Daily devotion - St Andrew's Day

 

Service for Advent 1

 

Manuscript for Advent 1

P    In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C    Amen.

 

331 THE ADVENT OF OUR KING

1 The advent of our King
    Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
    In strains of holy joy. 

2 The everlasting Son
    Incarnate deigns to be,
Himself a servant’s form puts on
    To set His servants free.

3 O Zion’s daughter, rise
    To meet your lowly King,
Nor let your faithless heart despise
    The peace He comes to bring.

4 As judge, on clouds of light,
    He soon will come again
And His true members all unite
    With Him in heav’n to reign.

5 Before the dawning day
    Let sin’s dark deeds be gone,
The sinful self be put away,
    The new self now put on.

6 All glory to the Son,
    Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever one
    Through all eternity.

Text: Public domain

 

Collect of the Day

P Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

  

Old Testament Reading Jeremiah 23:5–8

⁵“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

⁷“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ⁸but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

Epistle Romans 13:11–14

¹¹Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

Holy Gospel

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-first chapter.

¹When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Apostles’ Creed 

Sermon

 Matthew 21: Jesus said to the disciples, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

It seemed good to our Lord Jesus to go up to Jerusalem, entering into the city this way. He knew how it was all going to happen. Clearly, He was in control of all that would happen - even the actions of each minor player (human and animal) in the city and outlying villages that day. 

Jesus, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, has all the characteristics and attributes of God, including among others omniscience and omnipotence. Omniscience means He knows everything. Omnipotence means He is powerful to do anything. Our Lord Jesus’ omniscience, his knowledge of all things, and His omnipotence, the power to keep control of all things for His good purposes are together a source of great comfort for us.

Push back far from you any doubts that arise when things in the world or things in your life seem out of control. Trust in your Lord’s omniscience and omnipotence. He knows all that’s going on and in His perspective, it’s all under control. And He wants to use even the smallest detail for His Kingdom, His purposes. The things going on around us are not out of our Lord’s control. Quite the contrary, we should be confident that He is working out all things for good. Don’t forget that. Don’t doubt that.

To doubt that God is working for your good is sinful unbelief. God is working things out for good -- even your suffering. God uses stress and difficulties for strengthening your character and faith -- to doubt that is sinful unbelief. And it’s even more sinful when, in the midst of doubts, our pride rises up and says this: “Well, it’s obvious that God’s not helping. Whether he’s incapable or unwilling, I don’t know, but He’s definitely not in the picture here. So I have to handle this. I have to fix my own problems. I even have to barge in on my neighbors, tell them what their problems are and since no one else seems to be doing it, I suppose I will have to fix their problems too.”

Pride is at it’s worst when it makes you think you can do a better job than God.

Over and over again our Lord Jesus has shown that He is attentive to our needs, He is able to help and to save, He is ready and willing to enter into the messy situations that happen in this world, and fix things, save people, and fulfill His good purposes.

In Jerusalem that day, He was definitely coming into a messy situation. He was on the way to trials, to conviction, to the cross and death. Matthew’s record of this event gives us details about how Jesus came into the city -- not accidentally; not haphazardly; not tentatively -- but boldly, deliberately, with a clear purpose.

When Christ first came into this world He was deliberate, with clear purpose to fix our problems of sin and death, and to save our souls, which we cannot do ourselves. He has promised to come again with clear purpose to judge the living and the dead, and to bring all history to His purposeful conclusion. All will see that glorious awesome day, whether they are ready for it or not.

So His first coming was intentional, purposeful. His second coming will be intentional, purposeful. In the meantime, which we are in right now, between His first and second coming, you hear Him telling you that He “will be with you always, to the end of the age.” He comes down from heaven into your lifetime. At your baptism, when you hear the word of the Gospel, when you gather with your fellow believers at the altar and in His name. He comes into your life and into your heart. Just as He had clear purpose in coming the first time, just as He will have a clear purpose in mind when He comes again the second time, you can be sure that His ongoing presence in your life is working mighty good things for you. Without a doubt, He is working His plans in you and through you and by you, for the sake of others around you.

