Lutheran Worship
Adult Bible Class
August 16, 2026
Opening Prayer
A Little History
In modern history, most members of the LCMS are familiar
with four hymnals
The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) – 1941 – This hymnal was
commissioned in 1929 used by many Lutheran bodies in America, including the
LCMS, WELS, ELS, and SELC. It essentially had one communion service, a very
similar non-communion service, as well as Matins, Vespers, and a few other
services. Before this, many LCMS churches still conducted services in German. This
was often referred to as “The Red Hymnal.” (Although, the ones in the church I
grew up in were blue.)
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Can you think of anything in that time period
that would make it desirable to no longer lead worship in German?
Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) – 1978 – The Green
Hymnal, was initially an inter-Lutheran project to create a new hymnal. The
LCMS withdrew from the project due to theological concerns, but a good number
of LCMS congregations used the hymnal when it came out. It included to
liturgies for Holy Communion Services.
Lutheran Worship (LW) – 1982 – The Blue Hymnal, was
used by about half of LCMS congregations. It blended what the LCMS felt was the
best of LBW with modernized versions of parts of TLH. This hymnal captured the
old language of “Divine Service” for the Sunday Communion Service and had three
settings, including one based on Luther’s German Mass.
Lutheran Service Book (LSB) – 2006 – The Maroon
Hymnal. Returned to the older language that had been modernized for LBW and LW
in the hymns and included five settings of the Divine Service. Several other
services like Matins and Vespers, as well as Compline, Morning Prayer and
Evening Prayer are included. It is estimated that about 85% of LCMS
congregations use LSB.
Tour Through the Hymnal
The Cover – explained on p. ix
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The Cross
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Dark Center Area
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Golden Outline
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Eight Surrounding Squares
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Means of Grace along the Spine
Inside the Front Cover – Prayers for Worship
p. v-vii – Table of Contents
p. viii-ix – Introduction
p. x-xi – The Church Year – Sundays, Season, Feasts, and
Festivals
p. xii-xiii – Commemorations … Saints
p. xiv-xxiii – Lectionaries … and the Dates of Easter
p. xxiv-xxv – Glossary
p. xxvi – Singing the Psalms
Psalms … a selection, according to their numbers.
p. 151-218 – Divine Services
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Divine Service 1 – introduced in LBW - Written by Richard Hillert of Concordia,
Chicago (LCMS)
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Divine Service 2 - introduced in LBW - Written by Ronald Nelson, Cantor Emeritus of
Westwood Lutheran Church, St. Louis Park, MN (ELCA)
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Divine Service 3 – “The Common Service of 1888,”
aka The Order of the Holy Communion from TLH, aka “Page 15.”
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Divine Service 4 – introduced in Hymnal
Supplement 98
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Divine Service 5 – based loosely on Luther’s
German Mass
p. 219-259 – Daily Offices
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Matins
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Vespers
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Morning Prayer
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Evening Prayer
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Compline
p. 260-330 – Other Services and Resources
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Rites like Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, and
Funerals
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Prayer Service like the Service of Prayer and
Preaching, Responsive Prayer (2 settings), the Litany, and a section of written
Prayers, Intercessions, and Thanksgivings (p. 305)
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Confession and Absolution – Corporate and Individual
(p. 292)
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Devotional Tools – Daily Prayer and Lectionary
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Athanasian Creed (p. 319)
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The Small Catechism (p. 321)
331-966 – Hymns (although there are another 23 in Lutheran
Service Builder, not included in the hymnal).
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Turn to Hymn 631 – Here, O My Lord, I See
Thee Face to Face
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Notice the fine print at the bottom of the page
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Text
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Tune
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Copyright information
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Tune name
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Meter
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Scripture Verses
p. 990-991 – Acknowledgements
p. 992 – Copyright Holders
p. 993-997 – Topical Index of Hymns and Songs – very useful!
p. 998-1002 – Authors, Translators, and Sources of Hymns and
Songs
p. 1003-1006 – Composers and Sources of Hymns and Songs
p. 1007-1012 – Tunes – Metrical
p. 1013-1017 – Tunes – Alphabetical
p. 1017- First Lines of Hymns and Songs – super helpful!
p. 1022 – Foreign Language Hymns
p. 1023 – Holy Baptism In Cases of Emergency
Inside the back cover – Nicene & Apostles’ Creed and two
versions of the Lord’s Prayer
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