Author: TLC Secretary

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 11)

July 23, 2023

AS WE GATHER
The Christian life is lived as wheat among the weeds (Gospel). Both the world and the Church are populated with sinners. The only difference is that Christians realize they are forgiven sinners and have the hope of better things to come. It is in this hope that not only we but also the whole creation waits, longs, and “groans” for deliverance, “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Epistle). This hope comes from faith in Christ whose suffering, death, and resurrection make our present suffering “not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The Holy Spirit keeps this hope alive even in the midst of our groaning. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Isaiah 44:6-8
(Witnesses of God’s power.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 8:18-27
(Longing for the glory that awaits.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
(Await the hour of God’s judgment.)

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 10)

July 16, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Great are the promises of the power of God’s Word. “It shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose” (Isaiah 55:11). It must be that way because “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh resist God’s gracious Word as seed falling on hard, rocky, thorny ground (Matthew 13). But such is the power of the Gospel of Christ that it can turn hard hearts into good soil, rescue from the slavery of sin, and adopt us into the family of God. By His Word we receive “the Spirit of adoption as sons” and are made children of God and heirs of the kingdom.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Isaiah 55:10-13
(God’s plan cannot fail.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 8:12-17
(Life with a future.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
(The Parable of the good seed and the soil.)

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 9)

July 9, 2023

AS WE GATHER
From the very beginning of creation God designed the Sabbath day as a day of rest. “On the seventh day God finished His work…and He rested on the seventh day from all His work” (Genesis 2:2). Therefore He commanded His people also, “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest” (Exodus 23:12). This “rest,” however, is more than sleeping in or simply ceasing physical activity. After all, when all physical activity ceases, “eternal rest” is just another name for death. The Third Commandment describes this day of rest as a day to be made holy. How is any day made holy? “Not like this: sitting behind the stove and doing no rough work, or adorning ourselves with a wreath and putting on our best clothes” (Martin Luther, Large Catechism, para.88). That’s what we’re here for this day—that through hearing and receiving the Gospel we may receive the true rest, the forgiveness of our sins. When it comes to salvation, trying to attain it through the works of the Law only makes you weary and heavy laden with guilt and frustration. The Gospel proclaims how Jesus Christ has borne all your burdens and gives you the true rest for your soul. Only in Jesus can you rest assured.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Zechariah 9:9-12
(Your King comes in gentleness and lowliness.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 7:14-25a
(The wearying struggle of the Christian.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 11:25-30
(Jesus has borne your burden.)

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
PROPER 8

July 2, 2023

AS WE GATHER
“Peace, peace, there is no peace” cries out a world desperate for its gift. Peace is just a word until the Prince of Peace comes. He alone can offer to us the genuine peace of sins forgiven, consciences cleansed, good will from God, and life triumphant over death. In comparison, the peace the world offers to us is a mere placebo. Today we hear the prophet Jeremiah, who promised the peace that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Every prophecy of peace proclaims Christ alone, or it is an empty word that cannot deliver upon its promise. Only in Christ can God’s people know true and genuine peace.

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Jeremiah 28:5-9
(May the word of the prophet who prophesies peace come to pass.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 7:1-13
(The commandment is holy, righteous, and good but sin deceives and produces death.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 10:34-42
(Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.)

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 7)

June 25, 2023

AS WE GATHER
The Christian faith is the way of humble trust in the Lord. In Jesus God Himself unites His power and the weakness of man to overcome sin, death, and the devil and his temptations. Through the Word and Sacrament ministry of the Church faith grasps and hopes in and possesses the same victory established in our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. With the Apostle Paul we confess, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Bible Reading

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Jeremiah 20:7-13
(The prophet struggles between his weakness and the Lord’s promise of deliverance.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 6:12-23
(Overcoming sin by God’s promised grace.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 10:5a, 21-33
(“Have no fear.”)

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
(Proper 6)

June 18, 2023

AS WE GATHER
God said to the people of Israel, “you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Jesus called twelve men to be His apostles (Matthew 10:1), those “sent” from among the priesthood of all to preach and teach and heal. Not all are called to the apostolic ministry as pastors, but all that are baptized are called “priests.” In the Old Testament priests were to offer sacrifices of blood for the forgiveness of the people’s sins. Jesus Christ with His sacrifice on the cross is the fulfillment, so that now the New Testament in His blood proclaims His perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for the sin and the life of the world. As a result, New Testament priests (Christians) now “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Exodus 19:2-8
(A Kingdom of Priests to all people.)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 5:6-15
(Salvation is a gift of God’s love.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 9:35-10:8
(Commissioning of the Twelve.)

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 5)

June 11, 2023

AS WE GATHER
“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” says the Lord (Matthew 9: 13). More than mere kindness, mercy is a kindness shown especially to those who either cannot repay or do not deserve it. The Word of God reminds us that God’s love is never earned or to be taken for granted as something we somehow deserve because of our sacrifices. The same goes for the brother or sister in need of our mercy. True mercy doesn’t ignore our inability to repay or to fulfill God’s Law. The mercy of God comes through His Son who fulfilled the Law perfectly for all and whose sacrifice on the cross proclaims forgiveness and mercy to all to be received as a gift by faith in Him. Mercy then becomes the Christian’s family trait as our Lord said, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT: Hosea 5:15—6:6
(Empty Repentance)

EPISTLE READING: Romans 4:13-25
(Abraham, our father in faith)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 9:9-13
(Matthew called by mercy.)

HOLY TRINITY

June 4, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Each time we are gathered to worship we recall the One who unites us—God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Holy Trinity. With joy we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity, our gracious God who claims us as His own in Holy Baptism, forms us into a community of faith, and sends us forth to give witness to the same. Our worship today begins with the same words that began our life in Baptism: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Bible Readings

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
(God creates through the power of His word granting humanity the stewardship of His new creation. Resting on the seventh day, God hallows this day forever as the Sabbath.)

EPISTLE READING: Acts 2:14a, 22-36
(Peter declares Jesus the risen Messiah sent by the Father as promised, bearing the anointing of the Holy Spirit.)

HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 28:16-20
(Jesus prays the High Priestly Prayer.)

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

May 28, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Today, we celebrate the descent of the Dove, the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the Church, and we praise God that the Holy Spirit fills us such that out of our hearts flows living water.

BIBLE READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 17:16-31
(Paul preaches in Athens.)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 3:13-22
(Be prepared to give a defense for the hope in you.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 7:37-39
(Jesus promises the coming of the Spirit as a spring of Living Water)

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

May 21, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! What comfort it is to have someone tell us: “You are in my prayers”! We need and depend on family, friends, and other faithful members of Christ’s Church as they keep us in their prayers and bring our names before the heavenly throne of grace. There is even greater comfort in knowing that Jesus not only kept us in His prayer but that He continues to pray for us. Through His Spirit He has brought us to saving faith. All the details of our lives and faith are His concern, because He watches out for His own, the very ones He came to redeem with His own life-giving death on the cross of Calvary. He is praying for those whom the Father has given Him; He is praying for us. That gives us a new perspective to our praying “The Lord’s Prayer” and to all our prayers and hymns. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

BIBLE READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 1:12-26
(Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11
(Facing suffering and temptation)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 17:1-11
(Jesus prays the High Priestly Prayer.)