Zion Lutheran Sioux Falls: Recent Episodes
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In Deuteronomy, God chooses Israel not because of their own greatness, but purely out of His baseline love and faithfulness to His promise. Romans mirrors this comforting truth, assuring us that our salvation rests entirely on God's active purpose—nothing in all creation can separate believers from His love in Christ Jesus. Finally, the Matthew parables illustrate the supreme, hidden value of the Kingdom of Heaven. Together, they comfort the believer… we do not find God; rather, He treasures, chooses, and securely holds us by grace alone.
The Parable of the Weeds makes an obvious point: there is both good and evil in the world, and even in the church. Sometimes people lament the “hypocrites” and brokenness found in both, but Jesus says don’t be surprised by this. In this present age there will be both good and bad, wickedness and evil. The devil works to cause this discord and evil. While it may be troubling, confusing and frustrating now, just wait. This will not continue forever. On the last day God will sort out and root out all sin and evil forever, but until that day continue to trust and find peace in His Wisdom, follow Him, and give thanks for the gentle, loving care God shows for the sake of you, His precious wheat.
Trust, writes the prophet Isaiah, that God’s Word has the power to accomplish His will! “It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” In the Gospel we see that Word in flesh doing the work of the Father, planting the seeds of the Kingdom liberally in order to produce an abundant crop, not of grain, but sons and daughters who, by faith in Christ, call this mighty and merciful God “Abba, Father.”
A battle has been raging over the centuries between those who ignore the hard truth that we are sinners, hopeless by ourselves, and those who have realized the real good that our Lord has graciously won for us. At the time of Jeremiah, self-proclaimed prophets such as Hananiah preached a false peace even as Israel was in exile in Babylon. In Paul’s day, members of the Early Church thought freedom from God’s Law meant they could ignore it. And when Jesus was calling new disciples, He warned that following Him would mean “a sword” coming between them and even members of their families. In Christ, the peace only God can bestow has been given to us by grace. Because of the truly good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can face the hard truth of our sinfulness and then sing with the psalmist the real good, “the steadfast love the Lord, forever.”
Jesus’ followers are “peculiar” people. Following the path that He has blazed for you means your walk will be “out of step” with a sinful world. Jesus shakes you out of the customary ways of thinking, speaking, and “doing,” inviting us to follow Him. A journey that, unsurprisingly, goes through valleys of rejection and suffering, after all “a student is not above his teacher….it’s enough for the student to be like his teacher.” Temporal troubles are certain, but so are eternal blessings for you who are in the care of a Loving Father to whose eye is on the sparrow and to whom “even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”
We are the helpless, harassed sheep who foolishly promise we can keep God's Law perfectly (Exodus). Knowing we can't, Christ dies for us while we are still His broken, weak enemies (Romans). Moved by profound compassion, Jesus sends out His Church into the world to deliver this free gift of life and forgiveness to all who are weary (Matthew). It shifts the focus entirely away from what we do for God, and centers fully on what God has done, and continues to do, for us.
Hosea exposes the emptiness of mere ritual, calling instead for a steadfast love that acknowledges our deep spiritual need. In Romans, Paul highlights Abraham to show that justification never comes through fulfilling the Law, but entirely by faith in God's promises. Finally, Jesus encapsulates this in Matthew, declaring that He came to call sinners, not the self-righteous, offering mercy over sacrifice.
Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. It is a day to bask in the wonder of knowing the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. While we often think about the three persons of the Trinity having their own areas of expertise (the Father creates, the Son redeems, the Spirit sanctifies), the Readings for today focus on how the three persons of the Trinity work together in every task. In the Old Testament Reading from Genesis, we see all three persons are present and active in the creation of the world. In our Reading from Acts, we see all three persons active in the salvation of the world. And in the Holy Gospel from Matthew, we see that all three persons are active in the new life we have as baptized children of God.
“What does this mean?” This question might sound familiar to anyone who has spent time studying Luther’s Small Catechism. As the catechism covers each of the Six Chief Parts, the question is asked again and again: “What does this mean?” And then explanation follows. This same question was asked by many in the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. As the people hear and see these miraculous events, they are amazed and perplexed, asking one another, “What does this mean?” In the verses that follow, Peter gives explanation from the Old Testament. He proclaims that God has fulfilled His promise to “pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given for all nations. As you celebrate the Day of Pentecost today, reflect on these events by asking yourself, “What does this mean—for me?”
AS WE GATHER: I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do. Jesus prays. Jesus reveals that His greatest glory is to enter into suffering with us and for us. And not only on the cross as He did when His hour came. But also to join us in our present day suffering, to shine the glory of His death for us as we walk through this journey of life. Even now, He glorifies you in His Word. He glorifies you in His gift of eternal life, that you know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. You are glorified in Jesus. Right now. Today. And forever.
Today is a day of overlapping identities and deep emotions. In the secular calendar, we celebrate Mother’s Day … a day of gratitude for the gift of life, nurture, and the hands that held us when we were small. In the Church’s calendar, we stand in the bright, lingering light of the Resurrection, observing the Sixth Sunday of Easter. At first glance, these two might seem to pull us in different directions. One is about domestic love and biological or adoptive bonds; the other is about the cosmic victory of Christ over the grave and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in our Gospel text from John 14, Jesus speaks a word that bridges these two worlds perfectly. He says… "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
The Rite of Confirmation, while not commanded in Scripture, is a special custom in the church. Confirmation is not a “graduation” or “completion,” rather it is a day that celebrates God’s gift and work in the life of the student publicly confessing his faith. This day looks back to the promise made in Baptism and looks ahead to a whole life lived in faith. “We rejoice with thankful hearts that you have been baptized and have received the teaching of the Lord. You have confessed the faith and have been absolved of your sins. As you continue to hear the Lord’s Word and receive His blessed Sacrament, He who has begun this good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (LSB Agenda, p. 30).
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 Samuel 8:4–9:2; 10:17–27; 11:12–15. Desiring to be like all the other nations, the elders come to Samuel asking him to appoint a king over Israel. Samuel vainly tries to warn against their plan, telling the consequences the people face. God reveals to Samuel that he will encounter the handsome Saul, whom he anoints as king over Israel. God expected His people to trust Him as their true leader. In Christ, we not only have our divine true leader, we also have the true King, who has conquered the powers of sin, death, and hell for us.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 7. God guides Moses to release His people from their slavery in Egypt, but Pharaoh proves less than cooperative. A series of plagues—foretold by Moses and sent by God—brings destruction and pain upon the Egyptians but only serves to harden Pharaoh’s heart against Moses and the Israelites. We make idols when we put our trust in creation and not the Creator. Jesus is true God, and He has delivered us from our bondage to sin, death, and the devil through the cross.
The Reading of the Day is from Genesis 39:20–23; 41:9–49. Falsely accused, Joseph finds himself in prison interpreting dreams for Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer. When the Egyptian pharaoh has troubling dreams, God empowers Joseph to explain the visions. Pharaoh appoints him to the second highest position in the land, and Joseph manages the harvest to endure the coming famine. God reversed the fortunes of Joseph, turning his bad situation into a good one. Christ humbled Himself for us, dying on a cross and rising again to new life, and in doing so has turned our bad situation of being slaves to sin and death into the good situation of being adopted children of God.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Genesis 29:1-30. Jacob experiences love at first sight when he meets Rachel at the well. Welcomed into his uncle Laban’s household, Jacob agrees to work seven years in order to marry Rachel. When the wedding celebration finally arrives, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Rachel’s older sister, Leah. Realizing the deception, Jacob confronts his uncle, who gives him Rachel’s hand for another seven years of service. Christ came into the world through this broken family of liars and deceivers. He, however, is sinless and perfect, and has come to restore us to a perfect relationship with the heavenly Father.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Genesis 25:19–34; 27:1–45. When Isaac is sixty years old, Rebekah gives birth to very different twin boys—Esau and Jacob. Isaac ignores God’s promise to Jacob and favors Esau. Esau’s hunger gets the best of him as he sells his birthright for a bowl of stew. Rebekah enables further deception as she plots with Jacob, her favored son, so that he receives Isaac’s blessing. When Esau vows to kill Jacob, Rebekah sends Jacob away for his own safety. Isaac and Rebekah’s family was unfaithful to God and to one another. Jesus, the ultimate fulfillment of the promised line of Isaac, was faithful to God in ways His ancestors were not.
The Reading of the Day is from Genesis 24:1–4, 10–28, 50–67. Abraham tasks a faithful servant with finding a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s homeland. The servant prays for a sign and waits at a well outside the city of Nahor. Rebekah appears, offering to draw water for both man and beast—the sign the servant had asked for. Rebekah invites the servant to come to her family home. Having received gifts from Abraham, Rebekah’s family sends her to Isaac with their blessings. God provided a bride for Isaac and so supported His promise to Abraham. Christ is our Bridegroom, who will return one day for the Bride, His Church, and will take us to our eternal dwelling.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Genesis 22:1-19. God had blessed Abraham with the son he had waited for his entire life; yet now God asks the seemingly impossible—sacrifice your son to Me. By faith, Abraham takes Isaac to the mountain, trusting God, who was able to raise his son from the dead. Abraham completes the test, and God provides the sacrifice. Christ is the ultimate sacrifice, substituting His perfect, sinless life for our sinful lives to save us from the just wrath of God for eternity.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7. The Lord and two angels
appear to Abraham in human form, promising the birth of a son to Abraham and Sarah within the year. Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac, as the Lord fulfills His promise of generations to come and the promised future Offspring—the Savior, Jesus. God was faithful to give Abraham and Sarah their promised son in Isaac. God is faithful to us in giving us His promised Son, Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham, who fulfilled God’s promise from of old to redeem His people.
