely if God did not spare His own Son, but sacrificed Him for our salvation, then He will secure for us the things for which we pray in this life.

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The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Salutation is a special greeting between the congregation and its pastor. Originally the pastor would have spoken “Peace be with you,” purposefully repeating our Lord’s post-resurrection greeting to His fearful disciples gathered together in the upper room on that first Easter evening. The present wording of the Salutation is inexorably tied to His incarnation (Luke 1:28) and with His promise to be with His church (Matthew 28:20). In the Divine Service the announcement of the Lord’s peace heralds His coming to us in the readings that follow and makes us aware that important things are about to happen.

Salutation. Special greeting between pastor and people: “The Lord be with you,” followed by the response “And also with you” or “And with your spirit.”

Prayer and The Collect of the Day

Prayer is how the Christian acknowledges the gifts of the Gospel. “Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise (Lutheran Worship, pg. 6). In the Scriptures God speaks to human beings, but in prayer, human beings speak to God. Prayer is the life of faith in active communion or conversation with object of our faith–God. Prayer is the evidence of the relationship we have with the Father because of the redemption won for us by the Son. It shows our childlike trust and confidence in the One who does for us all that we need and more.

Let us pray.

The Collect of the Day “collects” in a concise and beautiful manner the Gospel message for the day to implore God, by His grace and through His mercy, to manifest His love in and through our thoughts, words, and deeds. We pray these things to remember Him who always provides for us, and to receive these gifts with godly thanksgiving. Most of these prayers have been in continuous use in the Church for more than 1,500 years. In praying the Collect, we join with the great body of believers, the communion of saints, and with the generations yet to come.

 Amen. Declaration that what has been said is true and affirming its trust in the Lord’s Gospel promise; “yes, yes, this is most certainly true.”

A special advantage of using the collects, both ancient and modern, is that they keep the fundamental needs of salvation and the great objective facts of divine grace in clear focus, and they align us with the revealed will of God which will soon be proclaimed in the reading of Scripture. The congregation makes the Collect its own with its “amen,”

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Next: How Lutherans Worship – 12: Hearing God’s Word

Matins/Lauds:  Opening Versicles, Monthly Psalter (see chart on pages 1436-1437 – easiest is to write the divisions into the Psalter itself), Hymn stanza, OT reading, Responsory, Canticle (Te Deum on Sundays; Benedictus all other days), Kyrie, Our Father, Prayer of the Day, Prayer for the Day of the Week (pp. 1306-1309), Collect for Grace, Benedicamus, Benediction

Vespers:  Opening Versicles, Monthly Psalter (as above), Hymn stanza, NT reading, Responsory, Writing, Versicle and Magnificat, Kyrie, Our Father, Prayer of the Day, Intercessions for family and for those who have asked my prayers, Collect for Peace, Benedicamus, Benediction

The heart of this way of using the Treasury is the Monthly Psalter.  Truly, the more I use the Psalms, the more I have come to love them and find them to be the very best prayers we as the Church can ever offer.  As Bonhoeffer said, they’re all expansions of the petitions of the Our Father.

Posted by William Weedon,  Sunday, August 29, 2010  on Weedon’s Blog

Every morning I begin with Treasury of Daily Prayer. Then Book of Concord follows and then Greek New Testament. Treasury is one of the greatest book I have ever read. It is done with love to God’s Word and His people – the Lutheran Church.  When Angela is in my study that early in the morning, I translate readings for her. Often I simply read appointed texts for the Treasury from the Ukrainian Bible, especially when children join us.

The difference in 1 week between Easter in the East and in the West this year and in 13 days (in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars in general) causes only a little inconvenience. For even though we have different calendars and different liturgies (we use St. John Chrysostom ‘revised’ liturgy), theology is the same, faith is the same, and Christian minds want to read and hear and exercise the same things as our bothers in the Western part of the Church do. Coming back to Treasury, my wonderful and miraculous table book – to make it more practical, I took a pencil, sharpened it and slighltly wrote Julian Calendar dates over pages with fixed dates in the Treasury.  Treasury is already a dream book for those of my colleagues in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church that read and speak English.

Bishop Horpynchuk keeps an active blog at УКРАЇНСЬКЕ ЛЮТЕРАНСТВО (Ukrainian Lutheranism).

