Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteolusness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Rios’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark the herald angels soing,
“Glory to the newborn King.”
LSB Hymn #380
This Christmas Eve at 7pm the people of Trinity will gather to witness the second birth of Christy Valino and her daughter Agustina Garcia in Holy Baptism, even as we celebrate birth of the Christ child in the Christmas message and carols of His Church. We will also welcome Carlos Garcia, husband to Christy and father to Agustina, into membership here at Trinity by Confirmation of faith.

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in at 74 N. Fort Lane and worship Christ the newborn King with us. If you are not, join us around the throne of God at your local altar where the Holy Spirit keeps you with Christ Jesus and all the company of heaven.

And for any of you who have not been to church to hear and receive God’s Word and Promise of forgiveness in Christ Jesus, what better time to come and be welcomed back by our Lord and His Father in heaven?

–
In the peace of the Christ Child–
Our Crucified and Resurrected Savior,
Pastor Hering

THE BOOK OF CONCORD READING
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
FORMULA OF CONCORD:
SOLID DECLARATION
ARTICLE IV.7-12: GOOD WORKS

⁷ … it is God’s will, order, and command that believers should walk in good works. Truly good works are not those that everyone does himself from a good intention, or which are done according to human traditions, but those that God Himself has prescribed and commanded in His Word. Also, truly good works are done not by our own natural powers, but in this way: when a person is reconciled with God through faith and renewed by the Holy Spirit.…

⁸ … the good works of believers are pleasing and acceptable to God (although in this flesh they are impure and incomplete). They are acceptable for the sake of the Lord Christ, through faith, because the person is acceptable to God. …

⁹ Faith must be the mother and source of works that are truly good and well pleasing to God, which God will reward in this world and in the world to come. This is why St. Paul calls them true fruit of faith, also fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22–23]. For, as Dr. Luther writes in the Preface to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans:

Faith, however, is a divine work in us that changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12–13]. It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; it brings with it the Holy Spirit. O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. ¹¹ It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.

¹²Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times. This knowledge of and confidence in God’s grace makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all creatures. And this is the work that the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God, who has shown him this grace. Thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light from fire.

Condensed quotations from the Lutheran Confessions from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright 2005, 2006 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Surprisingly, in a time when the pendulum seems to have swung to the “right,” faithful Lutheran pastors who take their call and ordination vows seriously continue to be disposed of precisely for being faithful. This assault on the Office of the Holy Ministry–which we confess was instituted by Christ Himself according to AC V “That we may obtain this faith” of the Chief Article, AC IV–if anything, has intensified of late.

The faithful exercise of this office in regard to the public administration of the Sacrament of the Altar is almost always a primary bone of contention when a pastor is wrongfully deposed.

The Augustana Ministerium & Confraternity is a pastoral association and supportingconfraternity of laymen formed to preserve and promote Lutheran pastors and adistinctively Lutheran Ministry of Word and Sacrament to Lutheran congregations in the face of such assaults. As such it exists to defend, encourage, and admonish its members; to upholdthe Office of the Holy Ministry, to foster missionary activity; and to promotethe raising up of qualified men into this holy office.

This year’sSeventh Annual Theological Conference of The Augustana Ministerium & Confraternity seeks to confront thisabominable situation in our Lutheran churches by examining “Fellowship As theBody of Christ” August 7-9, 2012 @ Quality Inn & Suites, Elk Grove Village,IL. Registration details as well as the slate of presenters and topics follows my signature. This promises to be a vigorous and enlightening three days of theological study, fraternal discussion, and good old Lutheran Gemütlichkeit.

You can find out more about The Augustana Ministerium & Confraternity, make donations, and register for the Conference at our website, http://augustanaministerium.org/.

The Rev. Kurt M. Hering, Dean of Pastoral Care
The Augustana Mnisterium

http://augustanaministerium.org/

Presenters and topics include:

Rev. Robin Fish Jr.
(Former Pastor and organist, LC-MS)
“Fellowship and the Office of the Holy Ministry: Suffering and Honor in the Body of Christ”

Rev. Bruce Ley
(Pastor, Holy Cross Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod of Albany, OR; BoD-Association of Confessing Evangelical Lutheran Congregations)
“When Fellowship Isn’t Fellowship:
What Are Pastors and Congregations to Do?
An Alphabet Soup from ACELC [intraSynod] to TAM [intraLutheran]and beyond [ACLC/ELDoNA fellowship agreement].”

Rev. Brian Saunders (President, LC-MS Iowa East District)–”Communion Casuistry”

Rev. Gregory Schultz (Pastor, LC-MS, Eastern District)–”Authority and Discipline: Their Roles in Fellowship As the Body ofChrist.”

Rev. Terry Small (Pastor, Saint John Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod of Homestead, IA)–”Closed Communion: Where are the Boundaries”

The theological portion of the program is open to members and non-members, clergy and laity alike. The Plenary Session of the Ministerium will be open to all attendees, except during an executive session, should one be called.

