What do you need to know about our Divine Service before attending so that you might get the most benefit from the gifts of God? Let’s examine the various parts so that we might better understand from where each part comes and how it connects to the next.
Our service begins with the Invocation. The invocation is an invitation and an invoking. We are invoking or inviting God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit to come to us in the Divine Service to give us the good gifts and blessings He has to give. At the same time we are reminded of our Baptism and how God’s name was put on us at our Baptism. At our Baptism we are made God’s children. He washed us, He put (spoke) His name on us (through the hands and mouth of the pastor), He put faith in our hearts, He chose us, He wrote our names in the Book of Life, He forgave us our sins. He did it all and we were done to.
Following the invocation we confess our sins in corporate confession. Indeed, private confession is a valuable rite and means of grace and we are encouraged to make use of private confession, yet in the Divine Service we make confession together. We confess all our sins, sins of omission, failing to do what we should do and sins of commission, doing the things we should not be doing. We confess our sins of thought, word and deed. Just as the lamb was brought for sacrifice and slaughtered pointing to the ultimate Lamb of God, so as we enter the Lord’s presence we confess our sins.
After confessing our sins we hear the most beautiful words in the world, God’s Word of absolution and forgiveness spoken by God through the mouth of the Pastor. And we know that just as we hear the words of our pastor so we know what he says is true because what he says is what God has given him to say so they are from God and we know our sins are forgiven. And with forgiveness is life and salvation.
Confession and Absolution are one of the means (of Grace) God uses to give us His good gifts and blessings.
28 of 52 © Rev. Dr. Ronald A. Bogs (2018)
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