CPH, working closely with the Kantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, will provide a set of beautiful recordings of the sung and spoken portions of the prayer services offered in the Treasury. Included are:

• Matins (8 tracks)
• Vespers (6 tracks)
• Compline (9 tracks)
• Morning Prayer (7 tracks)
• Evening Prayer (8 tracks)
• Litany (1 track)

The Kantorei is a choir of sixteen male voices from the student body of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The recordings have been prepared to allow an individual, family, or even a small group to have the support to confidently sing the liturgy of the prayer services.

While this will be a wonderful complementary product for the users of Treasury of Daily Prayer, others who desire to connect their personal devotion time to the Church’s pattern of prayer will find this to be a rich and meaningful resource.

So get creative and send us your best suggestion. The poll is open through Friday, October 9, 2009.

Give Concordia your ideas. Click here to got to the survey.  You can also visit Treasury of Daily Prayer on Facebook and hear a sample in the Links area.

Last December, I led an introductory class/workshop on prayer and using the then-new Treasury of Daily Prayer. I was asked to publish my notes from the workshop, which I never did; the current sale on the Treasury reminded me of that. (Did I mention it is 50% off? Go buy it!) Here are some of my notes, which are very rough; I have eliminated/modified/summarized a lot of what we did, which was more hands-on, walking through the book:

After some Introduction and Preliminaries discussing the Layout of the Treasury of Daily Prayer (TDP), we walked through placing the ribbons:

Blue: Flexible placement.
TDP recommends using it for “Prayers for the Baptized Life” (page 1312)
However, that comes shortly after the purple ribbon, and is easily remembered because of its placement.
I have my blue ribbon on the Schedule for Reading the Psalms over Thirty Days (page 1436)
Other places you might want to put it:
Small Catechism, page 1446
Preparation for Confession and Absolution, p1458
Preparation for the Sacrament of the Altar, p1465
Brief Instruction for Those Preparing for Holy Communion

After discussing the Lectionary, I talked about the importance of prayer in daily life (a lesson which, alas, I continually need to re-learn myself):

Setting the Stage:

• Make a commitment to daily prayer
• Schedule a time or times, either by the clock or by daily landmarks (e.g., after you get up, after breakfast, before lunch, 10pm, before bed)
• Communicate with others in your family what time you want to pray as a group
• There will be days when you miss it because life intruded, you were lazy, sinful, sick, etc. Don’t worry or let that cause total failure. Simply start again at the right place.
• Don’t try to do too much – better to do something, however small, than to set yourself up for failure and guilt.

Additionally:

• Find a quiet place
• Turn off TV, radio
• Close doors if noise might distract you
• Turn off cell phone, email notifications
• Agree that you will not answer the phone. Let it go to voicemail. It can wait.

And the lesson I learned from using the Brotherhood Prayer Book (and Ben Mayes’ helpful retreats): Spend a minute or two in preparation, putting your ribbons in place (and explaining, if necessary, what will be happening to those who are joining you)

Make a list (index card or scrap paper will do) of people you want to pray for. Family members, pastor, church, godchildren, the nation and leaders, the sick, suffering, mourning; finally, your own struggles and needs.

We then spent some time talking about the different offices of prayer (i.e., Matins, Vespers, the short orders for individuals and families, etc.), and Luther’s advice on starting simply instead of trying to do too much.

On the hymn appointed for each day:

Office Hymn: we will use the hymn stanza for December 6 – sing it if you know the tune; when you are on your own and the tune is not familiar, you can look it up in the hymnal, play it on the piano, or just speak it. Do you what you can and what you have time for. Some may wish to look up the hymn in the hymnbook and sing the entire hymn.

On using the Bible Readings for each day:

For the Bible Reading, we will read just the Old Testament reading.
Since it’s morning and we’re planning to pray later, we can leave the New Testament reading till then. If this is the only time you would be praying today, you could read both readings if there is time.
Another option would be to commit to reading the NT readings one year, and the Old Testament readings the next.

Where to put the “Writing”:

When the Sermon or Catechetical Instruction time comes in the Office, we’ll read the writing and the summary of the Saint being commemorated, or remembered

Using the Prayers:

For the prayers, we will read the prayer of the day in the year (Gold Ribbon), the prayer for the day in the week (Purple Ribbon), and any special prayers

When you are praying by yourself, you simply say all the parts yourself. Nothing else changes. Still speak out loud, unless it would not be acceptable. In those cases, even if you can move your mouth and whisper very quietly, do that.

