The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Divine Service     

 

Love the Lord first, last, temporally – eternally!  This commandment intimately connects us to incalculable blessings of knowing and being known by Jesus.  Where there is love for the Lord, life pulsates in joy, obedience, and commitment to His Word.  Christians gravitate to other believers who love is grounded in Christ.  In the face of adversity, love builds up.  In the face of hatred, love boasts of triumph, refreshing the heart, revitalizing faith, comforting with peace.

 

Philemon 1-21     

 

O merciful Lord, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all. Grant us courage and strength to take up the cross and follow Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“Lift High the Cross”     LSB 837

“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”     LSB 709

“Eat This Bread”     LSB 638

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”     LSB 425

“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice”     LSB 556

“Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways”     LSB 707

“Take My Life and Let It Be”     LSB 783 

The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – Divine Service     

 

Before kings, authorities, and leaders, we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.  Rather, we should posture ourselves to be humble servants, ready to hope for and receive gestures of grace, hospitality, and wisdom.  Divine love permeates actions;  divine speech evokes truth; divine contentment curbs the propensity toward avarice.  Divine forgiveness destroys sin’s consequence.  Without merit, we receive the grace of Christ – grace that invites us to His feast of forgiveness.

 

Proverbs 25:2-10  

Hebrews 13:1-17     

 

Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

 

“Christ the Eternal Lord”     LSB 829

“Son of God, Eternal Savior”     LSB 842

“Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace”     LSB 844

“Not for Tongues of Heaven’s Angels”     LSB 695

“Rejoice, O Pilgrim Throng”     LSB 813

“When Morning Gilds the Skies”     LSB 807

“God of Grace and God of Glory”     LSB 850 

The Lord makes all things new in heaven and on earth.  We struggle against sin; Jesus sheds bloods to acquit.  Sons and daughters rebel; the Lord disciplines and loves.  Punishment is temporal; peaceful righteousness is forever.  We are heirs of this new paradox worthy of disdain; but in Christ we inherit His divine favor.  Believers do not weep and gnash their teeth.  But in heaven, faith-filled tongues and hearts will be engaged in unbridled confession and worship of Jesus.

 

 

O Lord, You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“Christ the Eternal Lord”     LSB 829

“A Multitude Comes from the Est and the West”     LSB 510

“Not All the Blood of Beasts”     LSB 431

“Come, Let Us Eat”     LSB 626

“Today Your Mercy Calls Us”     LSB 915

“The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us”     LSB 514

“Thine the Amen, Thine the Praise”     LSB 680 

 

Deceptive prophesies are wicked.  God will execute judgement on those whose counsels mitigate God’s Word!  The refrain for the covenant people of God is faith!  They wholeheartedly believe exactly what the Lord says and count on His deliverance generation after generation.  Jesus desires to reveal not only judgement but also grace through His cross.  Faith alone comprehends the impact of Law and Gospel.  Faith clings to Christ and repels all wickedness and deceit.

 

 

Merciful Lord, cleanse and defend Your Church by the sacrifice of Christ. United with Him in Holy Baptism, give us grace to receive with thanksgiving the fruits of His redeeming work and daily follow in His way; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“Christ the Eternal Lord”  LSB 829

“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word”     LSB 655

“Jesus Sat with His Disciples”     LSB 932

“Blest Are They”     LSB 982*

“Thy Strong Word”     LSB 578

“Evening and Morning”     LSB 726

“Come, Thou Almighty King”     LSB 905 

 

 

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – Matins 

 

Faith is a gift from God – a treasury safeguarding our hearts and minds, believing divine mysteries and plain truths, trusting in the judgement and grace of God, relishing things seen and unseen, and hoping for imaginable and seemingly impossible blessing from God.  Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham believed the bold assertions of God.  The church continues in that lineage of faith, believing in our greatest treasure, Jesus Christ, who subdues fear and cares, forgives and redeems.  

 

Genesis 15:1-6

Hebrews 11:1-6

Luke 12:22-40

 

Almighty and merciful God, it is by Your grace that we live as Your people who offer acceptable service. Grant that we may walk by faith, and not by sight, in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“Christ the Eternal Lord”  LSB 829

“Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray”     LSB 663

“O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe”     LSB 666

“Have No Fear, Little Flock”     LSB 735

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – Divine Service 

 

True wisdom proceeds from God and embraces the riches of knowing and confessing Christ.  Our minds need not be fixated on earthly wealth or possessions; our behaviors should oppose earthly immorality, selfishness, and desire.  Constant fixation on our labors, accomplishments, and assets is no more than vanity, leading to despair.  Our image, knowledge, and actions ought to be shaped by Christ Jesus, for He alone is everything for those who believe in His name.    

 

 

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26  

Colossians 3:1-11                                 

Luke 12:13-21

 

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“Christ the Eternal Lord”  LSB 829

“Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings”     LSB 782

“Chief of Sinners Though I Be”     LSB 611

“I Come, O Savior to Thy Table”     LSB 618

“Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”   LSB 761   

“In Christ There Is No East or West”     LSB 653

“Lord, Whose Love Through Endless Service”     LSB 848

Patriarchs, apostles, and ordinary people converse with God through prayer.  Abraham pleads for the preservation of the righteous few, even in the midst of outrageous sin.  The Lord tempers His anger, assuring Abraham of grace.  The church’s liturgy is also a conversation between God and His people, shaped by confession of guilt and the outpouring of divine forgiveness!  The Lord’s Prayer is the axis where confession of faith, sin and pleading for sustenance converge.  As the Lord instructs, we are privileged to pray.     

 

 

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

“The Gifts Christ Freely Gives”  LSB 602

“Our Father Who from Heaven Above”   LSB 766

“In Holy Conversation”  LSB 772

“Hear Us, Father, When We Pray”     LSB 773

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”   LSB 770   

“Rise!  To Arms!”     LSB 668