The cost of the conference will be $30. (For members of The Augustana Ministerium or The Augustana Confraternity, having paid your 2012 dues—$50 for Ministerium members, $40 for Confraternity members—this $30 fee is covered by said dues. Thus, membership in the Ministerium or Confraternity is an amazing value for those who are able to attend the conference…and still a very good value for those who cannot attend!)

Make checks payable to:
The Augustana Ministerium
c/o The Rev. Gregory J. Schultz, Bursar
721 Payne Avenue
North Tonawanda, NY 14120

Discounted rooms are available at the Quality Inn & Suites for those attending the Conference and Plenary. Rates of $69.99 per night for a room with one king bed, or $74.99 per night for a room with two double beds are available when reservations are made before July 1st.

Conference and Lodging location:

Quality Inn & Suites, Elk Grove Village, IL (Chicago/O’Hare area)
100 Busse Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
(847) 593-8600

http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-elk_grove_village-illinois-IL275

Please be sure to mention the Augustana Ministerium for the group rates, before July 1st.

For further information or questions, please call Rev. Anthony Oncken at (847) 548-0448, or e-mail at onckenar@hotmail.com.

Hand crafted by Robert Oehlert, the father of Rev. Conrad Oehlert, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Miami, OK.  it is their gift to the saints at Trinity for letting your pastor exercise the office of Dean of Pastoral Care with The Augustana Ministerium.

Notice the natural red sap, blood-like streak running through the grain of the Box Elder wood in the plain panel, which is why this is Mr. Oehlert’s wood of choice for sacramental furnishings.

Thanks to our gracious Father in heaven and to these generous men for this magnificent gift of love that is sure to be a blessing to the saints at Layton and all those who feast thereat to receive the body and blood of our Lord.

Give us this day our daily bread out of Thy bountiful goodness, by which Thou hast placed us in these beloved United Sates of America and under national, state, and local leaders–whether they be faithful or unfaithful to Thy Word–whose authority derives only from Thy graciousness to us for the purpose of defending us from our enemies and protecting the most vulnerable amongst us from even ourselves.

Forgive us our trespasses by which we look to earthly princes for that which Thou hast promised to provide through our daily exercise of the work Thou hast called and given us to do with and for our neighbors; as we forgive those who seek to have earthly princes impose their pious desires and good intentions upon us.

Lead us not into the temptation of such well-dressed evil, and deliver us from it and its author.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory as we Thy dear Baptized bear Christ’s cross of suffering, death, and burial under the principalities of this fallen and cursed world on the way to the resurrection of our flesh; to live with Thee and Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, and Thy Holy Spirit, Who reign ever one God; forever and ever–today, tomorrow, and every tomorrow which Thou hast promised we will always have before us because Thou art the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

All of this Thou hast promised and sealed for us in Thy Christ’s “It is finished” of Cross and Font.

Thank You-
Tyann, Marie, Alisha, and Tammy

Do you know someone who needs to talk with us about abortion, pregnancy, sexuality, or abstinence?
Have them contact us at the Pregnancy Care Center of Ogden:
text “Option” to 95495 or http://www.IthinkImightBePregnant.com,
help@ogdenpcc.org or 801-621-4357 (24/7)

BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ALEXA HERING

SPONSORED BY TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
7:00-10:00 P.M.
@ THE ED KENLEY AMPHITHEATER
LAYTON COMMONS PARK
465 NORTH WASATCH DRIVE
NO ADMISSION FEE
DONATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THE CONCERT
or RECEIVED VIA THE PAYPAL BUTTON BELOW

Click here to read more about Alexa’s battle with cancer at the blog, Bumpa’s Little Sweetie.

For questions or additional information, contact Pastor Hering (Bumpa) at 801-544-5770.

Trinity Lutheran Preschool will hold an open house on Friday, 24 June from 5-8pm and Saturday, 25 June from 9am-noon.

We currently have openings for the 4 year-old class, which meets Mon./Wed./Fri from 9 a.m. – noon. This class is for children who will be 4 by September 1.

We also have openings for our 3 year-old class, which meets Tues./Thurs from 9 a.m. – noon. This class is for children who will be 3 by September 1.

All students must be pottie trained.

For information call the church office at 801.544.5770 and ask for Mrs. Hering. Or you can email her from this site.

Or, try it at this link.

It takes a while to download, but it is well worth the wait. The artwork is truly breathtaking as per below from the pastor from whom I received it. It makes you think that perhaps they knew and believed something about the Gottesdienst, i.e. Divine (Worship) Service of the historic liturgy, that has been largely lost in this day of contemporary Christiainity even in our Missouri Synod.

I pray that we can recover this reverence and awe for the true bodily presence of our Lord according to His good and gracious promise in the Word and Sacrament of His Church.

Thanks to the Rev. David Jay Webber, Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Scottsdale, AZ for passing along this wonderful resource. Here are his comments about the document.

” I previously knew of this (German) book, and also knew that a PDF version of it was in existence. But I just found the whole PDF version online, as a free download. I have looked through it, and now can barely catch my breath.

To avoid too much shock to our post-Enlightenment religious constitutions, it would probably be best for us to view this book and its 16th- and 17th-century works of art while recordings of sacred choral music by Schuetz or Praetorius are playing in the background.”