But why is God allowing bad things to happen? Why isn’t he fixing things faster, better? What is His purpose? We’d all like to understand that better, wouldn’t we. Why is this difficulty or this pain here now? Often such questions can’t be answered until later, after it’s all over. The future’s not ours to see. Think about how it was at Jesus’ suffering. Eyewitnesses didn’t get it at the time. The crowds who sang Hosanna, were completely unprepared for what was going to happen later that week. They were shocked and beat their breasts in anguish. Only until much later, with the Holy Spirit inspired preaching of the Gospel, would people come to understand and believe that the suffering and death of Jesus was for the forgiveness of sinners and our salvation.

Maybe some of our questions will never be answered to our satisfaction. Why have we come upon this or that problem? Some of this difficulty around us might be for somebody else’s benefit. The Lord is using it for their good. It’s about them, not about you. It’s really not any of your business, so you don’t need to know all the details and all the answers to questions like “why?”.

The purposes of the Lord are clear and good. He tells you what they are. He wants to save you. He wants to forgive you your sins. So He calls you this Advent season to look carefully at your heart and life and attitude. Repent of your sins. Celebrate your Savior who has come with His good purposes for you. And be ready and open for the ongoing, purposeful coming and presence of the Lord in your life. Amen.

Prayer of the Church

Almighty God, Father of all mercies and God of all comfort, since the world began, you have been giving the promise of mercy and deliverance by the word of the holy prophets. Now we thank and praise you for the coming of your Son Jesus Christ, the Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

We beseech you, O God, that as your faithful people in every age have earnestly and heartily believed your Word, so we may also unswervingly and heartily believe it and finally obtain what you have promised. As your servants in the Israel of the Old Testament looked with fervent longing for the coming of the Messiah, the Deliverer, grant that we may eagerly and joyfully welcome him, Jesus our Lord into our hearts by faith, and thus be delivered by his might from the power of sin, death, and the devil.

To this end, dear Lord, lead us by your Spirit to an understanding of our great sinfulness and our need of repentance. Teach us to repent. Help us to hate evil and to love the good. Strengthen us against the temptations of all our adversaries. Incline our hearts to seek righteousness and holiness, that thus we may serve and glorify thee.

Send out the Light of your Gospel to all corners of the earth, that people everywhere may know your love in the gift of your Son Jesus Christ, and join that multitude of your people who say, “Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

Grant peace and tranquility to the nations of the earth. Especially we ask your favor upon this land and all who dwell here. Guide all who are in authority over us, that in all things they may do your will and provide this nation with justice, peace and fairness. Prosper the work of newly elected officials.

Bless all who are gather here in your house. Bless those who listen at a distance. Sanctify them by your Word. To those who are in sorrow, to those who are enduring trials, to those who may be in any necessity of body or spirit, grant them all such strength, comfort, and understanding that they, loving you above all else, may in patience know the joy of your presence and wait with trust your salvation.

All these things we ask in the Name of him who came for our deliverance, died for our salvation, rose again for our justification and ever lives to intercede in glory on high, namely, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Lord’s Prayer

 

Benediction

 

349 HARK THE GLAD SOUND

1 Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes,
    The Savior promised long;
Let ev’ry heart prepare a throne
    And ev’ry voice a song. 

2 He comes the pris’ners to release,
    In Satan’s bondage held.
The gates of brass before Him burst,
    The iron fetters yield.

3 He comes the broken heart to bind,
    The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of His grace
    To enrich the humble poor.

4 Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
    Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heav’n’s eternal arches ring
    With Thy belovèd name.

Text: Public domain

 

 

Acknowledgments

Divine Service, Setting Three from Lutheran Service Book 

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2020 Concordia Publishing House.

Sunday School for November 28

 

Thanksgiving

 

Manuscript for the Thanksgiving Service

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

 

KYRIE    LSB 152

A In peace let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

C Amen.

 

892 COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME

1 Come, ye thankful people, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.
All be safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God’s own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.

2 All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

3 For the Lord, our God, shall come
And shall take His harvest home,
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

4 Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide:
Come with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.

Text: Public domain

 

COLLECT OF THE DAY

P Let us pray.

Almighty God, Your mercies are new every morning and You graciously provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may acknowledge Your goodness, give thanks for Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience all our days; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

 

OLD TESTAMENT READING Deuteronomy 8:1–10

¹“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. ²And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. ⁶So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, ⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

PSALM 67

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
²that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
³Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
⁵Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

⁶The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
⁷God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

 

EPISTLE 1 Timothy 2:1–4

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

HOLY GOSPEL

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the seventeenth chapter.

