Luther’s Marks of the Church

Week 6: Prayer and Worship

This is the 6th week of Luther’s Marks of the Church. Martin Luther identified seven visible signs, or “marks,” that help us recognize where the church of Jesus Christ is present. These marks are not merely doctrines we believe. They are gifts through which Christ continues to meet us, shape us, and sustain us. We experience all seven marks in our weekly liturgy.

Last week, the fifth mark was Ministry Called to Serve. Ministry belongs to the whole people of God. Luther spoke powerfully about the priesthood of all believers. Through Baptism, every Christian has a vocation, a calling to love God and serve the neighbor. Ministry is acting for others, doing God’s work with our hands. We are Christ’s ears when we listen. We are Christ’s voice when we speak words of compassion, justice, or hope.

This week, the sixth mark is Prayer and Worship. Week after week we gather, sing familiar hymns, pray, hear scripture, and receive communion. We pray for the church, the world, those in need, and those who have died.

Martin Luther saw prayer and worship as one of the marks of the church because church is a community that continually turns to God. We bring our whole lives with us, our gratitude, worries, grief and hopes that are difficult to put into words.

Some Sundays we sing with joy and other times, the person next to us may be singing the words for us because we do not have the strength. That is one of the blessings of being a part of a worshipping community. When our faith feels weak, someone else is praying beside you. When someone cannot find the words, the congregation supplies them. When grief makes prayer difficult, the ancient prayers and hymns give us words until our own words return.

Prayer is less about giving God information than about opening our lives to God. God already knows the burdens we carry. Prayer simply says, “Hear is my joy, fear and hear is the situation I cannot fix.” We then entrust it to God.

We worship because we need each other, and because we need to be reminded that our lives belong within a much larger story of grace.

Reflection: What are you carrying now that you need to give it up to God in prayer?

We worship at 10:30 AM and are also live on Facebook. Come pray, sing and long for God’s peace. Everyone is welcome.

Peace+

Pastor Eric