Author: TLC Secretary

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 23, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Don’t confuse us with facts. Often that is the basis of our opinions and actions. We would rather hold our convictions and opinions rather than be informed by the truth that comes from the facts. If that is where life finds us, we are in good company—the company of Cleopas and his friend as they traveled to Emmaus. Their hopes and dreams had once been built on their Lord, Jesus the Christ; but now all that was crumbling because of the rumors and the lack of the facts. When the Stranger joined them, He brought their uncertainty to a halt. The Word of God still reveals the Christ to us. That Word—His Word—melts our hearts of stone and plastic and warms them with His forgiving love. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

BIBLE READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
(Peter’s sermon is a bold proclamation regarding the Christ, who though risen and ascended, abides as a Guest in the midst of God’s people.)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 1:17-25
(Christians may no longer feel “at home” in the non-Christian world, but the abiding presence of Christ is their constant companion and comfort.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 24:13-35
(How is Jesus recognized among us. He is revealed through the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread. He is truly an “Abiding Guest.”)

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 16, 2023

AS WE GATHER
On the Second Sunday of Easter each year we recall what happened on that second Sunday of the first Easter. The apostle Thomas was not with the others when the risen Jesus appeared to them last Sunday, so today Jesus makes a special appearance to Thomas, called to be an apostle, a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Because of Thomas’s initial refusal to believe, he has been given the nickname “doubting Thomas.”

BIBLE READINGS

OLD TESTAMENT: Acts 5:29-42
(Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee, speaks on behalf of the apostles’ ministry.)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Though we do not now see Jesus in person, we do love Him, trust in Him, and believe in Him.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 20:19–31
(There was power in the Word made flesh to create faith in Thomas and there is power in the written Word to create faith in us.)

EASTER DAY

April 9, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thus, the whole Church proclaims on this, the Queen of Feasts, the Resurrection of Our Lord. This is the day of days; the day when light overcame the darkness; the day when our ancient foe was defeated; the day when sin was destroyed; and Christ our Lord burst the bonds of death asunder. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

BIBLE READINGS

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Acts 10:34–43
(The disciples are witnesses to the risen Lord.)

EPISTLE READING: Colossians 3:1–4
(Our lives are hidden with Christ in God.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 20:10-18
(Jesus Appears to Mary at the tomb.)

PALM SUNDAY / SUNDAY OF THE PASSION

April 2, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Both palms and passion are integral themes this day. Jesus comes into Jerusalem not for the crowds, but for the cross. He comes to suffer in our place and die our death that we might have life in Him. You cannot have the palms without the passion. We therefore join our voices in welcome to our King who comes humble and mounted on a donkey. However, before we leave, we will hear the first voice of the Passion that will be echoed all week long. Palms and hosannas become suffering and death on the cross, where hope is born. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

BIBLE READINGS

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 50:4–9a
(Who is my adversary?)

EPISTLE READING: Philippians 2:5–11
(Even death on a cross)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 12:12-19
(Procession)

Death Stinks?

March 26, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Death stinks. We are reminded that death literally stinks in today’s Gospel when Martha objects to opening her brother Lazarus’s tomb because there would be an odor. Death also “stinks,” however, in another very real way. Death “stinks” because our Lord did not intend for us, His creation, to die. Yet, since the time of Adam and Eve’s first sin, death is a rotten part of living in this fallen world. That is why Jesus’ proclamation of Himself as “the resurrection and the life” is so important. Death could not hold Lazarus. Death could not hold Jesus. Death cannot hold you. On the Last Day, Jesus will call you out from the nasty grave to enter eternal life. We sing of that great release from our tomb saying,
Jesus lives! The vict’ry’s won! Death no longer can appall me; Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done!
From the grave will Christ recall me. Brighter scenes will then commence; This shall be my confidence. LSB 490:1