The Reading of the Day is from Genesis 15:1-6; 17:1-21. God reassures Abram of His promise to bless the earth through Abram’s offspring. God changes his name from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of many nations”) and institutes circumcision as the sign of His continued covenant with Abraham. Despite Abraham and Sarah’s advanced age, God promises they will have a son of their own. God promised to send a Savior to crush Satan’s power over us. Jesus is the promised Offspring of Eve. He fulfilled this promise and defeated Satan by His work on the cross
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Genesis 1:26-2:25. God creates man in His own image with His own hands and breathes in him His own breath. Formed from the dust of the ground, Adam needs more than just animal companionship. So, our heavenly Father makes the perfect complement to man, creating woman from Adam’s rib, and places them in the garden. Christ, true God and true man, has come into the world to forgive us our sins and to begin to restore to us the image of God once again.
Welcome to Rally Sunday! Today, we celebrate the start of the 2025-26 activity year here at Zion Lutheran Church. Each week we rally around the Word of God and Holy Communion. We listen together as the lessons are read. We listen together as sermons are preached, as songs are sung and anthems soar. We rally around the love that God has for each of us and the lengths to which He will go to seek us out, to save us, to make a place for us, to celebrate with us! Let’s Rally Together to be a presence of Christ in the world today!
Today, we begin a new fall series of answering the question every week of “Where is Jesus in the Old Testament?” Our first focus for today as we begin this series is the disciples on the Road to Emmaus when the risen Jesus reveals the scripture to them. Luke writes, Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. Where is Jesus? … He is in all the scriptures including all of the Old Testament.
With the cross of Christ, the time has come “to gather all nations and tongues” (Isaiah 66:18). The sign of the cross is set forth in the preaching of the Gospel, the declaration of the Lord’s glory “among the nations” (Isaiah 66:19). Many “will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29), but only by the narrow way of the cross. Those who refuse to follow Christ crucified will ultimately find only “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28), whereas Christ’s disciples, called from all the nations, will eat and drink with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. They will come into “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22).
Today we worship the God who gives us His Word. The Word is at times like a fire or a hammer, speaking law and condemnation; but it is also the Word that encourages us with the Gospel, creating our faith response to His grace.
To live for earthly things “is vanity and a striving after wind,” and work that is driven by such vanity “is an unhappy business” (Ecclesiastes 1:13–14). The man who lives like that has nothing to show for “all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun … all his days are full of sorrow” (Ecclesiastes 2:22–23). So, too, your “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5), makes a god out of that which cannot give you life or happiness. For “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). But “Christ who is your life” (Colossians 3:4), in giving you Himself, gives you all the wealth of heaven. Instead of striving to lay up treasures for yourself, be “rich toward God” in Him (Luke 12:21).
This week it’s all about listening … to God’s word … and to living it out in compassion, integrity, and mercy … which requires listening to others. This can be harder than it sounds with all the noise that bombards us each day. That’s why the discipline of worship is so important. It gives us the time and the space to learn the practice of listening well. As we listen to God’s message and implement God’s saving reconciling word through simple acts of mercy, compassion and a commitment to truth and integrity, that we find ourselves living out the reality of God’s reign in our lives and our world. May your listening abilities be enhanced by your worship this week.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is John 11:1-44. Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, falls seriously ill. When word of his illness comes to Jesus, He delays two days, assuring His disciples the disease would not lead to death but to God’s glory. Despite death threats, Jesus reassures the disciples when deciding to return to Judea. They set out for Bethany, arriving four days after Lazarus is placed in the tomb. Jesus tells Martha that He is the resurrection and the life, as she boldly confesses, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27). Deeply moved by their grief, Jesus calls Lazarus back to life.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is John 9:1-41. When Jesus encounters a man born blind, His disciples wrongly assume the man’s sin or his parents’ sin is the cause of the blindness. Jesus corrects their assumption, telling them the man’s blindness was so the works of God might be displayed in him. Sight restored, the man and then his parents find themselves before the Pharisees, who try to claim the man was never blind. When the man asserts the truth of his healing, the Pharisees cast him out. Encountering Jesus once again, the man confesses his faith in the Son of Man.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Luke 15. Jesus shares three parables demonstrating our heavenly Father’s concern for the lost. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep to seek one that was lost. A woman sweeps the house to find one of ten silver coins. In the parable of the lost son, a young man squanders his inheritance, ending up in squalor. Determined to plead for his father’s mercy and beg to return as a servant, the son instead receives a celebration. Angered at his father’s welcome for the prodigal, the older son confronts his father. The father’s gentle response reassures the young man of the father’s everlasting love and care.
Welcome to Rally Sunday! Today, we celebrate the start of the 2024-25 activity year here at Zion Lutheran Church. Each week we rally around the Word of God and Holy Communion. We listen together as the lessons are read. We listen together as sermons are preached, as songs are sung and anthems soar. We rally around the love that God has for each of us and the lengths to which He will go to seek us out, to save us, to make a place for us, to celebrate with us! Let’s Rally Together to be a presence of Christ in the world today!
Today, we begin a new series of answering the question every week of “Who is Jesus?” Our first focus for today to help us answer the question is “A Welcome Truth.” Jesus and His disciples visit the home of sisters Mary and Martha. Mary sits at the Lord’s feet to hear His words. Martha, busy with meal preparations, asks Jesus to tell Mary to help. Instead, Jesus gently tells Martha that Mary has chosen the more important thing.
Today we celebrate Labor Day, a federal holiday set aside to honor the working people of this nation. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. It was made a national holiday in 1894. While the holiday was originally designed to recognize organized labor, it has become a holiday for all workers. For many, it marks the end of summer and begins the activities of the fall season. It is somewhat interesting that a day designated as Labor Day is celebrated with a day taken off from laboring. Today will also be a Labor Day of a different sort. For a faithful Christian every day is a day to work and serve the Lord. Each day should be spent working in the kingdom of God. There is work for each of us to do on an individual basis, and there is work for the church to do collectively. As long as we walk faithfully “in Christ,” every day is a Labor Day.
This text shows us that Jesus sees clearly the ugliness of human hearts, yet he does not turn away. He sees right through our highly edited versions of ourselves, knows what lurks in our hearts, yet loves us still. The good news exerts a claim on our lives, a call to follow. Following Jesus is not about separating ourselves from those considered less holy or unclean. Following Jesus means that like him, we get our hands dirty serving others, caring especially for those whom the world has cast aside. True faithfulness is not about clean hands, but a heart cleansed and a life shaped by the radical, self-giving love of God in Christ.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God, sent from above, to feed the world for all time. Jesus is he who sustains the world in a way that makes living possible. Jesus is the one who speaks, and we know he is here. Jesus is the one who draws us to himself. Jesus is the one who can help us understand even when everything in our histories cries out that it does not fit.
By comparing himself to bread, Jesus makes himself as necessary to us as the food we eat. He is our food, enabling us to live our life’s call, to be alive, our source of spiritual energy when exhausted, our consolation when we are troubled, our strength when we are weak. Jesus, the bread of life, sustains us and restores our vigor and exhausted energies. Our search for material bread continues… the desire for more increases even as we have a lot of bread. The present bread does not fulfill our hunger or quench our thirst, but that which Jesus gives does.
The bread we bake in our homes or buy from the store is good for today. But by tomorrow, it may be gone. The gifts we receive in this world satisfy us for a moment; however, the gifts we receive in the promised treasures of God’s Word are gifts that are eternal. When Jesus describes Himself in John 6 as the bread of life, we know that He highlights for us His mission of salvation. As our bread of life, Jesus comes to forgive us, renew us, and lead us toward a meaningful life in relationship with Him. Let us taste and experience that life together this day as the Holy Spirit calls us to walk with Jesus and be satisfied by His presence among us.
The call of this week’s Scripture readings is to learn to see God’s Spirit within each person and in our community as a whole. We learn to see in this way as we each seek to follow the Good Shepherd. We are called not only to follow the Good Shepherd, we are called to live as good shepherds for all we meet and in so doing allow God to build us into … a community … of grace and love in which God’s Spirit "lives" and moves and changes lives. May you experience God’s sending and God’s provision both as you worship and as you go out to live the mission of Christ in your daily life.
How do we use power? How do we speak truth to power? What do we do when we are both "power" and "prophet"? These are some of the questions raised by the Scripture readings this week. The challenge we face is to exercise the power we have with righteousness and justice and in submission to the higher authority of God’s Reign, while holding the powers of our world accountable to God’s justice, compassion, hope and good management. May we be confronted by God’s truth and power as we worship, and may we be transformed into prophets who use power well and who courageously and faithfully speak truth to power when required. We are called to be “Tender Without Surrender!”
As we once again celebrate our nation’s independence, we will hear much about freedom. As citizens, we give thanks for the blessings we have and for the many who fought for and paid the price for our liberties. While we certainly do not worship our nation, we appropriately honor and give thanks to God for this land in which we can freely worship the one true God. As this national celebration then passes, we are joyful that we don’t need an annual holiday to recognize true freedom as Christians. Daily we hold fast to the wonderful news that the battle has been fought and the price has been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may have freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil.
The Lord is faithful. His steadfast love never ceases, and “his mercies never come to an end” (Lam. 3:22–23). To keep us in repentance and to make our faith grow, He causes grief for a while, but He does not cast off forever; in due time, “he will have compassion” (Lam. 3:31–33). Therefore, “hope in him,” and “wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD,” for “the LORD is good to those who wait for him” (Lam. 3:24–26). That is what the woman did who had “a discharge of blood,” and also the ruler whose daughter was “at the point of death.” Each waited on the mercy of the Lord Jesus, and each received His saving help (Mark 5:21–28). The woman had suffered much for 12 years, and the ruler’s daughter had already died before Jesus arrived. Yet at the right time, the woman was immediately “healed of her disease,” and the little girl “got up and began walking” (Mark 5:29, 42). Such is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who humbled Himself unto the extreme poverty of death “so that you by his poverty might become rich,” even unto life everlasting (2 Cor. 8:9).