Discussion of Prayer and Meditation according to a Scriptural Spirituality
Receptive Spirituality
Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio

Prayer is difficult
“Devotion” is so called because it requires devotion, dedication, discipline. The cares of the world, distractions, and sometimes the sinful thoughts that it doesn’t really matter or that nothing really changes can make us give up quickly.

The Fathers spoke of the “exercise of piety,” and like bodily exercise, playing an instrument, mathematics or foreign languages, if we do not keep on exercising, practicing, reviewing, we will lose what we had, and so the last state is worse than the first.

How do we pray?
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and He gave them a set prayer to use: the Lord’s Prayer

In Acts 2:42, the Early Church devoted themselves to “THE Prayers,” implying a set order of prayer.

The Old Testament set out a pattern of evening and morning prayers at the tabernacle, and the Jews who could not attend would pray at the same hours, with set prayers

From the Psalms, we see certain patterns:

“O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You.” (Psalm 88:2)
“I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your Word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your Word.” (Psalm 119:147-148)
“Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:164)

The greatest challenge is not to lose sight of the objectivity of the Word.

Christian meditation, Christian spirituality is oral and tangible. We do not experience God in the silence of our hearts; and while we can marvel at the power of God and discern His glory from creation, we cannot know His will from beholding a sunset, mountain, or ocean. We only know His will from His Word.

So when you are meditating on the Word, when you are using the Treasury by yourself, speak the Psalms, Readings, and prayers out loud. This does several things:

It compels you to slow down.

Through engaging not just the mind but the mouth and the ear, more of the body becomes engaged and thus the Word becomes more memorable.

Pray as though someone were listening; God just might be!

The Word of God, and especially the Name of JESUS, drives the demons away and causes angels to rejoice. Name the Name of JESUS wherever you are; at the Name of JESUS every knee must bow.

Luther: “You should meditate [on the Scriptures], that is, not only in your heart, but also externally, by repeating the written words externally and rubbing them (like a herb for its flavor), reading and rereading them with diligent attention and reflection, so that you may see what the Holy Spirit means by them.”

“Spiritual” does not mean intangible; in Christian thinking, it is not the opposite of physical. That which is Spiritual is that which is of and from the Holy Spirit. So for something to be Spiritual, it is something done in, by, or for us by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit works through the means of Word and Sacrament. So don’t look for “spirituality” in an inward meditation of mind-clearing, deprivation, or silence. Look for spirituality where the Holy Spirit is: in the Word (and in the Sacraments)

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, and He teaches us about Christ through His Word. Not mental guidance or immediate illumination, but faith and guidance through the Scriptures, which are external to ourselves.

Read pp. 18f in Kleinig on “The External Word”

Meditation during the week flows from and towards the Divine Service, wherein we receive those other tangible gifts: the Sacraments of Absolution and Holy Communion.

—————————

Pastor Esget’s excellent blog Esgetology:Waiting for the Parousia, is worth the read.

James J. Tissot, 'Resurrection'

Matthew 28:1-6

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.

Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate; Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen; Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing; Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty; Christ is Risen indeed from the dead, the first of the sleepers, Glory and power are his forever and ever.
–St. Hippolytus (AD 190-236)

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
–Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

I confess that a great mystery confronts me at this tomb of sin and death. He was buried behind the great seal of my sin and my death. By faith I know also that He who died is the One who unlocked the great secret of Your love. His tomb is my tomb. He carried with Him to the grave my sin and my death that He might break their hold on me.

Trusting in the Lord’s promise that He would rise again on the third day, I come not to mourn Him but to confess the sin that He would leave buried. Have mercy on me O God! Have mercy on me. Amen.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.
–Ah, Holy Jesus, Johann Heermann (1585-1647)

O Christ, Lamb of God, embrace me with Your love, and forgive me all my sins. Your death brings healing to my soul, peace to my mind, cleansing to my heart. If You would mark iniquity, I could not come; for my hands are unclean, my lips are sullied, and my heart is blackened by sin. But beholding You bleeding, despised, forsaken, dying, pierced for my sake, I come to be cleansed and forgiven.

O Christ, Lamb of God, grant that I may hate sin and wickedness more and more as I behold You in Your great agony. My grate¬ful heart today finds hope in Your words, com¬fort in Your promises, and salvation in Your finished work on the Cross, by which You have over¬come sin, Satan, and death.

O Christ, have mercy. O Christ, have mercy. O Lord, hear my prayer. Amen.

There for me the Savior stands,
shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.
–Depth of Mercy, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)