Category: General

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.)

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

May 14, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Jesus tells us, “Because I live, you also will live.” This life is not without suffering or trial, but in the assurance of what is to come for us, we always stand ready to witness to God’s love in our lives. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

BIBLE READING

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 14:15-21
(Jesus promises the Holy Spirit.)

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

May 7, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Today, we hear how heaven is opened for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Stephen saw heaven opened when he was martyred. Jesus tells us He is the living, true way to heaven. And Peter speaks of how we have received mercy that we may enter heaven.

BIBLE READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60
(Stephen, deacon and first martyr)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 2:2-10
(We are a chosen race, a holy nation.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 14:1-14
(Jesus, the Way, Truth, and Life)

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 30, 2023

AS WE GATHER
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Most of our lives are far removed from the agricultural side of life; yet the portrait of our Lord as the Good Shepherd is a cherished one. We know that He provides all that we need, that He is the Door to everlasting life, that He leads us in the paths of righteousness, in green pastures, and along quiet waters. All this He does under His protecting care, keeping us from the hired hand of Satan. Today’s Gospel teaches us to listen to the voice of our Shepherd Jesus. Through His Word Christ continues to lead us through life. Other voices may tempt, but only His voice is true, because only His voice proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished.” Finished were the accusations of Satan, finished was the weight of guilt suppressing us, finished was the death sentence brought on us by our sin. Finished was our old life of sin. But hearing Christ’s voice of forgiveness, we have new life. Hearing His voice and following Him, we shall not want. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

BIBLE READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 2:42-47
(Following Peter’s sermon, we learn about life in the community of the baptized, who followed the teachings of their faithful shepherds and were sustained by the breaking of bread.)

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 2:19-25
(Jesus, the Good Shepherd, models for us how one suffers for doing that which is right. Peter encourages every member of the flock to follow the lead of the Good Shepherd.)

HOLY GOSPEL: John 10:1-10
(Jesus uses language that would have been familiar to the people of His day. With this metaphor He compels the flock to follow His leadership through suffering and disappointment to abundant life.)

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.)