In his anguish and affliction, Job must be reminded that, as a finite creature, he is in no position to question the Maker of the heavens and the earth. Job’s “words without knowledge” are unable to penetrate the wisdom of the Lord (Job 38:1–2). For the Lord has “prescribed limits” and “set bars and doors,” so that “here shall your proud waves be stayed” (Job 38:9–11). That’s how He humbles us unto repentance. But also by His powerful Word, He calms the “great windstorm” and the waves “breaking into the boat.” He does not permit the chaos of this fallen world to overwhelm us or bring us to despair. By the Word of His Gospel, He speaks “Peace!” to us, which bestows the “great calm” of His new creation (Mark 4:37–39). Therefore, do not be afraid, and do not receive this grace of God in vain. “Now is the favorable time,” and “now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:1–2).
The parables of our Lord convey the mysteries of the kingdom of God to those who are “able to hear it,” that is, “to his own disciples,” who are catechized to fear, love and trust in Him by faith (Mark 4:33–34). He scatters “seed on the ground,” which “sprouts and grows” unto life, even as “he sleeps and rises” (Mark 4:26–27). “On the mountain height of Israel,” He plants a young and tender twig, and it becomes “a noble cedar.” Indeed, His own cross becomes the Tree of Life, under which “every kind of bird” will dwell, and in which “birds of every sort will nest” (Ezek. 17:22–25). His cross is our resting place, even while now in mortal bodies, we “groan, being burdened” (2 Cor. 5:1–4). Yet in faith, we live for God in Christ, who for our sake “died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). We know that, in His resurrected body, “we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1).
Blood is thicker than water. Sometimes this phrase is used to show that family ties are stronger than the ones you make among friends. While earthly family relationships are important, in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that our relationships to God and His family of faith are of even greater importance. We have been made brothers and sisters in Christ through a different, more precious blood—the blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross. Relationships made possible through His blood last for all eternity. While we honor our families, we give greater honor to the One who made us a part of His family. Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of being called Your sons and daughters!
“Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!” (Psalm 81:1). God ordained the Sabbath for the benefit of His people, as a source of refreshment and of joy. The Sabbath Day is the culmination of the week and gives meaning to all of the other days. With joy we gather for worship on the Lord’s Day. He is here! We have much to celebrate!
Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. It is a day to bask in the wonder of knowing the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. While we often think about the three persons of the Trinity having their own areas of expertise (the Father creates, the Son redeems, the Spirit sanctifies), the Readings for today focus on how the three persons of the Trinity work together in every task. In the Old Testament Reading from Genesis, we see all three persons are present and active in the creation of the world. In our Reading from Acts, we see all three persons active in the salvation of the world. And in the Holy Gospel from Matthew, we see that all three persons are active in the new life we have as baptized children of God.
“What does this mean?” This question might sound familiar to anyone who has spent time studying Luther’s Small Catechism. This same question was asked by many in the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. As the people hear and see these miraculous events, they are amazed and perplexed, asking one another, “What does this mean?” In the verses that follow, Peter gives an explanation from the Old Testament. He proclaims that God has fulfilled His promise to “pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to all nations. As you celebrate the Day of Pentecost today, reflect on these events by asking yourself, “What does this mean—for me?”
The second Sunday in May is set aside as a day to honor one of God's greatest gifts to humankind, Mothers. Mother's Day was first celebrated at a service in Philadelphia in 1907. The day was the idea of Anna Jarvis, a schoolteacher in Philadelphia. This is certainly not a religious holiday, but it is a day that draws our attention to one of God's greatest blessings. It is good that we remember the influence our mothers had as we were growing up. To those mothers who are raising young children, you need to be aware of the wonderful blessing and awesome responsibility the Lord has given you. That small life is a being for eternity, and you will help to form the ideas and values that will see them through this life and into the next. Hopefully, we honor our mothers every day. Happy Mother's Day and thank God for Mothers!
Today on Confirmation Day, these young people stand on their own and express for themselves the faith they now confirm in themselves… a faith that is Christ centered and cross focused lived out in a community of believers that loves God and neighbor. This is the faith that our confirmands confirm themselves today at 10:30am worship. The same faith they received by the grace of God through the water and Word of baptism as the sponsors and parents expressed the faith for them.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Mark 4:35–41. “Peace! Be still!” (v. 39). With this simple command, Jesus proclaims His power over a storm strong enough to shake even these experienced fishermen. With the disciples, we must ask, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (v. 41). Jesus is making it clear that He, who was present at creation, is Lord over all, including the wind and the waves.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Matthew 6:25-34. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds His listeners not to worry about things they cannot control. The birds of the air and the flowers of the field serve as examples of God’s continuing care for His creation. Likewise, we have no need for worry or anxiousness because God provides and cares for us.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is John 2:1-11. While a guest at a wedding in Cana, Jesus’ mother asks Him to assist the wedding hosts, who have run out of wine. In Jesus’ first recorded miracle, He changes a large volume of plain water into wine that is superior to what has already been served. It is the first sign that Jesus did to point to who He is as the Son of God. Those who witness this miracle marvel at what He has done.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Luke 5:1–11. Spotting some fishing boats by the shore of Galilee, Jesus turns Simon Peter’s boat into a floating pulpit. He preaches from the boat and then commands the disciples to put out to fish. Although they had fished all night without a catch, now the nets fill to bursting. Recognizing his sinfulness, Peter falls down in front of his Savior and Lord, who calls him to a new kind of fishing.
What is it that has changed your life more than any other single event? We might think back to certain moments in life that have made a marked impression upon us. Today, in God's Word, we discover that the resurrection of Jesus is the single most significant event in all our lives. The resurrection of Jesus validates the crucifixion as a life-changing, sin-forgiving event, and paves the way for a life that will never end in heaven for the believer.
The pilgrims packed Jerusalem during the Feast of Passover, waving palm branches and singing praises to the donkey-riding King who came to save. Not knowing exactly how or even when He would declare His victory over His foes, the multitudes celebrated and were “altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:15). We can have the same joy and gladness in our hearts today as Jesus comes to us through the promised treasures of His Word. Because we have received the full story of His saving actions for us, we are blessed to know that by His death and resurrection that week of Passover, our humble King has delivered us from our enemies—Satan, sin, and death. Let us together be “altogether joyful” in Jesus!
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Luke 3:15–22; 4:1–13. At Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks, “You are My beloved Son.” This pivotal moment marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and it creates an incredible connection to Jesus’ life (and death and resurrection) and our own. Jesus goes from the waters of Baptism to the wilderness, where He faces a series of temptations from the devil. Jesus resists each as He speaks the truth of God’s Word against the lies of Satan, remaining the perfect Son of God in our place.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Matthew 2. Through a star, His Word, and a dream, God leads these Gentile scholars to worship the Christ. Heeding the warning of another dream, Joseph immediately flees with his young family to the safety of Egypt. When Herod’s insane jealousy died with him, the Holy Family returns home to Nazareth, fulfilling more prophecy of the Promised One.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Luke 2:1-20. Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where a simple stable serves as the birthplace for the promised Christ Child. Angelic hosts announce the birth of the Savior to simple shepherds, who hasten to worship the Child. Having seen the Savior in the flesh, the shepherds quickly spread the news of His birth. This is the moment that creation has been waiting for since God first promised a Savior to the first sinners, Adam and Eve.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Nehemiah 2:1–8; 12:27–43. King Cyrus of Persia plans to [re]build a house for the Lord in Jerusalem. When the temple is complete, King Artaxerxes sends Ezra as priest and scribe to teach and lead the people. While serving in the household of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah convinces the king to send him to Jerusalem to repair the city wall. Despite opposition from Israel’s neighbors, repairs are completed in record time. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the priests lead the people in a joyous rededication of the wall. As God’s people return to the Promised Land after a long and tragic exile, God demonstrates His faithfulness and points to even greater restoration in the Last Day.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Daniel 6. Daniel’s faithful service to King Darius while in exile results in Daniel’s promotion to be one of three presidents in Babylon. Prompted by political jealousy, the other leaders convince Darius to sign a decree that everyone must worship only him. Daniel remains faithful to the true God, praying to Him three times daily. When the jealous leaders bring accusations against Daniel, Darius reluctantly condemns Daniel to the lions’ den. God’s angel shuts the lions’ mouths so Daniel remains unharmed. Darius acknowledges the power of the true God to all the people.
AS WE GATHER: Our Bible Reading of the Day is Jeremiah 1:4−10; 29:1–14; 31:31–34; 33:14–16. When God calls Jeremiah to serve Him, God tells Jeremiah he was chosen as God’s prophet even before he was formed in the womb. When Nebuchadnezzar takes the Israelites into exile in Babylon, Jeremiah writes to the exiles, assuring them of God’s continuing care for them. Through Jeremiah, God promises a new covenant where all people will have the Law written on their hearts. God’s people will live under an eternal covenant through Jesus—David’s righteous branch.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 Kings 12:1–24. Through the prophet Ahijah, Jeroboam learns he will lead ten tribes of a divided kingdom. Rehoboam, Solomon’s heir, ignores the pleas of the people to lighten their load; instead, he threatens to make their workload even more difficult. Angered by his response, the ten tribes of Israel separate, making Jeroboam their leader, leaving Rehoboam to lead the tribes of Judah and Benjamin from Jerusalem. Jeroboam places golden calves in Bethel and Dan, telling the people they no longer need to go to Jerusalem to worship. The kingdom of David was divided, never to be brought together again in the same way. Believers of all ages now look to the Son of David to bring all nations together into His kingdom.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 2 Samuel 4:4; 9:1–13. Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, suffered crippling injuries at age 5 while escaping Saul’s enemies with his nurse. Once David established his kingdom, his thoughts turned to any possible survivors from Saul and Jonathan’s line. Discovering Mephibosheth, David bestows on him Saul’s land and fortune. Mephibosheth’s family moves to Jerusalem, where he always eats at the king’s table.
