Welcome College Students
The LCMS U at OU would like to thank you for stopping by. We have free dinner and Bible study every Tuesday night at 6:30 pm (Bible study at 7:00). We meet at the Vicar’s house located at 419 Castro Street. Please park in the Church’s parking lot and enter through “The LSF Gate.” We enjoy fellowship with each other while studying God’s Word and singing hymns! If you have questions or would like to know more, please feel free to email the president of LCMS U at OU, Brandon Groh, at Brandon.D.Groh-1@ou.edu
LCMS U at OU is a campus ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Norman, Oklahoma. The church is located at the intersection of Classen Blvd. & Alameda with Divine Service at 8:00 and 10:30am, with Bible Study at 9:15 am on Sundays. We welcome and encourage you to join us in worship on Sunday mornings, especially if you are unable to attend the Tuesday night meetings.
From the VicarDavid Keating
The past few weeks, my Sunday morning Bible study has been diving into the Epistle of James. This may, at first, seem like an odd choice. After all, Luther, somewhat famously, had some issues with James’ letter. Luther did not tear it from the canon of Holy Scripture, as some claim, but instead, he placed it toward the back of the room, so to speak. Luther’s issues with James were theological, and he much preferred the grace drenched letters of Paul to the Romans and Corinthians. My argument has been that this apparent clash between James and Paul need not be.
Part of what I have been trying to do is to reframe our understanding of blessed St. James. A professor of mine once called James “the apostle of faith,” and I think this an apt title for our brother in the faith. Rather than pit Paul against James and have them duke it out for the heart of the Reformation, I would instead encourage seeing James’ teaching as the culmination and the natural conclusion of the Christian life.
Think about it like this: God, who takes on flesh in order to atone for our sin, stoops down to our level and gets right into the muck and the mire with us. It is the Word Himself who suffers alongside us by enduring the agony of the cross. His glorious resurrection gives us the assurance of life eternal. At the core of this is free, unmerited grace.
Would it not make sense for our response to this kind of gift to be an outpouring of love and thanksgiving? Wouldn’t this outpouring of love and thanksgiving manifest itself in acts of mercy towards our neighbors?
Instead of viewing James as “all Law,” I would encourage you to look at James as an instruction on what the Christian life looks like as those who are freed by grace. James’ wisdom comes from the fact that he points us to the Church, which, in turn, points us directly to Christ.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” – James 5:13-16
In Christ,
Vicar David Keating
LCMS-U CAMPUS MINISTRY EVENTS:
- LSF BIBLE STUDIES with Vicar David Keating – Vicar House by Church
- Vicar’s house next door to the church
- Tuesday
- Dinner at 6:30 p.m.
- Study at 7:30 p.m.
Note: Church families, please begin signing up for meals to be provided on the sign-up sheet in the narthex.
