What does this mean?

Carthage, Missouri is named after the famous, ancient, north African city of Carthage, or Carthago, St. Augustine's early home. Carthage posed a very real threat to the city of Rome and its desire for world dominance. These two cities were therefore arch enemies. The Roman elder statesman Cato the Elder is said to have ended all his speeches in the senate with the phrase "Carthago delenda est" which means "Carthage must be destroyed."
Thus the title of this blog means "Carthage must NOT be destroyed!" Of course, nobody would want his own city destroyed, but my fuller meaning, being a Lutheran Pastor, is a prayer that God would continue to bless the spiritual life in this city through the preaching of the pure Gospel and the correct administration of the sacraments. It is a prayer that God would let Faith Lutheran Church of Carthage continue to be the salt-of-the-earth preservative in our community!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Faith Carthage Sermon for Easter 5

Well, we've been more efficient than last week, especially since the recording equipment all functioned perfectly today. On the 5th Sunday of Easter, we continued our series of sermons on the ILCW Series C Epistle Lessons from Revelation, today 21:1-6, where we focused on the last verses (since New Jerusalem is the subject of next week's text and sermon). Our Theme is "Behold! I Make All Things New."
God bless you with strengthened faith as the gift of the Holy Spirit through your hearing God's Word. (That's God's own promise of course: "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it."

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Faith Carthage Sermon for Easter 4

Well, it took a few days to post this week's audio. Sorry for the delay and the temporarily non-functioning link on www.FaithCarthage.org. There was a glitch with the recording and we had to use our backup cassette recording to make a new CD recording, from which to make our mp3 recording! All our ducks are now in a row, and so the continuation of our series on the readings from Revelation is now on Faith's web site. This week's sermon is titled "God's People in Glory" based upon Revelation 7:9-17.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sermon for Easter 3

Our series on the appointed Epistle Lessons from the Book of Revelation continues, as we examine Rev. 5:10-11 (plus the surrounding verses). The theme, "Worthy of Worship Is the Lamb" is drawn from the text. We consider what true worship is and its centrality in our lives as Christians.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Sermon for Easter 2

Last Sunday, we began a series of sermons on the readings from the Revelation of Jesus to St. John which are the epistle lessons for the entire Easter season in series C of ILCW.

Last week's sermon was from the first chapter, and serves as an intro for the upcoming readings. You can hear the sermon here:

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Feast of the Resurrection at Faith Carthage

The recording posted is of the entire opening festival liturgy and sermon.

Good Friday - Meditations on the Seven Words from the Cross

Our entire Good Friday Tenebrae Service of Meditations on the Seven Words from the Cross was recorded in two different files, which have been posted. The service begins with a hymn and then the responsive ancient Litany of the Church, sung to the Lenten melody from the Altar Book of the Church of Sweden.