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.)