The religious scene in America is confusing enough. It doesn’t help when words that originally had one meaning get borrowed and changed for various purposes. Here are a few of the more misunderstood terms in Christian lingo today.
Protestant. Today, “Protestant” refers to any non-Roman Catholic denomination, or anyone who belongs to such a denomination. Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Calvinists, Pentecostals, and others are all lumped together under this one term.
Originally, that wasn’t its use at all. Ask just about anyone why these groups are called Protestants, and the answer will be, “Because they followed Luther in protesting the abuses in the Catholic Church.” That’s a common misunderstanding. The truth is that the religious use of the word dates back to 1539, when a group of German Lutheran Princes walked out of the Diet of Spyer, in protest against the decision to walk back the policy that the religion of each prince would be the religion of his territory. When this Diet insisted that everyone had to be Catholic or lose his property, the Lutheran princes protested. So, strictly speaking, only Lutherans are Protestants. And not for the reasons people think nowadays. Eventually, however, the word was misappropriated to refer to Calvinists as well as Lutherans, with the purpose of obscuring the great differences between them. Eventually “Protestant” came to describe any confession besides Catholicism.
Why does it matter? Because Lutherans differ in some very important ways from other “Protestants.” Yet search on the internet for what Protestants believe, and you will find that all Protestants believe the Sacraments are just symbols, or that Protestants reject creeds and traditions. This falsely represents Lutherans, and makes many Lutherans think that we are just another flavor of the same ice cream. So, ironically, a word that once applied to only a small group of Lutherans now doesn’t really describe Lutherans at all.
Evangelical. The name
Lutheran was originally a derogatory term used by the opponents of Luther. Luther objected to its use, and wished for those who followed his teaching to be called Evangelicals—a word taken from the Greek word
evangelion, “Gospel.” To this day many Lutheran churches have the word “Evangelical” in their full title—for example, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
This word too got borrowed by other groups for their own purposes. Notably, it was used for a wing of the Church of England that deemphasized the liturgy and Sacraments and put more emphasis on personal faith and experience. In America, “evangelical” came to describe the frontier revivalists and others of their persuasion.
Today “Evangelical” refers to non-liturgical, non-sacramental, non-creedal groups with Baptist or Pentecostal beliefs. How far from Luther’s intended use of the term!
Why does it matter? Because Lutherans, seeing the word “Evangelical” in their church name, tend to think that this means they have something in common with today’s Evangelicals—although in the worship and teaching of modern Evangelicals there is often little or no Gospel (
evangelion).
Real Presence. When someone says, “I believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper,” Lutherans assume this person believes the same as they do. This is often not the case. Calvinists believe that the bread and wine are mere symbols of Christ’s absent body and blood. Yet they will say, “We believe in the Real Presence” because they believe that Christ is present spiritually, though not in body.
Why does this matter? It should be obvious. We should say clearly, “The Real Presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Supper.” The term “Real Presence” has no meaning in itself. It can mean anything the speaker wants it to mean. If we invite people to commune just because they say they believe in the Real Presence, we may be inviting them to receive the Sacrament to their harm, not for blessing.
For this reason, just a few decades after the Reformation, Lutherans often included in their statements of belief something like this: “We believe that in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper we receive with our mouths the true, natural body of Christ that was crucified for us on the cross, and the true, natural blood of Christ that flowed from his wounds and pierced side.” This was to guard against any misunderstanding of “Real Presence” as a presence that is only in spirit.
Pastor Ludwig
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My heart is full of thankfulness for the outpouring of generous support by the members of Iowa District West and beyond, in response to our disaster relief fund following the tornados that damaged homes, infrastructure, and lives.
It is with a heavy heart that I find myself reaching out to you so soon with another appeal. As you are aware, calamity has struck again with the floods in western Iowa.
On Monday June 24, I visited Trinity Lutheran in Hawarden, Christ the King and First English (both in Spencer). Trinity has suffered major damage to both the parsonage and church building. Christ the King also suffered major damage to their church building. It appears that First English was spared. However, both Pastor Kaldahl’s and Pastor McGinley’s homes suffered major damage. This brief assessment does not take into consideration all the families, individuals and even churches impacted by these flood waters - please keep all affected in your prayers. A major difficulty with this disaster is that most homeowner and church insurance does not cover damage caused by flood waters.