Welcome to Rally Sunday! What does Rally Sunday mean anyway? We Rally to inspire, to ignite, to get people ready to go out into the world carrying a message Christ. Today, we celebrate the start of the 2023-24 activity year here at Zion Lutheran Church. So, we rally around the Gospel. We rally around the children. We rally around each other. We rally around food, fun and fellowship. Around ministry to our families and those in our circle of relationships and influence. Around worship and reflection. Around stewardship and service. We rally around people who are grieving. We rally around people who are sick, out of work, homeless, hungry and on the edge. Each week we rally around the Word of God and Holy Communion. We listen together as the lessons are read. We listen together as sermons are preached, as songs are sung and anthems soar. We rally around the love that God has for each of us and the lengths to which He will go to seek us out, to save us, to make a place for us, to celebrate with us! Lets Rally Together to be a presence of Christ in the world today!
AS WE GATHER: Today we celebrate Labor Day, a federal holiday set aside to honor the working people of this nation. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City. It was made a national holiday in 1894. While the holiday was originally designed to recognize organized labor, it has become a holiday for all workers. For many, it marks the end of summer and begins the activities of the fall season. It is somewhat interesting that a day designated as Labor Day is celebrated with a day taken off from laboring. Today will also be a Labor Day of a different sort. For a faithful Christian everyday is a day to work and serve the Lord. Each day should be spent working in the kingdom of God. There is work for each of us to do on an individual basis, and there is work for the church to do collectively. As long as we walk faithfully “in Christ,” everyday is a Labor Day.
AS WE GATHER: There are many different opinions in our world about who the Lord is, and many of those opinions are based on who people want the Lord to be. What a privilege and joy it is that as we gather we don’t need to try to seek and find the Lord and His attributes on our own. Instead, He reveals Himself as who He was, is, and ever shall be, in and throughout Scripture. We hear this today in our Old Testament Reading as God, through Isaiah, calls His people to look and listen to Him as He seeks and makes us His redeemed children (Isaiah 51:1–6). As His children, we are part of His Body and blessed to complement one another in faith and fellowship (Romans 11:33–12:8) and in the confession of who our Savior Jesus Christ truly is (Matthew 16:13–20). As He continues to seek and to find, and by the calling, gathering, and enlightening by His Holy Spirit through His Word, we worship in that promised grace giving certain hope now and in the future.
Pet dogs know the right place to be at mealtime: under the table. They know you don’t need a special seat; these dogs are happy to get crumbs of “people food.” And we rejoice to receive what we don’t deserve: whatever blessings God bestows on us, disobedient sinners that we are. In the Old Testament Reading, God promises that He would call us foreigners to His table, and here we are. Even the disobedience of God’s Old Testament people has proven good for us, as we see everyone receiving mercy from a gracious God. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel saw herself in the position of a dog, trusting she would receive crumbs from the family table. But the bread crumb falling to earth she and we have received is none other than the Son of God, the Bread of Life. The crumb each of us receives is priceless! As we gather around Word and Sacrament, we get no stale food, but the nourishment we need for abundant life each day until we join saints and angels at the eternal feast in heaven.
All of our prayer and praise is only our response to what God has said to us. Through the revealed Word of the Bible and the incarnate Word, Jesus, God has talked to us about sin and grace. Our talking back to Him, unfortunately, can be back talk, with all the negative connotations of that term. That’s when we deserve to hear the Law, as Job does in today’s Old Testament Reading. But when we have truly heard God’s gracious invitation, as Paul reminds us in the Epistle and Peter heard while in his boat, our talking back to God is humble thanks for His grace and mercy. We have the opportunity again today to hear Law and Gospel and to give God the faith-filled back talk He wants from His forgiven sons and daughters.
We face so many arguments about food these days. Go organic. Go gluten free. Go low carb. Go vegan. Go GMO free. Our culture is deeply concerned about what sort of food we put in our bodies, because the old saying “you are what you eat” is fairly accurate. While what sort of food we put into our bodies is an important concern, Jesus compels us to make another kind of food an even higher priority than the food we chew and digest. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus feeds five thousand people, thereby revealing that He is the Word of God Incarnate, the food that feeds more than our stomachs. Jesus feeds our souls. This was foreseen by the prophet Isaiah who wrote, “Come, everyone who thirsts . . . incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live.” The food we put into our bodies is important. Even more important is to gather in church for food that feeds the soul!
“God never gives you more than you can handle.” These words are often used to try to comfort someone who is suffering. These words are often spoken as if this is what the Scriptures teach about suffering. However, these words are not found in the Scriptures. Nor is the idea that you never face more than you can handle. This not-so-helpful idea is loosely based on today’s Epistle, “all things work together for good,” and 1 Corinthians 10:13, that God “will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.” While it’s a well-intended comment, “God never gives you more than you can handle” is simply not true. Life does sometimes give us more than we can handle. If we could handle these things and more, then why would we even need God? Instead of protecting us from more than we can handle, God handles what we can’t handle. Joseph couldn’t handle it when his brothers sold him into slavery. But God handled it as He guided Joseph toward leadership in Egypt. What amazing news it is that no matter what might happen to you in this life, even when you can’t handle it at all and you feel like your life is crumbling to pieces, God can handle it!
With the whole creation we groan together in birthing pains, waiting for the redemption of all things. Things are not how they were intended to be. We are not home yet. This sad state of affairs is the result of people who are not God playing God. The devil is in on this, sowing weeds throughout the field of this world. But there is no God besides God the Holy Trinity, not in heaven above nor on earth below—not you, not me, not anyone. The real God has appointed that we and all humanity are saved in hope through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our true home is the kingdom of God introduced by Jesus. Along our journey home, even when we do not know what to pray, our hope is sustained by the intercessions of God the Holy Spirit, whose groanings on our behalf are deeper than words can tell.
God’s vivifying Word cleaves the darkness of humanity’s sin and death, accomplishing the rescue mission on which He speaks it forth. Turned in upon ourselves, the ground of our hearts at different times in our lives is hard-packed, rock-infested, and thorn-choked until God’s merciful speaking creates fertile, receptive soil in which the vivifying Word of His Gospel finds purchase, takes root, and bears much fruit. Through the Spirit’s ministry of God’s Word and Sacraments, we receive the adoption as beloved sons and daughters crying out, “Abba! Father!”
Are you tired? Are you burdened? Do you feel weary? Jesus says to you: “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest.” As we come to Jesus in faith, He takes our burdens upon Himself and gives us rest for our souls. Yoked to Christ in our Baptism, our standing in the presence of God the Father is guaranteed because of Him. We gather together for worship today, knowing that as Jesus first comes to us with forgiveness and new life, we can then offer Him our prayers and praise. This is the Father’s gracious will. May He bless us as we gather before Him!
As we once again celebrate our nation’s independence, we will hear much about freedom. As citizens, we give thanks for the blessings we have and for the many who fought for and paid the price for our liberties. While we certainly do not worship our nation, we appropriately honor and give thanks to God for this land in which we can freely worship the one true God. As this national celebration then passes, we are joyful that we don’t need an annual holiday to recognize true freedom as Christians. Daily we hold fast to the wonderful news that the battle has been fought and the price has been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may have freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil. Today we hear the Spirit-inspired words of the apostle Paul from Galatians and learn more about what real freedom is, guidance for lives lived in that freedom, and the fruit freely given to us through the Holy Spirit.
The outcome of sin is death, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). He has set you free from the slavery of sin and has brought you “from death to life” (Romans 6:13). No longer are you under the condemnation of the Law, but you live “under grace” (Romans 6:14). Such is your courage in the face of “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). For though “you will be hated by all” and maligned by the world for the name of Christ (Matthew 10:22, 25) you abide in the care of your Father in heaven, who numbers “even the hairs of your head” and values you more “than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:30–31). By the Word of Christ, you have become like Him, your Teacher and Master in whom you endure to the end, and “will be saved” (Matthew 10:22, 25). For He is with you “as a dread warrior,” who has overcome your enemies (Jeremiah 20:11). By the righteousness of faith, He delivers your heart, mind, body and life “from the hand of evildoers,” and He brings you into the land of the living (Jeremiah 20:12–13).
The Holy Triune God “shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners,” ungodly and at enmity with Him, “Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The incarnate Son has justified us by His blood and reconciled us to His God and Father (Romans 5:9–10). Whereas sin and death originated with Adam, forgiveness and life abound for all His children through “that one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:12–17). As the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, so does He bring us to Himself by the Gospel and make of us “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) by our Baptism into Christ. For “all that the LORD has spoken” (Exodus 19:8), Christ has done for us. As He has gone up to God by His cross and resurrection, so does He bring us to the Father in Himself (Exodus 19:3–4). Nor does He leave us “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36), but He sends men with authority “to heal every disease and every affliction” by His forgiveness of sins (Matthew 10:1). In their proclamation, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7).
AS WE GATHER: In calling Matthew the Tax Collector to follow Him, Jesus demonstrates that He has come “not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:9, 13). As a Good Physician, He comes not to confirm them in their sins, but to heal them with His grace, calling them to repentance, faith and newness of life (Matthew 9:12). He puts them to death by the preaching of His Law, in order to raise them with His Gospel, to live before Him in the righteousness of His resurrection (Hosea 6:1–2, 5). It is in this way that God “gives life to the dead,” that is, through faith in Jesus, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:17, 24–25). Thus, sinners from all nations are called to share the same faith as Abraham, the father of all who trust in Jesus (Romans 4:16–18). And as our Lord in mercy thus welcomes us poor sinners to recline at the table in His house, so does He “desire steadfast love and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:10, 13; Hosea 6:6), that we should have mercy on our neighbors and forgive their sins against us for Jesus’ sake.
Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. It is a day to bask in the wonder of knowing the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. While we often think about the three persons of the Trinity having their own areas of expertise (the Father creates, the Son redeems, the Spirit sanctifies), the Readings for today focus on how the three persons of the Trinity work together in every task. In the Old Testament Reading from Genesis, we see all three persons are present and active in the creation of the world. In our Reading from Acts, we see all three persons active in the salvation of the world. And in the Holy Gospel from Matthew, we see that all three persons are active in the new life we have as baptized children of God.
“What does this mean?” This question might sound familiar to anyone who has spent time studying Luther’s Small Catechism. As the catechism covers each of the Six Chief Parts, the question is asked again and again: “What does this mean?” And then explanation follows. This same question was asked by many in the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. As the people hear and see these miraculous events, they are amazed and perplexed, asking one another, “What does this mean?” In the verses that follow, Peter gives explanation from the Old Testament. He proclaims that God has fulfilled His promise to “pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given for all nations. As you celebrate the Day of Pentecost today, reflect on these events by asking yourself, “What does this mean—for me?”
I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do. Jesus prays. Jesus reveals that His greatest glory is to enter into suffering with us and for us. And not only on the cross as He did when His hour came. But also to join us in our present day suffering, to shine the glory of His death for us as we walk through this journey of life. Even now, He glorifies you in His Word. He glorifies you in His gift of eternal life, that you know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. You are glorified in Jesus. Right now. Today. And forever.
“The God who … gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24–25) wants all people to seek Him that they might “feel their way toward Him and find Him” (Acts 17:27). But in our sinful ignorance, we humans turn instead to idols “formed by the art and imagination of man” (Acts 17:29). Therefore, God appointed the Man of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, and “has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Because He lives, we also live (John 14:19) in His forgiveness, and thus we love Him and keep His commandments (John 14:15). While the risen Lord prepares us for His ascension, He will not leave us “as orphans” (John 14:18), but He gives “another Helper,” the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever (John 14:16) through the preaching of “Jesus and the Resurrection” (Acts 17:18). Because He “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18), we “honor Christ the Lord as Holy” and are always “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” for the reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Our Baptism “now saves” us “as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21)
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Jude 3-4, 12-13, 16-19, 20-25. The book of Jude is a word of exhortation packed into a short letter. Jude, a half-brother of Jesus and a believer, intended to write to his friends in the faith regarding their common salvation, but he suddenly found it necessary to write an appeal urging them to contend for the faith that was delivered to the Saints once for all. This necessity arose because of false teaching that infiltrated the church. Jude filled his exhortation with warnings in the form of allusions to events and biblical history and other stories. In light of these, he called the believers reading his letter to remember the love, mercy, and presence of God and to persevere in the truth.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 John 2:1-6. The Apostle John wrote 1 John to a group of believers and churches who had been bombarded with false teachings about Jesus. Some false teachers had left the church, but the controversy they stirred up lingered. John responded to these false teachers and their false claims not by backing down but by standing strong on the Gospel with grace and truth. At the same time, he aimed to encourage the believers by reinforcing their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He reminded them of the amazing love of God evidenced in the completed work of Christ and clarified how we experience His forgiveness. Through this session, we want to remember what is true about Jesus and encourage a life of obedience that flows from love by understanding His completed work on the cross.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 27:21-44. Trusting someone else is hard work, especially if they have let you down by not coming through in the past. As human beings who are not perfect, letting people down is a natural part of life. When trust has been violated, it’s hard to regain it. God, on the other hand, is perfect, and we should automatically and completely trust Him. Still, most of us struggle to trust God when life gets hard. In this session, we will look at how Paul kept on trusting God in the midst of a situation where his life could have ended. We will also consider how God has shown Himself to be trustworthy in our lives as well.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 24:1-10; 25:9-12; 26:27-32. What a blessing it is to worship a God who is involved in all the details of our lives. In this session, we will see how God continuously ordered Paul’s steps even while he was in Roman custody. God’s plan and God’s truth, the Gospel, cannot be thwarted by Satan or the schemes of man. Our goal in this session is to identify God’s providence at work not only in the life of Paul but also in our lives, both before and after we embraced Jesus as Savior. It is good for us to remember this truth as we walk through life: God will never lead us where He can’t keep us.
What is it that has changed your life more than any other single event? We might think back to certain moments in life that have made a marked impression upon us. Today, in God's Word, we discover that the resurrection of Jesus is the single most significant event in all our lives. The resurrection of Jesus validates the crucifixion as a life-changing, sin-forgiving event, and paves the way for a life that will never end in heaven for the believer.
The pilgrims packed Jerusalem during the Feast of Passover, waving palm branches and singing praises to the donkey-riding King who came to save. Not knowing exactly how or even when He would declare His victory over His foes, the multitudes celebrated and were “altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:15). We can have the same joy and gladness in our hearts today as Jesus comes to us through the promised treasures of His Word. Because we have received the full story of His saving actions for us, we are blessed to know that by His death and resurrection that week of Passover, our humble King has delivered us from our enemies—Satan, sin, and death. Let us together be “altogether joyful” in Jesus!
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Philippians 3:7-21. What is the Christian life? How is the Christian’s outlook on life different from the world’s? These are basic questions that every Christian must ask at some point. Paul understood how the Gospel transforms one’s life, having gone from the committed, presumptuous Pharisee to the humble, tent-making apostle. Paul discussed this contrast specifically in his Letter to the Philippians. Not only do we as Christians have a different mind-set toward our past than do non-Christians but we also have different motivations and goals for the future. Because of our relationship with the risen Jesus, we can have confidence that we too will experience victory one day in the form of resurrection glory.
The Reading of the Day is Ephesians 2:1-16. In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminded the Ephesian saints to hold fast to the grace of God and live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The letter was written, in other words, to declare the mystery of Christ and promote the reconciliation and unity found in Christ. False teaching divides God’s people, but the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ brings the church together. As Paul reveals the glories of the mystery of God and His plan to bring unity through Christ, believers are encouraged to live as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 22:30-23:6-27. God is truthful and God is faithful, so we can rest assured that God will provide us with the strength we need to endure every situation we face when we proclaim the Gospel. God will never lead us where He won’t keep us. We can see how Jesus, who also faced opposition, endured to the end so He would create a pathway for us to follow. In this session, we will see how Paul followed in the footsteps of Jesus by enduring well. This will provide us with insight on how we too can endure while facing opposition as we keep making Jesus known in homes, cities, nations, and the world.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 19:1-20. The Gospel message serves as a bridge to connect a person’s story to God’s story found in Scripture. Since Jesus is the main character in God’s story, we must be diligent to make Him known in ways people can understand. When we embrace Jesus as Savior, we are given a new identity in Him. In this session, we will observe how the Apostle Paul made Jesus known in different ways when he proclaimed the Gospel with clarity. Like Paul, we should be ready to share Jesus with as many people and through as many ways as possible. God moves on the hearts of hearers of the Gospel when Jesus is made known to them.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11. This session will outline the characteristics of Christian hope and uncover the nature and purpose behind our waiting. In exploring how the destinies of those in Christ and those apart from Him differ drastically, we will receive an indisputable urgency to share the Good News of Christ in hopes that many will come to know Him and escape the destruction that awaits those apart from Him. We will discover that living in the light of Christ’s assured return produces a profound unity within His church and transforms how we live our everyday lives.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Galatians 3:1-29. In this session, we will explore the relationship between the law and faith as it pertains to sin. The distinction between the two, their functions, and their overall purpose will be examined. Exploring the history of the law will result in a deeper understanding of it and aid in clarifying where justification for the sinner and freedom from sin are found. We will uncover how the work of Jesus on the cross informed the faith of the people of God before the crucifixion even took place and how that in turn informs the faith of Christians today.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 17:16-34. In this session, we will explore how the church is united in love to fulfill the mission Jesus has given us: to proclaim the Gospel to all peoples everywhere and make disciples of them. But to do that, we need to be burdened for the lost. Being burdened for unbelievers, however, is not enough. If we are to share the love of Christ with unbelievers, we must also develop a clear strategy where we build points of contact in order to establish a Christian worldview and then share the Gospel and call for a response.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is 2 Timothy 1:8-14 and 2 Timothy 2:1-7. The success of the church is measured by its faithfulness to the Gospel. That’s one of the reasons God equips the church with godly leaders who are willing to endure hardship for the sake of the Gospel and passing on sound teaching to the church. Though charged with guarding the good deposit, leaders are not expected to do this in their own strength because the Holy Spirit lives in them to make them strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We, in turn, should unite under godly leaders for the advancement of the Gospel and to act as disciples who make disciples.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 13:1-12. The Holy Spirit plays the lead role in the missional efforts of the church. This truth is abundantly clear as the assembled church at Antioch sends out the first missionary team. In this session, we will see how the church, in obedience to the Great Commission and the call of the Holy Spirit, goes “on offense” in a new way while the enemy plays defense. Although the focus will be upon Barnabas and Saul, the whole church was involved in their missionary enterprise through prayer, fasting, commissioning, and support.
The Reading of the Day is Acts 12:1-17. God has given His church the tools she needs to overcome adversity and stay focused on the Gospel task. Here we will see how the opposition to the Gospel is strong, severe even. And yet, the early church had access to resources—prayer, worship, fasting, and obedience—that are far more powerful than the most overreaching government. The church today has access to these same resources. Let us remember that our mission is marked not by ease, a lack of oppression, or even signs and wonders but by obedience and faithfulness to go into a hostile world and share the Gospel that changes lives.
AS WE GATHER: Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 11:1-18. Luke’s account of Acts records how the church came to be composed of Jews and Gentiles. Although God used the prophets to prepare Israel for this worldwide salvation, people within the church were still shocked when Gentiles received the same New Covenant blessings promised to the Jews. As the Gospel continued to spread from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the Gentile world, the Lord prepared Peter and the rest of the early Christians for the Good News that salvation is for all. As we will see in Acts 11, so that they didn’t miss the point, the Lord allowed Peter and his company to witness Cornelius and his household receiving the same promise of the Holy Spirit that they themselves had experienced in Jerusalem.
