Sunday August 23, 2020
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
God’s people have gifts that are signs of His loving presence and demonstrations of His gracious power. In a sermon preached in 1538, Martin Luther observed, “Whoever comes to faith can only say that the Holy Spirit comes when and where and to whom He pleases at the time He pleases. He comes when and where He pleases and also gives a person as many gifts as He pleases” (WLS § 2057). As people in whom the Spirit dwells, we have the joy of discovering special gifts of God in one another and in ourselves as well. May that mutual discovering and celebrating be truly God pleasing in every way!
READINGS
Old Testament:
Psalm:
Epistle:
Gospel:
Isaiah 51:1–6
The salvation of the Lord will be forever
Psalm 138
Romans 11:33–12:8
We are one Body in Christ
Matthew 16:13–20
Jesus is confessed as the Christ, the Son of the living God, by Peter
COLLECT
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, Lord, our God, for You have called us as Your people and have shown us Your kindness. Confident of Your love and assured of Your mercy, we come before You, asking that we receive Your blessings with heartfelt thanksgiving. Pour out upon us the gift of Your Holy Spirit and grant that we receive the body and blood of our Lord as a guarantee of our salvation and a foretaste of the feast to come in Your eternal kingdom. To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and praise, together with the Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever.