Photo provided The Rev. Peter Scaer, chairman and professor of the Exegetical Theology Department at the Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, will be the speaker for the Grace Lutheran Church Lutheran Heritage Speaker series.
Grace Lutheran Church will welcome the Rev. Peter Scaer, chairman and professor of the Exegetical Theology Department at the Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, on Oct. 4 as part of the church’s Lutheran Heritage Speaker series.
Scaer’s keynote presentation will begin at 6:15 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, 3201 Central Ave. in Columbus. A pitch-in dinner will take place at 5:30 p.m.
The presentation is free and registration is available at gracecolumbus.org. Registration is not required to attend.
According to Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Scaer joined the Exegetical Theology Department about 25 years ago. He is a seminary teacher who specializes in teaching how to deliver the Gospel message through preaching, Grace Lutheran Church Office Manager Russell Davies said. The topic of Scaer’s keynote presentation is “I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel.”
“… he’s going to be talking about giving a full explanation of what it is that is the Gospel and not just sticking to scripture, making sure that what’s preached from the pulpit isn’t just good life advice or those sorts of ‘how to be a good Christian’ kind of thing, but to talk about Christ’s sacrifice, Christ’s death on the cross,” Davies said.
Davies said the presentation should take around an hour to an hour and 20 minutes. There will then be about an hour for questions and discussion following the presentation.
“… sometimes there’s been some pushback for some of the speakers occassionally and other times it’s more like, ‘wow, you’ve opened my eyes to this idea, can you expand on it further?,’ that kind of thing,” Davies said. “So there’s a nice variety on that front.”
Scaer will also preach at the 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday services the next morning, and will speak in the time in between these services too. Davies said this Sunday speech is usually somewhat related to the previous night’s topic.
Scaer’s presentation continues Grace Lutheran Church’s keynote speaker series, which Davies said has been running for about 15 years and are usually well attended. Speakers have spoken on a variety of topics including the history of the church to the state of Lutheranism.
Davies said Grace Lutheran encourages anyone who isn’t Lutheran to come and attend. He said they have had many Christians who aren’t in the Lutheran tradition come and say they saw Christianity and the church in a slightly different light and it has made for a better understanding all around.
“Not that they all suddenly become Lutheran and become members here or anything like that, this is all about discovery and particularly in this case, not being afraid of the Gospel,” Davies said. “We can differ on some things but let’s remember exactly what the core is and the core is Christ on the cross saving you and me from this life that we’re stuck in.”
