Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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The Church's hymns help us see our own world from another—and perhaps not so different—vantage point that illuminates the impact of the work of Christ and the general providing and protecting activity of our Creator in our lives.
The scope of catechesis from the Reformation was broad and included not only instruction at church but in the home and in schools.
Our forefathers dedicated Holy Cross Day to jolt the Church into remembrance that Christianity is not principally about ethics.
The gospel fires up within us the gratitude, joy, and love to pull off what the law never could get us to do.
No good will come to the cause of the Gospel by followers of Jesus being regarded as crazy dissidents who will not cooperate with the most basic social mechanisms.
In both Psalms, we hear the Messiah becoming sin for us, and thus he pleads on our behalf before the Father
Physicality is good. Some way or another, choose a full performance of Messiah and give it your full attention. More than one time. Consider it a devotional practice.
We’ve become experts at making deals with God.
This is an excerpt adapted from “Let the Bird Fly” written by Wade Johnston (1517 Publishing, 2019).
Saying the words of the prayer together meant that if my voice became too weak or shaky, other voices would be around to support and continue the message.
Dürer's first significant work to be published was a woodcut which served as the title page for a volume of St. Jerome’s Letters in August of 1492.
"Faith Alone, The Heart of Everything" written by Bo Giertz and translated by Bror Erickson, is now available for purchase from 1517 Publishing