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

APOSTLES’ CREED

 

SERMON

Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17)

Why did only one of these poor guys say thanks? What were the other nine thinking? We can’t guess what was going on in their minds, but with the examples here given, we can examine our own gratitude, or lack thereof.

Our Day of National Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, deriving from our unique history and heritage. At the core of our American way of life is the idea expressed in the Declaration of Independence: "all men are created equal". In the old world, a complicated system of rank and titles kept men (and women) from being equal. It was simply a matter of fact, you were not equal to a baron or a countess if you were born without such title. So the Founding Fathers made it very clear in the Constitution, Article I, “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States”.

This is not the place to say if the American form of government is the only right way. Many times over, God has blessed and prospered nations that were governed by royals and nobles who were given their titles by birth or by special favor. However history shows us that when a person has a title, and then because of that title believes that they are higher and more important than others, the result is mischief and abuse. It’s damaging to individual freedoms and detracting to human achievement.

Here’s how the thinking goes. “I bear a mark of distinction, a title. It separates me from the others around me. They are not my equals. I am of a different class, designated by my title. I’m entitled to privileges and pleasures reserved for me.”

Formal titles may be a thing of the past for us here and now. But the selfish attitude of desiring special privileges and pleasures still works mischief among us.

Entitlement is the expectation you have certain privileges coming. There’s a temptation that arises with this attitude: sloth, laziness. By nature, sinful human beings care about self first, and seldom give a care toward the neighbor. You expect your privileges. You don’t expect them to have privileges. Thus when you are entitled, you despise the neighbor.

Then when you get these privileges, you have no attitude gratitude, no thanksgiving. You are just like nine cured lepers that went on with their lives without a care. Thus when you are entitled you despise the Lord.

But then on the other hand, if you feel you are entitled to something special and you don’t get it, the usual response is to pout, to kick and to complain, “It’s not fair.”  

It’s inevitable in this world that people will be defined into certain types and classes. Don’t make too much of it. Don’t just assume that you deserve certain special treatment because of what the world says you are. Position and rank in this life count for very little. What matters is this: who does God says you are?

You are a descendant of Adam. That’s your hereditary title, given you at your birth. It’s a title that marks you as a sinner and entitled to guilt and condemnation.

But now, you who have been baptized have been given a second birth, a new life, a new title. You are a child of God. You are a citizen of heaven, there is where your rights and privileges are to be found.

It is a happy coincidence that our nation’s Thanksgiving holiday comes just a few days before the start of the Church’s new cycle through the seasons of the year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. We will shortly begin again our meditation on the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we again celebrate his coming and his birth in Bethlehem, we as the church will marvel at his incarnation. From all eternity, before there was time, he bore the title and truly is Son of God, eternally begotten by His Father in the glorious Trinity. But in his humility and love, he sat that title aside and took up a new title that he liked to use of himself, the Son of Man, born of the Virgin Mary. In love for us poor sinners, he didn’t demand the privileges and pleasures of his high status. He became human, like one created equal with us, flesh and blood, descended from Adam.

Jesus your fellow human being is happy to be with you, at your level and station. Because of that you have a new station, a new position, exalted to be truly a son or daughter of the King of kings and Lord and lords, the Most High God.

True thanksgiving to God must start with the humble admission that you and I haven’t deserved any goodness and favor we have received from him. We don’t have it coming. We weren’t born into it naturally and we haven’t done anything to deserve it since. But in Jesus, our God gives us mercy every day and promises eternal pleasures at his right hand forevermore. Amen.

THANK THE LORD LSB 164

C Thank the Lord and sing His praise; tell ev’ryone what He has done.

Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear His name.

He recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy

with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

O Lord, heavenly Father, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You have been our dwelling place in all generations. We give thanks to you that from the beginning of the world You have shown your loving kindness every morning and your faithfulness every night.

We praise you for the glorious gift of your beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord, the faithful Witness of your grace and mercy and the Ransom to redeem us from all our iniquity. You raised Hi as the First-begotten of the dead, that he might bring many others to glory. Grant that by faith in him we may be clothed in righteousness and be heirs of eternal life.

We thank you, O Holy Spirit for all the gifts you have poured on your people: for the Holy Scriptures that give light for our way and truth for our shield. Open our hearts that that your word may rule our thoughts and lives. Dwell within each of us and impart to us your spiritual gifts.