In times like these, our faith community has an opportunity to come together and make a difference. We are reaching out to you today to request your support for our disaster relief efforts. Your generous donation will directly impact the lives of those affected by this natural disaster.
?????? ?????? ?????? ????????: 1. Keep our communities in your prayers. Encourage your congregation to pray for healing, strength, and resilience during this challenging time. 2. Through financial support. You may wish to consider a door offering. Your contribution will go towards emergency supplies, shelter, and long-term recovery efforts. 3. There will be organized efforts to provide physical assistance through Iowa District West LERT (Lutheran Early Response Team). If you are trained or would like to be trained by LERT please go to
www.lcms-lert.org. All LERT communication can be found on this site. 4. I encourage individual congregations to organize their own volunteer efforts. Just check with individual community leaders to find out their specific needs.
???????? ???? ????????????: 1. By mail: send your check payable to Iowa District West with “Disaster Relief” on the memo line. 2. Online: IowaDistrictWest.org and click on “Donate” to make a secure online donation. Select the “Disaster Relief” option. 3. In person: Drop your donation off to the district office (409 Kenyon Rd., Suite B) during business hours (8am-4:30pm).
?????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??????????????. ?????? ?????? ????????, “???????? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???????????????? ???????? ?? ???????? ?????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ???????? ??????, ?????? ?????? ???????????? ??????????????????????: ?? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????????, ?????? ???? ?????????? ???? ?? ???????? ???? ?????? ???????????????? ?????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????????” (?????????????? ??:????-???? ??????).
In times like this, we remember the rainbow and the promises of God’s divine protection. But we have so much more than just a sign in the sky. The promise of the presence of Christ is found in the preaching of the Gospel and in His Sacraments. Rainbows come and are quickly gone, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
We are deeply grateful for your compassion and willingness to stand with us during this challenging time. Your support is more than a financial gift; it is a beacon of hope for those who have lost so much.
Always in Grace,
Rev. Dr. Steven D. Turner – President, Iowa District West
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Call Meeting – Rev. Ross Fritz has declined the Call to serve Our Savior and St. John’s. Therefore, we will have another call meeting for both congregations on Sunday, July 7
th at 3:00 pm at Our Savior.
Our Savior Voters’ Meeting – The next quarterly voters meeting will be Sunday, July 14
th at 9:30 am. All communicant members age 18 and over can attend to help conduct the business of the church.
Elders for July – Brandon Christianson & Russ Brandt
Acolyte Schedule:
July 7
th – Teigan McKown & Caleb Siebert
July 14
th – Tucker Brick & Cashlyn Angerhofer
July 21
st – Cassie McKown & Rhyan Johnson
July 28
th – Tristan Tschappat & Dalton Lee
July 4th – The office will be closed for Independence Day.
LWML does not meet in July. The LWML Breakfast will be Tuesday, August 13
th at 9:30 am at The Millstone.
Coffee & Confessions – Join us Tuesday mornings at 6:30 am. We continue to look at the Lutheran Confessions from the Book of Concord. All are welcome!
Wednesdays – A short service of Vespers, LSB p. 229, is offered at 6:00 pm, followed by Bible Study at 6:30. We are studying 1
st Corinthians. All are welcome!
Saturday Bible Study – July 13
th 9:00-11:00 am. The topic is yet to be determined from the surveys, and will be announced in the bulletin on July 7
th.
Lutheran Witness – The June/July issue of LW is available in the narthex.
Portals of Prayer for July – September are available in the narthex.
Our Website – Audio recordings of sermons are on the website, as well as online giving for Our Savior, current bulletins, newsletter, calendar, and more at
www.oursaviorlutheranchurchaberdeen.com.
Church League Softball – Our team normally plays on Monday evenings, at one of the north softball fields. Watch the Sunday bulletins for each week’s time and location. Come out to cheer on our team!
Aberdeen Circuit Youth Events – July-August 2024
Watch the bulletins for more information about these events:
Join us for a weekend of indoor and outdoor recreation, Bible studies, fellowship, and the opportunity to meet other Lutheran singles from the Midwest states. Open to ages 21-41.
