The Gottesdienst Crowd

TGC 602 – CTCR Report Review: The Proper Administration of the Lord's Supper

Rev. Jason Braaten welcomes back Rev. John Bussman to work through the CTCR's December 2025 report, "The Proper Administration of the Lord's Supper: Applying Scripture and the Confessions to Contemporary Issues." Prompted by 2023 Synod Convention resolutions, the report addresses three practices that have crept into LCMS congregations: substituting grape juice for wine, using prepackaged communion elements, and substituting non-wheat bread for those with gluten intolerance. Braaten and Bussman walk through each section, weighing the report's appeal to the words of institution and the Lutheran Confessions against its reluctance to flatly call these practices illegitimate. They discuss why clarity—not nuance—serves the truth, how exceptions tend to become rules, and what faithful, pastoral care looks like when a congregation's practice doesn't match Christ's institution. A frank conversation for pastors who want to know not just what the document says, but where it falls short.

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TGC 601 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity 3)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday after Trinity, Luke 15:1–10.

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TGC 600 – Honing the Craft of Preaching

Pastor Paul Schultz sits down with Pastor Zelwyn Heide of the North Dakota District to talk about one of the most neglected aspects of pastoral formation — the craft of preaching. The conversation moves from the theoretical to the practical: why content alone isn't enough, how persuasion is inseparable from faithful proclamation, an where to find the best resources outside LCMS circles for sharpening that craft. Heide walks through several key works, including John Broadus's classic Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, Hugh Oliphant Old's seven-volume history of preaching, and examples drawn from Chrysostom, the English Puritans, and others — all in service of helping Lutheran pastors preach with greater clarity, depth, and effect. The goal isn't imitation but formation: learning from the best so you can preach with your own voice, to your own people, in your own context.

 

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TGC 599 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity 2)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday after Trinity, Luke 14:15–24.

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TGC 598 – 1 Peter and Baptism, Part 1

Pastor Paul Schultz sits down with Pastor Joseph Muench of Trinity Lutheran Church in Nokomis, Illinois to dig into the baptismal and Exodus theology running through 1 Peter. Before working through the text itself, they lay out two foundational hermeneutical commitments: the Old Testament is the primary background for New Testament language and imagery, and the word and sacrament life of the church is the native context in which documents like 1 Peter were written and heard. With those in place, they begin to show why a Lutheran reading of 1 Peter sees baptism not as an occasional reference but as the lens through which Peter addresses his readers throughout. Part one of two.

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[From the Archives] TGC 523 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity 1)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the First Sunday after Trinity, Luke 16:19–31.

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TGC 597 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Epistle reading for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Romans 11:33–36.

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TGC 596 – Thinking Out Loud (Pentecost)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, John 14:23–31a.

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TGC 595 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 7)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, John 15:26–16:4.

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TGC 594 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 6)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, John 16:23–33.

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