Here, Today we acknowledge with humble gratitude the blessings that are ours in this good land. We thank you for the privileges we have of freedom, liberty, brotherhood, and prosperity. Clearly you have favored this beautiful country with its bright valleys and majestic mountains, the fertile plains and abundant pastures, industry, technology, and art. Thanks be to You, our Lord.

In every time and situation, be our Refuge and Fortress. Without You we are nothing. You have done all and you have given all without any merit or worthiness in us. So watch over your people. Keep your church here and throughout the world. Save her from faithlessness and from corruption, that she may serve you as your Bride.

Send your light and love into all our homes, that they may be nourished by the truth and grace of Jesus Christ and find joy in His presence.

Save us, O Lord, lest we forget all our good and the source of all our blessing. For unto you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be unending thanks and glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER

C Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those  who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

BENEDICTION

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting One from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2020 Concordia Publishing House.

Service for November 22

 

Manuscript for the Service on the Last Sunday of the Church Year

 INVOCATION

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

672 JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN

1 Jerusalem the golden,
    With milk and honey blest—
The promise of salvation,
    The place of peace and rest—
We know not, oh, we know not
    What joys await us there:
The radiancy of glory,
    The bliss beyond compare!

2 Within those walls of Zion
    Sounds forth the joyful song,
As saints join with the angels
    And all the martyr throng.
The Prince is ever with them;
    The daylight is serene;
The city of the blessèd
    Shines bright with glorious sheen.

3 Around the throne of David,
    The saints, from care released,
Raise loud their songs of triumph
    To celebrate the feast.
They sing to Christ their leader,
    Who conquered in the fight,
Who won for them forever
    Their gleaming robes of white. 

 4 O sweet and blessèd country,
    The home of God’s elect!
O sweet and blessèd country
    That faithful hearts expect!
In mercy, Jesus, bring us
    To that eternal rest
With You and God the Father
    And Spirit, ever blest.

Text: Public domain

COLLECT OF THE DAY

P Let us pray.

O Lord, absolve Your people from their offenses that, from the bonds of our sins which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

 

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 65:17–25

¹⁷“Behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
²⁰No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
²⁴Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

Psalm 149

¹Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!
²Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
³Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
⁵Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
⁶Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
⁷to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
⁸to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with fetters of iron,
⁹to execute on them the judgment written!
This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!

 

EPISTLE 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

¹Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. ²For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. ⁵For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

  

HOLY GOSPEL

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter.

¹[Jesus said:] “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

APOSTLES’ CREED

SERMON

Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens  and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered   or come into mind.

For most of my life I have had one or more aquariums that I would take care of as a hobby. Some little bowls for goldfish or betas. Or the big tank that’s in the parsonage dining room now. I enjoy watching the fish, tending the fish, sometimes raising baby fish. The challenge is always to get the right balance in this little system to keep life going and happy. If there is too little oxygen or too much ammonia, things need to be adjusted and cleaned up. If there’s too little food, that’s not good for the residents, if there’s too much food, that’s even worse.

Now I see that Amazon is selling a Closed Aquatic Ecosystem for $44.56 (free shipping) you can get this glass sphere, completely sealed, with water, plants and live fish. The plants feed the fish. The fish in turn feed the plants. If you get it, you don’t have to remember to feed or to clean. You just look at it.

It’s very common nowadays to think of the universe as being like this ideal orb, a closed system with no outside input of any kind. The late Stephen Hawking was a physicist who did much to show how this universe works without divine intervention. His ideas, like quantum cosmology, were brilliant and imaginative ways of supposing that the universe had no beginning, no end and no help from beyond. Much of his contributions to science have been extremely helpful in describing how matter and energy work. However many of his big ideas were proved dead wrong. When Stephen Hawking went to meet his Maker two and a half years ago, I suppose he learned that God was involved in creation and He is still very much involved in the lives of all His creatures.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1) And He says He’s still at work on it. Things have gotten very much out of balance in this ecosystem we have here. The sins and rebellion of our forefathers have spoiled God’s good creation. The sin in our lives continue to break the perfection that should be.

Believe and be thankful that God is not far removed from the troubles of life in this sphere. We are not sealed off from God’s care and involvement. He wouldn’t let that be. He sends help and blessing. He speaks to His creatures. It would be good for all people to listen to what He says, before it’s too late.

He says, “Behold, I create new heavens  and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered   or come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17).

