Weekly Confession – Smalcald Articles & Treatise

Smalcald Articles III VIII Confession 

Read Exodus 3:1-15. In the form of a burning bush, God said to the prophet Moses: “Say to this people, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exod 3:14) Moses was not called because he was worthy; he was made worthy to speak God’s Word because of his call. Bl. Dr. Martin Luther, a called and ordained priest, acknowledged that: “For even to Moses God wished to appear first through the burning bush and the spoken word, and no prophet… received the Spirit without” the Word of God. “They were holy, St. Peter says, because the Holy Spirit spoke through them.” We can be sure that “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet 1:21)

Smalcald Articles III XII The Church 

Read John 17:20-26.

Many people ask: what is the Church? Is it a building? Is it bound together by certain rituals and ceremonies, diet, and dress? Is it a community that devotes itself to public works and services? Is it an earthly kingdom, ruled from an earthly throne and defended by captains and kings? The answer to all these questions is “No.” In the words of Bl. Dr. Martin Luther, “Thank God, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd.” Just before He went to His death, Jesus prayed “for those who will believe in me” (John 17:20) – that is, for members of the Church. He knows us and we know Him. His love has reached us through the Gospel.