“This is My beloved Son!” exclaims God the Father at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. God knows well how to love. His love is not limited to His Son or even to His chosen people. His love extends to all humanity. As God’s well-loved people, we reflect that love in our interactions with those around us. The extending of that love by showing forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is truly God pleasing.
AS WE GATHER: Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. (Exodus 15:6) John the Baptist pointed to the power of God present in Jesus Christ. As we prepare for the birth of baby Jesus, we point others to the power at work in our lives through our Emmanuel, God with us.
For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. (Psalm 31:3) The children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years, often doubting God’s plan for them. With the arrival of Jesus on the scene, we have a clear path to the promised land of heaven through Him who is the Way.
AS WE GATHER: John 1:1–18 provides a summary of the fourth Gospel’s themes. These verses are rich in light and life, truth and grace. They are some of the most important words ever written!
AS WE GATHER: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2) God promises Abraham that an offspring from his line would bring blessing to all. When Jesus was born, that promise came true with an abundance.
The Reading of the Day is 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. The world is full of temptations and distractions to keep people from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Satan himself engineers these to oppose the work of God. But sometimes these distractions enter into the midst of the church with the aim of leading even believers astray. In this session, we will be warned to hold fast to the one true Gospel of Jesus crucified and raised. We will be challenged to rely on God’s power and direction for sharing this Gospel with others. And we will be emboldened to confront anyone who would try to distract people from the truth of the Gospel.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Colossians 3:1-17. In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul taught believers to remember their identity in Christ. He framed this idea with the imagery of clothing. Every person born into the world, except Jesus, is born wearing a sinful nature, and their words and actions are consistent with that nature. But those who have come to faith in Christ have put off this old self and put on the new self, which increasingly resembles the life of Jesus. In keeping with this new set of clothing, believers are to put to death the sinful desires of this earth and put on the characteristics of Christ by setting our minds on Christ.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 9:3-20. Jesus confronts unbelievers so they might trust in Him, and He calls them to live on mission for Him as part of His church. God also employs believers to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and commission the people God brings into His church. Today, we will see from Ananias’s reaction to God’s command that Saul was an inconceivable choice to be saved, much less lead the mission of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. No one would have foreseen his conversion. Yet God specializes in enlisting enemies to His service and uniting us with His church. Yes, Saul was not the last rebel God saved and commissioned; every believer follows this pattern, including you and me.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 8:26-40. Evangelism is challenging work, but as Acts 8 illustrates, this work is worth it. Philip, as under the orders of a sovereign officer, was commanded to get up and go share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a high-profile, powerful African eunuch. As he obeyed and went, Philip experienced the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, who accompanies those who go to share the Good News. This faithful believer’s unique Gospel conversation in a desert space with an unlikely person demonstrated the power of God still at work in our world to embolden His people and change people’s hearts.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is James 2:14-26. Through faith in Jesus, God not only forgives us of our sins but He also declares us to be as righteous as Jesus Himself. This is called the doctrine of justification. Sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, have a new status as God’s people because they have been declared righteous in Christ. The Book of James is concerned with the works that come out of a justifying faith. This letter teaches us that works always and necessarily accompany saving faith; good works are evidence of a faith that justifies. Being justified by faith, God’s people are empowered through the Holy Spirit to live a life of loving God and loving their neighbors as themselves. We are saved by faith alone, but our faith produces good works.
Paul wrote Romans as a letter to the scattered house churches of Rome to remind Jewish and Gentile believers of the gospel and that the gospel empowered them to accept one another just as Christ had accepted them. God promised Abraham long ago that he would have a diverse family, and God has kept that promise. In this study through passages often called “the Romans Road,” we will see that God redeems, regenerates, and unifies Jews and Gentiles through the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus. Our outline and readings from Romans go like this:
- God’s righteousness is revealed through the Gospel
(Romans 1:16-17).
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All have sinned and earned death (Romans 3:23; 6:23a).
-
God provided Jesus as a substitute for sinners
(Romans 5:8; 6:23b).
- God reconciles and declares sinners righteous through Jesus
(Romans 5:9-11).
- God saves all who trust in Jesus (Romans 10:9-13).
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 6:8-10; 7:44-51; 7:54-60. We will look specifically at how the Spirit’s work enables the church to trust Christ in matters of life and death. The Holy Spirit empowered the earliest Christians, like Stephen, to speak boldly about Jesus and to interpret the Scriptures wisely concerning Him, but the Spirit also empowered believers such as Stephen to endure persecution to the point of death for the sake of the Gospel. God’s people speak boldly, empowered by the Spirit’s presence, proclaim God’s Word, empowered by the Spirit’s understanding and face persecution, empowered by the Spirit’s filling.
We remember and celebrate the LWML today. Our Bible Reading of the Day is 2 Peter 1:2-11. The apostle Peter wrote his first epistle about the joy available to Christ followers even in the context of trials and persecution. He sent his second epistle to give believers instructions on how to live out their Christian identity. Here Peter described how God works powerfully in His people, so much so that He chooses not only to save but also equip Christians to live godly lives that glorify Him. We will see how being a Christian requires that we not only “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk” of our faith. As we talk and walk, we confirm God’s grace at work within us and His calling on our lives manifested through us. Because Christ’s righteousness has been credited to us, we strive to live in heartfelt obedience to God in order to demonstrate to those around us the reality of our changed lives in Christ.
AS WE GATHER: Our Bible Reading of the Day is 1 Peter 1:3-9; 2:11-17. Jesus gives His people eternal life, purpose, and hope so they can maintain joy in trials as they seek to display faith in Christ that will draw others to Him. God’s people are called to endure life’s trials with hope, joy, and honor so that even those who wrong us might see the goodness of Christ through us. When we live in this way, we follow the pattern of Jesus, who, for the joy that lay before Him, endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Because of Jesus’ obedience to the Father on the cross, we who wronged Him but now trust in Him have been saved. Because we have been saved through the suffering of Jesus, we patiently endure trials and fight for joy so that we may display faith in Christ that will draw others to Him.
Our Bible Reading of the Day is Acts 3:1-20. Peter and John offered a man who was lame something better than money—healing and salvation in Jesus. Once the Holy Spirit was given, the disciples began boldly proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit displayed the power of God’s kingdom through the miracles the disciples performed in Jesus’ name for His glory and praise. Because we have experienced the miracle of our salvation from sin and new life in Jesus, we follow the example of the early Christians as we boldly and graciously proclaim the Gospel and minister to those in need.
Welcome to Rally Sunday! Today, we celebrate the start of the 2022-23 activity year here at Zion Lutheran Church. The church of Jesus Christ has been commissioned by God to take the News of Christ’s work to the world. Empowered by God’s Spirit, the church calls all people everywhere to repent of sin and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. By God’s grace in Christ, repentance and faith restores our relationship with God and results in a life of ongoing transformation. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples, and when He arrived, the Spirit filled them and empowered them to be Jesus’ witnesses. Today we start our Sunday series Transformed by the Holy Spirit. We will be preaching and teaching through the Book of Acts and the Epistles. Adults and Children will be studying and hearing the same lessons here on Sundays. We rally around the love that God has for each of us and the lengths to which He will go to seek us out, to save us, to make a place for us, to celebrate with us! Let’s Rally Together to be a presence of Christ in the world today!
Today we celebrate Labor Day, a federal holiday set aside to honor the working people of this nation. The first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. It was made a national holiday in 1894. While the holiday was originally designed to recognize organized labor, it has become a holiday for all workers. For many, it marks the end of summer and begins the activities of the fall season. It is somewhat interesting that a day designated as Labor Day is celebrated with a day taken off from laboring. Today will also be a Labor Day of a different sort. For a faithful Christian everyday is a day to work and serve the Lord. Each day should be spent working in the kingdom of God. There is work for each of us to do on an individual basis, and there is work for the church to do collectively. As long as we walk faithfully “in Christ,” everyday is a Labor Day.
In today's Gospel the Pharisees are carefully watching Jesus, just waiting for the opportunity to criticize. But what they are really seeing, however, is love. Because Jesus has been watching them carefully too, our Lord reaches out to them urging the way of love in their relations with God and one another. As this word reveals our sinful lack of love, care and concern for others, more so it reveals the greatest love of God that takes away sin and its condemnation through the suffering, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
AS WE GATHER: With the cross of Christ, the time has come “to gather all nations and tongues” (Isaiah 66:18). The sign of the cross is set forth in the preaching of the Gospel, the declaration of the Lord’s glory “among the nations” (Isaiah 66:19). Many “will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29), but only by the narrow way of the cross. Those who refuse to follow Christ crucified will ultimately find only “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28), whereas Christ’s disciples, called from all the nations, will eat and drink with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. They will come into “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22).
Today we worship the God who gives us His Word. The Word is at times like a fire or a hammer, speaking law and condemnation; but it is also the Word that encourages us with the Gospel, creating our faith response to His grace.
Today our worship centers on faith versus fear and doubt, illustrated in the life of Abraham.
To live for earthly things “is vanity and a striving after wind,” and work that is driven by such vanity “is an unhappy business” (Ecclesiastes 1:13–14). The man who lives like that has nothing to show for “all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun … all his days are full of sorrow” (Ecclesiastes 2:22–23). So, too, your “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5), makes a god out of that which cannot give you life or happiness. For “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). But “Christ who is your life” (Colossians 3:4), in giving you Himself, gives you all the wealth of heaven. Instead of striving to lay up treasures for yourself, be “rich toward God” in Him (Luke 12:21).