“Behold!” We don’t hear that word everyday, do we? So when we hear it, it’s the mark that there’s something important coming, something worth listening to.

“I create new heavens  and a new earth.” This is a powerful, saving promise to those who are suffering from the old consequences of sin. The consequences of sin are what has got this universe out of whack and in need of intervention from the Creator. They include guilty burdened consciences, broken relationships and broken hearts, contention and unrest, trauma and diseases, fears and pandemic, and cold, sad death.

So there’s something new coming. God promises. We expect it, and hold on to the hope for it. We see from the example of the wise virgins in Jesus’ parable that the most important thing we can do in life is get ready for what the Lord will bring to us next. And you get ready by hearing what the Lord says, and believing it.

The new heavens and new earth are going to be beyond our imagination and understanding, of course, because our minds and thoughts are part of the old, dirty, broken, creation. The new creation will be perfect and beautiful. When God describes the new creation, He mostly tells us what it’s not going to be like: No more sin; no more death; no more crying; no more pain.

All that is old. It will be obsolete in the new. There so much in our life that we just assume will be forever. Some things in this old world we crave and covet, as if they are gonna last. We need the Lord to teach us what is worth holding onto and what we can let go, because He is making all things new.

The Psalm for today, Psalm 149 says,
”Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,”

We have inspiration to sing a new song. In our worship and on into our lives we sing praises to our God who reigns in highest heaven, yet is willing to stoop down and into this world, to fix our old problems and bring us new blessings.

That’s what He did when sent the prophets and apostles of the Bible, giving us the chance to hear His word of salvation. That’s just what He did when you were baptized and the Spirit of the Lord came into His creation and made you new. That’s what He does daily when He feeds you, cares for you and encourages you by faith.

This is all flowing out from that one greatest event in all the history of this universe when God came down from heaven and was incarnate, in the flesh, made man. The Creator took on the life of a creature, born of his human mother, Mary. That was new. Old creation got a new start with the miraculous birth and life and death and resurrection of Jesus.

You can expect a new creation of a new heaven and a new earth on the day when the Lord will bring it. But you who are with Jesus, already now, are a new creation. He takes away from you your sins, and guilt, fear and death -- all that old stuff, Jesus takes away. He gives new life, new hearts and consciences, new hope and new peace. Amen.  

 

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Almighty and eternal God, worthy to be held in reverence by all people everywhere, we give You humble and sincere thanks for the innumerable blessings that You have bestowed on us without any merit or worthiness on our part. We praise You especially for preserving for us Your saving Word and Holy Sacraments. Grant and preserve to Your Holy Church throughout the world purity of doctrine, and provide faithful pastors to preach Your Word with power. Help all who hear the Word rightly to understand and truly to believe it. Send laborers into Your harvest, and open the door of faith to those who do not know You. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Heavenly Father, in mercy bring to repentance the enemies of Your Church, and grant them amendment of life. Protect and defend Your Church in all tribulation and danger, and sustain with Your Spirit our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who experience persecution. Strengthen us and all fellow Christians to set our hope fully on the grace revealed in Christ, and help us to fight the good fight of faith, that in the end we may receive the salvation of our souls. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Loving God, bestow Your grace on all nations of the earth. Bless especially our country, its inhabitants and all who are in authority. Let Your glory dwell in our land, that mercy and truth, righteousness and peace may abound in all places. Bless also all who serve in our armed forces, that they may serve with integrity and honor. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Compassionate Lord, graciously defend us from all calamity by fire and water, from war and pestilence, from scarcity and famine, and from every other evil. Protect and prosper all who labor in their rightful callings, and let all useful arts flourish among us. Be the God and Father of the lonely and the forsaken, the helper of the sick and needy, the comforter of the distressed and those who sorrow. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer 

P Father, as we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, help us by true faith and a godly life to prepare for the world to come, doing the work You have given us to do while it is day, before the night comes when no one can work. And when our last hour comes, support us by Your power and receive us into Your heavenly Kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER

BENEDICTION

895 NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD

1 Now thank we all our God
    With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
    In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms
    Has blest us on our way
With countless gifts of love
    And still is ours today.

2 Oh, may this bounteous God
    Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
    And blessèd peace to cheer us
And keep us in His grace
    And guide us when perplexed
And free us from all ills
    In this world and the next!

D 3 All praise and thanks to God
    The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns
    With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
    Whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
    And shall be evermore.

Text: Public domain