Pastor's
Explaination of Word and Sacraments
Word and the sacraments are fundamental to a Lutheran understanding of the means by which we receive God’s grace. Through Word and the sacraments, the people of God are reminded audibly, visibly, and tangibly of God’s grace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. From these “means of grace,” Christians receive “the presence of Jesus Christ though the power of the Spirit as the gift of the Father.”(1) These free gifts from God of Word and the sacraments provide the grace needed for God to work through people who, though made saints through Christ’s righteousness, still struggle daily with sin. Through Word and the sacraments, God sustains Christians in our continued ministry as bearers of God’s kingdom until we reach the eternal kingdom that comes through the “final revelation.” However, until this final revelation—the second coming of Christ—takes place, God provides the church as a model, albeit an imperfect one, for God’s future kingdom.
Article VII of the Augsburg Confession defines the Lutheran understanding of the church: “The church is the assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly. And it is enough for the true unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments.” (2) Therefore, from a Lutheran perspective, the church is not just a community of people—it is a community where the Word is preached and the sacraments are administered. All persons gathered for worship who have received Word and/or sacraments are empowered by the Holy Spirit through this means of grace to do God’s will in the world. Thus, the church receives the revelation of God [the Word] through Christ and in turn carries this revelation forth as a bearer of God’s kingdom.
(1)Renewing Worship Volume II: Principles for Worship “The Use of the Means of Grace: Principle 1” ( Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002) 98.
(2) Kolb and Wengert, The Book of Concord, 43, #1-2.
Back |