There can be no question that the work of faith, of receiving God’s grace, and of following Christ in worship and service, is a lifelong journey of perseverance and faithfulness. And it is because of God’s faithfulness toward us that we can even contemplate this life. But, if we will contemplate it, and if we can commit to the long haul, we will see change happening in us and we will see justice coming a little more to our world. May God’s faithfulness inspire your commitment and perseverance this week.
This week it’s all about listening … to God’s word … and to living it out in compassion, integrity and mercy … which requires listening to others. This can be harder than it sounds with all the noise that bombards us each day. That’s why the discipline of worship is so important. It gives us the time and the space to learn the practice of listening well. As we listen to God’s message and implement God’s saving reconciling word through simple acts of mercy, compassion and a commitment to truth and integrity, that we find ourselves living out the reality of God’s reign in our lives and our world. May your listening abilities be enhanced by your worship this week.
Jesus is traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, aware that this journey will end in His crucifixion (Luke 9:51). Jesus teaches, preaches, and works miracles along the way, reflecting His merciful character. Through this parable, Jesus teaches us that fulfilling the Law requires continuous love and compassion. This means all of us have fallen short in caring for our neighbors. Our best efforts to “go and do likewise” are exposed as total failures in light of God’s Law. But Jesus, the true Good Samaritan, has not fallen short. He came to do everything for salvation, leaving nothing for man to earn. He found us, dying sinners totally estranged from God, and paid all He had—perfect obedience during His life and a sacrificial death for our sins—in order to redeem us. He gives medicine that heals all sins, including the sin of lacking mercy. He will bear people to a place of refuge, the church, where they can be taken care of and receive more medicine. Then Jesus promises to come back to take all believers to Himself in heaven.
As we once again celebrate our nation’s independence, we will hear much about freedom. As citizens, we give thanks for the blessings we have and for the many who fought for and paid the price for our liberties. While we certainly do not worship our nation, we appropriately honor and give thanks to God for this land in which we can freely worship the one true God. As this national celebration then passes, we are joyful that we don’t need an annual holiday to recognize true freedom as Christians. Daily we hold fast to the wonderful news that the battle has been fought and the price has been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may have freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil. Today we hear the Spirit-inspired words of the apostle Paul from Galatians and learn more about what real freedom is, guidance for lives lived in that freedom, and the fruit freely given to us through the Holy Spirit.
When the prophet Elijah became discouraged and despaired of his life, “the word of the LORD came to him” (1 Kings 19:9b) and stood him “on the mount before the LORD” (1 Kings 19:11). The Lord made Himself known to the prophet — not in the impressive power of gale force winds, or in an earthquake, or in the fire, but in “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Today God reveals Himself to us through the frail preaching of the Gospel. The Son of Man sends “messengers ahead of Him ... to make preparations for Him” (Luke 9:52). Putting their hand to that plow of preaching, they “go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” and they do not look back (Luke 9:60, 62). What they preach is not the power of the Law with its “yoke of slavery,” but the power of God unto salvation through the Gospel of forgiveness, by which “Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).
The Lord finds those who did not seek Him or ask for Him. He spreads out His hands “to a rebellious people” (Isaiah 65:2) and calls them to be His people and to dwell in peace upon His holy mountain (Isaiah 65:9). For wherever Jesus Christ enters in, Satan is cast out. Those who were enslaved and driven mad by the assaults and accusations of the devil are set free by the Word of Christ. He drowns and destroys the old Adam in us with the waters of Holy Baptism and thereby brings us out of death into life. No longer naked in our shame, living “among the tombs” (Luke 8:27), we are brought into the Lord’s house, fully clothed by Christ; He has come in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) to fulfill the Law on our behalf and to redeem us from its every accusation. Therefore, having been justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel, “you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Galatians 4:7).
Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. It is a day to bask in the wonder of knowing the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. While we often think about the three persons of the Trinity having their own areas of expertise (the Father creates, the Son redeems, the Spirit sanctifies), the Readings for today focus on how the three persons of the Trinity work together in every task. In the Old Testament Reading from Genesis, we see all three persons are present and active in the creation of the world. In our Reading from Acts, we see all three persons active in the salvation of the world. And in the Holy Gospel from Matthew, we see that all three persons are active in the new life we have as baptized children of God.
God pours out His healing love for me by cleansing me through water and the Word, giving me life and salvation. When I suffer, my first inclination is to trust my strength, wealth, or reputation. This tempts me to doubt God’s unequivocal word of promise. But, despite my doubts, God’s Word is powerful and always does what it says, pointing me to Jesus, the Word made flesh, who heals my diseases and cleanses me from the sickness of my sin granting forgiveness and eternal salvation for the sake of Jesus, who died and rose again for us. On Pentecost, Christians commemorate the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s activity continues today. Through the preaching of the Gospel and Baptism, the Holy Spirit calls and gathers believers to Christ and His Church. The Spirit works among people of every nation and language—among all to whom the Church is sent to proclaim the Gospel. For this reason, Christians pray for the continued outpouring of the Spirit and for the fulfillment of His sanctifying work. May your eyes be opened and your heart be filled as you celebrate the ever-present Spirit of God this week, and as you receive the empowerment of God for the journey ahead.
Today we celebrate the ascension of our Lord on the fortieth day after His resurrection. We rejoice that Jesus rules in power at God’s right hand and sends us His Spirit, the Comforter.
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus has opened the way to the Father so that “whatever you ask of the Father” in Jesus’ name, “He will give it to you” (John 16:23). We pray, therefore, in the confidence that we will be heard and answered, that our “joy may be full” (John 16:24). We pray because the Gospel has been preached to us and the Lord has opened our hearts to believe the Gospel (Acts 16:10, 14). We pray in the name of Jesus because we have been baptized into Him, as Lydia and her household were baptized (Acts 16:15). We have been healed, and we live and walk and pray in newness of life (John 5:8–9). For we stand upon the firm foundation “of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14), and our temple is “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22).
On earth “you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). Already the Spirit grants you peace and joy through the forgiveness of your sins. For by the cross of Christ, “God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). His Gospel is “a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14). He gives freely “from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6), “and death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4). He dwells with His people, adorning His Church as a bride for her husband, “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Therefore, as the Son of Man is glorified by His cross, “and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31), so He is glorified in us by our “love for one another” (John 13:35), which His Spirit works in us by His grace.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from the Father and became flesh among us in order to rescue us, His sheep. He laid down His life for us and took it up again in order to give us eternal life. By the preaching of His Gospel, He calls His sheep to Himself and keeps them with Him forever. As they hear His voice and follow Him, “they will never perish” (John 10:28) for “no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:29). In the same way, faithful pastors (literally, “shepherds”) “care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Therefore, with all the company of heaven, the Good Shepherd gathers His flock in worship, as they cry: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10).
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12), who by His cross has conquered sin and death. With His blood, He has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). This same Lord Jesus visits people of all nations and calls them to Himself by the Gospel, even as He “was revealed to the disciples after He was raised from the dead” (John 21:14). He restored Simon Peter to faith and life, and He commissioned him to feed His lambs and tend His sheep (John 21:15–17). Likewise, He revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus and brought him to repentance, so that the persecutor of Jesus might carry and confess His name “before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
On the Lord’s Day, St. John the apostle was given a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Living One, “the firstborn of the dead” (Revelation 1:5). He died for all people, and behold, He is alive forevermore! Therefore, He has “the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). For His death atoned for sin and conquered death, and in His resurrection He opened the kingdom of heaven to us. The “sharp two-edged sword” of His mouth (Revelation 1:16) calls you to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” that by such faith “you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). To that end, He sends His ministers of the Word, as the Father sent Him, “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).
What is it that has changed your life more than any other single event? We might think back to certain moments in life that have made a marked impression upon us. Today, in God's Word, we discover that the resurrection of Jesus is the single most significant event in all our lives. The resurrection of Jesus validates the crucifixion as a life-changing, sin-forgiving event, and paves the way for a life that will never end in heaven for the believer.
Bittersweet. If something is literally bittersweet, it tastes both bitter and sweet at the same time—like a piece of dark chocolate. Different events can be bittersweet too—circumstances that are both painful and pleasant at the same time. Palm Sunday is bittersweet. As we picture Jesus riding into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday, we don’t know whether to cry or laugh. Does Jesus enter the city in lowliness or pomp? Is He coming to bow His head to die or to reign in power? The answer is bittersweet: yes. Jesus comes in both of these ways and for both of these reasons. As we enter Holy Week, however, we remember that the bitterness of Palm Sunday’s humility, the bitterness of Maundy Thursday’s betrayal, and the bitterness of Good Friday’s death will undoubtedly give way to the sweetness of Easter Sunday’s resurrection and life!
Our life and works apart from Christ, no matter how they may glitter to the eyes of the world, are ultimately rubbish and have no righteousness. Rather, in the scandalous cross of Jesus, we find our righteousness alone “through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9). By such faith, we “know him and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). For the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt has done a “new thing” for us in Christ Jesus (Is. 43:19). He has sent His beloved Son into His vineyard to be killed by sinful men and to become “the stone that the builders rejected.” Yet, the One rejected by men “has become the cornerstone” of His Church (Luke 20:17). Through the waters of Holy Baptism, He provides us daily refreshment in our earthly pilgrimage, “a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).
God the Father has opened His heart to us in love. While we were “still a long way off,” He saw us and “felt compassion” (Luke 15:20). Therefore, He gave His only begotten Son for us, making “him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). By the ministry of reconciliation, He runs to us, embraces us in mercy and clothes us with His glory as beloved sons in Christ Jesus. And so we give thanks unto the Lord our God, who has taken away our sins and turned His anger from us (Isaiah 12:1). Because He has become our salvation, our strength and our song, we “will trust, and will not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2).
