Holy Cross Lutheran Church

06/17/2026

Now Christ did not go to the Father for His own sake or for His own Person. For this would not have helped us and could not be called our righteousness. But just as He came down from heaven for our sakes and became our flesh and blood, so He also ascended into heaven for our sakes after conquering sin, death, and hell and entering into His dominion, by which He redeems us from all this and gives us forgiveness of sin, power, and victory over the devil and death . . . .

Faith must lay hold of this, must be founded on it, and must take comfort from it in times of temptation, when the devil and man's own conscience argue with him as follows: "Listen. What kind of Christian are you? Where is your righteousness? Do you not see and feel that you are a sinner? How, then will you pass muster before God?" Here again he must base his words on this verse and say: "I know very well, and I am sorry to say, that I am a sinner and that in me there is no righteousness that will be valid before God. And I must and will not look for or know of such righteousness in myself, for with it I could never come before God. But in this verse I hear Christ say that my righteousness consists in His going to the Father and in His ascension into heaven.

There my righteousness has been deposited, and there the devil will surely have to let it remain; for he will not make Christ a sinner or reprove or find fault with His righteousness. If I am a sinner and my life does not pass muster before God, and if I find no righteousness in myself, I have another treasure, which is the righteousness of which I boast and on which I rely. This is Christ's going to the Father, which He has presented to me as a gift."

—Martin Luther

06/12/2026

A very helpful and informative conversation on the liturgy of the church.

Find Chemnitz on this topic here: https://wolfmueller.co/rome-exami...

06/11/2026

“As the Son of God, He has an eternal throne. ‘Thy throne,’ says God, ‘is forever and ever.’ After the cross and passion He was deemed worthy of honor, not as God, but as man, and He received what He had as God.” And a little after: “Therefore, as man, He hears, ‘Sit at My Right hand,’ for as God He has eternal power.”

OECUMENIUS from Chrysostom

From Appendix A: Catalog of Testimonies, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions

06/11/2026

[1] Our churches teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruit [Galatians 5:22–23]. It is necessary to do good works commanded by God [Ephesians 2:10], because of God’s will. We should not rely on those works to merit justification before God. [2] The forgiveness of sins and justification is received through faith. The voice of Christ testifies, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10). [3] The Fathers teach the same thing. Ambrose says, “It is ordained of God that he who believes in Christ is saved, freely receiving forgiveness of sins, without works, through faith alone.”

From "Article VI. New Obedience" in The Augsburg Confession

Martin Luther addresses faithful and godly pastors and preachers in his Preface to the Small Catechism.

06/10/2026

9. God's Son truly suffered for us. . . . He did this so that He might be able to suffer and be our High Priest for our reconciliation with God, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 2:8, they "crucified the Lord of glory." And Acts 20:28 says, with God's blood we have been redeemed.

10. We believe, teach, and confess that the Son of Man really is exalted. He is (in deed and truth) exalted according to His human nature to the right hand of God's almighty majesty and power. For He was received into God when He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in His mother's womb, and His human nature was personally united with the Son of the Highest.

11. Christ always had this majesty according to the personal union. Yet He abstained from using it in the state of His humiliation, and because of this He truly increased in all wisdom and favor with God and men. Therefore, He did not always use this majesty, but only when it pleased Him. Then, after His resurrection, He entirely laid aside the form of a servant, but not the human nature, and was established in the full use, manifestation, and declaration of the divine majesty. In this way He entered into His glory [Philippians 2:6-11]. So now not just as God, but also as man He knows all things and can do all things. He is present with all creatures, and has under His feet and in His hands everything that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, as He Himself testifies [in Matthew 28:18], "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" [see also John 13:3]. And St. Paul says in Ephesians 4:10, "He . . . ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things." Because He is present, He can exercise His power everywhere. To Him everything is possible and everything is known.

—Epitome of the Formula of Concord VIII 14-16

06/10/2026

Amen, Lord Jesus, grant our prayer;
Great Captain, now Thine arm make bare,
Fight for us once again!
So shall Thy saints and martyrs raise
A mighty chorus to Thy praise
Forevermore. Amen.

—O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe (LSB 666:4)

06/08/2026

"...the fact that the conscience can only receive the testimony of God's grace that gives certainty but cannot bring it about itself means that only faith can obtain grace. Thus faith is understood here as the posture of pure reception. You cannot make yourself certain of God's forgiveness, you cannot establish the 'pro me' yourself. Your certainty comes 'to you,' not 'from you' (for this Pelagian!)"- Oswald Bayer, PROMISSIO, 234

06/05/2026

Today the church remembers Boniface of Mainz, Missionary to the Germans

Boniface was born in the late seventh century in England. Although he was educated, became a monk, and was ordained as a presbyter in England, he was inspired by the example of others to become a missionary. Upon receiving a papal commission in AD 719 to work in Germany, Boniface devoted himself to planting, organizing, and reforming churches and monasteries in Hesse, Thuringia, and Bavaria. After becoming an archbishop, Boniface was assigned to the See of Mainz in AD 743. Ten years later, he resigned his position to engage in mission work in the Netherlands. On June 5, 754, while awaiting a group of converts for confirmation, Boniface and his companions were murdered by a band of pagans. Boniface is known as the apostle and missionary to the Germans.

Almighty God, You called Boniface to be a witness and martyr in Germany, and by his labor and suffering You raised up a people for Your own possession. Pour out Your Holy Spirit upon Your Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many Your holy name may be glorified and Your kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

AMEN

06/01/2026

The Feast of the Holy Trinity

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬

Having celebrated the greatest event in God's history of salvation, the death and resurrection of the Son of God, we pause a bit at the Feast of the Holy Trinity to consider the essence of God. Certainly the essence of God is beyond our weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy Scripture says about God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, we call Him the Holy Trinity. Even beyond the glorious summary of the persons and work of God found in the Creeds, to speak of God as the Holy Trinity says at one time all the many things that the Scriptures say about God. Our worship never ceases confessing our faith in the triune God and giving glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

05/30/2026

He is the One who brought order out of chaos in creation, and He has spoken by the prophets. He is the One who descended on Christ in His Baptism and then was promised to the disciples by the Lord prior to the passion. The promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. Through his vivid recapitulation of the biblical account of the Spirit’s work, Sasse proclaims that is this Spirit who is given to us and for us. The work of the Spirit is to give us Jesus.

We do not soar to the heights of heaven through some burst of divine or cosmic energy. No, the Spirit comes not to “heroes of the faith” but to confused and trembling disciples: “The Holy Spirit comes to the place where men despair of their own wisdom and strength.”

[Hermann Sasse]