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Ezekiel 37:1–14

EPISTLE READING
Romans 8:1–11

HOLY GOSPEL
John 11:17–27, 38–53

Refuge

March 19, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Picture what David must have felt as he wrote the words of today’s psalm. David was relentlessly chased by King Saul and members of his army. Fearing for his life, and outnumbered by his pursuers, David hides in caves. Feeling imprisoned, David knows that all he can do in the face of seemingly hopeless danger is depend on His Lord and God. So David writes, “I cry to You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living’” (Psalm 142:5). When you feel like David, encircled by the worries, cares, and sin of this world, know that you are not helpless. Your help is in the Lord. In Christ, your refuge, you have comfort, peace, and forgiveness.
Jesus, refuge of the weary,
Blest Redeemer, whom we love,
Fountain in life’s desert dreary,
Savior from the world above:
Often have Your eyes, offended,
Gazed upon the sinner’s fall;
Yet upon the cross extended,
You have borne the pain of all. LSB 423:1

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 42:14-21

EPISTLE READING: Ephesians 5:8-14

HOLY GOSPEL: John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39

Stricken for You

March 12, 2023

AS WE GATHER
In the first weeks of Lent we focused on repentance and forgiveness. On this the Third Sunday in Lent, midway through our journey to the cross, we now recall how God has fully satisfied His people with His grace in days gone by. Sin’s grumbling can only be satisfied with what God alone provides. Our hunger and thirst for God and His salvation are met in Jesus Christ, the promised One, whose life, death, and resurrection bring us what we cannot provide for ourselves.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Exodus 17:1-7
(A stubborn and contentious people are confronted with God’s abundant grace.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 5:1-8
(We have peace with God through Jesus Christ.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 4:5-26
(Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and shows her the fulfillment of the promise of God.)

Born From Above

March 5, 2023

AS WE GATHER
This is the Second Sunday in Lent, early in our six-week journey with Jesus to the Cross. Each week we focus on the penitential themes appropriate to this season. Today we listen in on a conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus about the new birth from above that gives life to those born in sin. We are reminded of our own baptismal birth to new life in Christ and of the call of God to die daily to sin and rise in Christ to newness of life.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 12:1-9
(The story of how God called Abraham and His promise that Abraham would become the father of a great nation.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 4:1-8, 13-17
(St. Paul describes how the righteousness of Abraham was given to him by grace through faith.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 3:1-17
(Jesus goes to Nicodemus and tells him how to be born anew through water and the Spirit.)

Looking for a Scapegoat

February 26, 2023

AS WE GATHER
We begin our annual journey to the cross on this first Sunday in Lent. Though not part of Lent, Sundays in Lent carry the same penitential theme that characterizes our forty days of prayerful devotion and repentance. Today we consider the role of Jesus as our scapegoat—not the one whom we blame but the One whom God has sent to us to take the blame for our sin upon Himself. This gift of a Savior who has borne the full weight of our sin is the reason that we stand amid test, trial, and temptation. We have more than someone to blame for the wrongs of thought, word, and deed that we do—we have a willing Savior who has become our sin offering to set us free through forgiveness

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 3:1-21 (The story of how the sin of our first parents stole us from God and made us captive to death.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 5:12-19
(St. Paul describes the consequences of the fall and the hope created by the obedience, suffering, and death of our Lord Jesus.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 4:1-11
(Our Lord is tempted in the wilderness by Satan.)

Climbing the Wrong Mountain

February 19, 2023

AS WE GATHER
We are told that Jesus’ face shone like the sun. We can only look at the sun indirectly because the brightness causes us to close our eyes or turn away. As Jesus’ divinity shone through His humanity, the brightness was such that it forced Peter, James, and John to fall on their faces and avert their gaze in terror. Though we might be able to view the sun by looking askance at it or peering through darkened glass, the only way to view the Son of God is through the prophetic Word and the eyes of faith.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMEMT READING: Exodus 24:8-18 (Moses explains what it was like for him and the elders of Israel to stand in the presence of God and receive His instruction.)

EPISTLE READING: 2 Peter 1:16-21
(Peter explains what it was like to be in the presence of the divine majesty and what it was like to hear the Word directly from God.)

HOLY GOSPEL READING: Matthew 17:1-9
(Matthew explains what it was like for Peter, James, and John to stand in the presence of God with Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.)