“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). By this warning, the Lord would turn us away from wickedness and bring us to life in Himself. For He is patient with us, that we would not be cut down in our sin but live and bear fruit in Him. As He lives, the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). So the Scriptures have been “written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians. 10:11), that we should not desire evil but trust in Christ. He alone is faithful, the Rock who feeds us with His “spiritual food” and pours out His “spiritual drink” (1 Corinthians. 10:3–4).
The prophet Jeremiah faithfully preached “all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people” (Jeremiah 26:8). He called the people to repentance, lest the Lord’s judgment come upon them. The violence that Jeremiah suffered for this preaching foreshadowed the cross and Passion of Christ Jesus, who suffered the judgment of God for the redemption of all people. For Jesus “comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35) in order to lay down His life for the sins of the world. Earthly Jerusalem was blind to His gracious visitation, and it put Him to death like the prophets before Him. Yet, His sacrifice upon the cross became the cornerstone of the new Jerusalem, His Church. He visits us today in mercy with His preaching of forgiveness, to gather us to Himself within that holy city, “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34), for “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).
Jesus Christ, our champion against the devil, endures and overcomes “every temptation” (Luke 4:13) on our behalf. He worships the Lord, His God, and serves Him only by trusting the Word of His Father: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Jesus’ victory is now ours through His gracious Word, which is not far away but near us — in our mouth and in our heart, in the proclamation of repentance and faith. For “with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:10). Our confession of Christ includes the prayer of faith, which is not disappointed, “for ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13). The Lord is not oblivious to “our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” (Deuteronomy 26:7) but has mercy upon us. He has brought us out of bondage through the “signs and wonders” of Holy Baptism, “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 26:8), and now He leads us by His Spirit even in the wilderness.
“Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant,” but Christ Jesus “has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Hebrews 3:3, 5). A beloved and well-pleasing Son, faithful even to the point of death, Jesus’ own body was raised up on the third day as the house of God, and He has brought us into that house through the waters of Holy Baptism (Hebrews 3:6). Thus, it was not Moses, the lawgiver, but his successor, Joshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus), who led the people into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34:1–4, 9). Now, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the New Testament Joshua appears in the glory that He is about to manifest by His “departure” (exodus) in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Having entered the waters of the Jordan in His Baptism, He passed through those waters and entered into glory by His cross and Passion. What He thereby accomplished in His own flesh and blood, crucified and risen, He reveals and gives to His Body, the Church, by the means of His Word. Therefore, the Father declares from heaven, “Listen to Him!” (Luke 9:35).
Your inheritance as a child of Adam is sin and death, but in Christ you are made alive through His resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21–22). As you have died with Him in Holy Baptism, so are you raised with Him to newness of life. Therefore, “do not go on sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34). Instead of serving your desires and harming your neighbors, live as “sons of the Most High,” and “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35–36). Deal with others as you would have others deal with you (Luke 6:31, 37–38). As Christ loved you when you were at enmity with Him, as He blessed and prayed for those who abused Him, and as He did good to those who hated Him and hurt Him, so also “love your enemies, do good” (Luke 6:27–29, 35). For God sent His Son to bear the cross and suffer death, not to condemn the guilty, but “to preserve life.” So does He provide a place for you within His Church, where He is near and deals kindly with “you and your children and your children’s children” (Genesis 45:5–10).
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man,” for all the strength of his flesh is like the grass that fades away (Jeremiah 17:5). The one who turns away from the Lord may have food and money and laugh for now, but he “shall mourn and weep” in the judgment (Luke 6:24–25). But “the man who trusts in the LORD” is blessed with all that he needs, “like a tree planted by water.” When heat comes, he survives (Jeremiah 17:7–8). For the Lord has come in the flesh to heal the people of all their diseases, to cleanse their spirits with forgiveness, and to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God to the poor (Luke 6:18–20). As all of this is by way of His cross, it is solely by faith in the promise of His resurrection that Christians “rejoice” and “leap for joy” (Luke 6:21–23). “If Christ has not been raised,” our faith is in vain and we are most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:14–19). But, in fact, just as “Christ died for our sins,” so has He also “been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 20).
When Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” he was overcome with an awareness of his sin and “unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:1, 5). But the Lord atoned for his sin, took away his guilt and sanctified his lips with “a burning coal” from the altar (Isaiah 6:6–7). Not only was he rescued from death, but he was called and sent as a prophet of the Lord’s Word (Isaiah 6:8–9). Similarly, when Simon Peter and his companions “enclosed a large number of fish” at the Word of Jesus, he humbled himself and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:4–8). But Jesus comforted Simon, called him to discipleship and declared that he would be “catching men” (Luke 5:10–11). So in the Office of the Ministry, the Church remains the little boat from which Jesus teaches His people (Luke 5:3). Thus are we instructed in the faith, so that we say “Amen” and return thanks with heart, mind, tongue and life. For the preaching of Christ Jesus is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, by which He builds up His Church on earth (1 Corinthians 14:12–19).
Jesus was sent to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43). His preaching is an epiphany, or manifestation, of God because His Word reveals the authority of His cross and resurrection, by which He has atoned for the sins of the world. By the preaching of His Gospel in every place, He silences the unclean spirits and casts out demons, heals the diseases of body and soul, and restores life and health to His creation (Luke 4:40–41). For the sake of His divine love, He is “patient and kind” toward us; He “bears all things,” “endures all things” and delivers up His body to save us (1 Corinthians 13:3–4, 7). So also for the sake of His love, He calls and sends His prophets, as ministers of His Word, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10).
When Jesus opens His mouth to preach, gracious words flow from His lips. The Scriptures are, indeed, fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21–22). For Christ was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord “to proclaim Good News to the poor,” “to proclaim liberty to the captives” and “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19). By this proclamation, Christ releases His people from captivity and gathers them to Himself in His Church. So it was when the Lord released His people from Babylon and returned them to Jerusalem. “Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people,” sanctified the whole congregation by the reading and preaching of the Law (Nehemiah. 8:8–9). As the people then were urged to “eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready” (Neh. 8:10), so are you anointed by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to share in His feast and to serve the fellow members of His Body with His good gifts, “giving greater honor to the part that lacked it” (1 Corinthians. 12:12, 24).
When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana, it was “the first of his signs” by which He “manifested his glory” (John 2:11). It pointed to His coming “hour,” when He was lifted up on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and the life of the world (John 2:4; 12:23–32). The glory of the cross is incomprehensible apart from the Word and Spirit of God, but disciples of Jesus recognize that glory in the signs of His Gospel, and so they believe in Him. Jesus does not wait for His disciples to discover Him on their own, but He seeks out the forsaken and the desolate and unites them to Himself. He adorns them with His own beautiful righteousness and delights in them “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride” (Isaiah 62:4–5). Purified by the washing of water with His Word in Holy Baptism, His disciples confess that “Jesus is Lord,” and they return thanks to Him “in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3) as they drink the good wine that He pours out for them, which is the New Testament in His blood.
The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. While Christmas has focused on the incarnation of our Lord … that is, on God becoming flesh … the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of Christ. The Lord Himself has entered our darkness and rises upon us with the brightness of His true light (Isaiah 60:1–2). He does so chiefly by His Word of the Gospel, which He causes to be preached within His Church on earth … not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles (Ephesians 3:8–10). As the Magi were guided by the promises of Holy Scripture to find and worship the Christ Child with His mother in the house (Matthew 2:5–11), so does He call disciples from all nations by the preaching of His Word to find and worship Him within His Church (Isaiah 60:3–6). With gold, they confess His royalty; with incense, His deity; and with myrrh, His priestly sacrifice (Matthew 2:11).
The Lord Jesus “grew and became strong” (Luke 2:40); He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). As His body grew and developed, His mind also increased in knowledge and understanding. For as our brother in the flesh, that we might “have redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7), He lived by faith in the Word of His Father. Thus, He was catechized by His parents, who took Him up “to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41); when He was of age, He gave attention to the Holy Scriptures in His Father’s house (Luke 2:46, 49). Christ Jesus is still found in His Church, in “the word of truth, the Gospel,” by which we are adopted by His Father and sealed with His Spirit (Eph. 1:5, 13). Thus do we gain “an understanding mind” to go about our vocations, discerning “between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). And so do we also go up to Jerusalem, to stand “before the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (1 Kings 3:15), that is, in the Holy Communion of His body and blood.
When we consider God’s promises about the promised land for Israel and our own inheritance in heaven, we will steward our most important faith with the greatest care and look forward with anticipation to the revealing of Jesus Christ in his final advent.
When we think of Christ as God descending to us in our needs and ascending to lead us to the Father, we experience advents not only on Sunday but also during the week.
When you understand the Bible as a Book of Advents, especially birth announcements leading to the incarnation of the Son of God in whom you have been given new birth in baptism, then you gain a greater sense of the presence of God for a life of living hope. I pray our Advent observance will encourage you with the advents of God into your life.
Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (December 24). Advent challenges us, but there is much in our surrounding culture that subtly wears down messages of Christ’s advents. So in an obviously imperfect attempt to reenergize the true themes of Advent and to try to raise awareness of God’s comings and saving presence in every day of life, we will look at familiar Old Testament texts as pre-figurations of the advents of Christ. Our four Sunday Worship and Atrium Bible Classes will follow the theme “THE BIBLE, OUR BOOK OF ADVENTS”.
The Reading of the Day is from Mark 10:13-16. Following Jesus’ discussion of marriage, adultery, and divorce early in the tenth chapter of his Gospel, Mark shifts into this story about parents and children. (Luke lowers the age even more: “Now they were bringing even infants to Him” [18:15].) Mark writes that the parents wanted Jesus to “touch them” (10:13), and Matthew records that the parents desired Jesus to “lay His hands on them and pray” (19:13). In the following story about the rich young man who cannot say good-bye to his wealth (Mark 10:17–31), we see a stark contrast to these children. The young man won’t let go of his reliance on worldly wealth, whereas the children receive Him who is the true God and Savior.