Thursday, August 26, 2010

Worship for Pentecost 14 - 2010

Thursday after Pentecost 13
August 26, 2010

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. It is also the Feast of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. While this feast-day will not mark a major element in our worship on Sunday, we will recognize it with our final hymn, “By All Your Saints in Warfare.”

If you know what I mean by “page 5” and “page 15,” you also know The Lutheran Hymnal. This hymnal served our denomination well from 1941 until 1982, when Lutheran Worship came out. Many of our churches were slow to adopt Lutheran Worship and so The Lutheran Hymnal continued to be used for many years after 1982. “Page 5” and “page 15” refer to the two settings (yes there were only two) of the “morning service” (now called the “Divine Service.”) “Page 5” was a morning service WITHOUT Communion. “Page 15” was a morning service WITH Communion. Musically they were the same, until you concluded the “General Prayer” (now called the “Prayer of the Church”). At this point the liturgy for Communion began in the “page 15” service. In the “page 5” service you went immediately to the Lord’s Prayer, a concluding collect (a very short prayer), and the Benediction. Other differences included the use of the Apostles’ Creed in “page 5” and the Nicene Creed in “page 15.” The Creed was spoken after the Scripture lessons in both services. They each used a different “Confession of Sins” as well.

The Divine Service, setting 3, in the Lutheran Service Book (page 184) is intentionally very similar to these two services. There are some minor differences. For example, believe it or not, there is less chanting in the Lutheran Service Book version of the service. Lutheran Service Book also mashed the two services into one and simply placed the following direction after the “Prayer of the Church:” “If there is no Communion, the service concludes with the LORD'S PRAYER (page 196), a concluding collect, and the BENEDICTION.”

This coming Sunday is a fifth Sunday. Our normal rotation of services is: First Sunday – Prayer and Preaching; Second Sunday – Divine Service, setting 3; Third Sunday – Matins; Fourth Sunday – Divine Service, setting 1. On Fifth Sundays’ (there are four each year) I’ve been using “Morning Prayer,” which begins on page 235. However, because we don’t get to use it much, the congregation doesn’t sing it well. More than one individual has suggested we not use it. Now I’m not saying this fine service will not appear in our rotation again, but for this fifth Sunday, we will be using Divine Service, setting 3, and use the settings that make it like “page 5.” For those of us whose membership in the LC-MS precedes 1982, this will be like a walk down memory lane.

As already mentioned, our closing hymn will be “By All Your Saints in Warfare” (LSB 518:1, 24, 3). The sermon hymn will be “Spread the Reign of God the Lord” (LSB 830. The opening hymn will be “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” (LSB 793). Our assigned Scripture lessons are Proverbs 25:2-10, Hebrews 13:1-17, and Luke 14:1-14. The Gospel lesson will serve as the foundation for the sermon, titled “Party Tips From Jesus?”

The only videos I could find for the hymns for this coming Sunday were of “Praises, My Soul, the King of Heaven.” This is the hymn we are learning, and I posted a video of it last week. So If you want to listen to it, go to the video in last weeks worship notes. You can also hear the melody line for the hymns at Better Noise. See the link on the sidebar.

Preview of the Lessons

Proverbs 25:2-10: Proverbs contains many sayings. Some were spoken by Solomon. Some were gathered by Solomon (who wisely recognized the wisdom of others). Some were gathered after Solomon. This reading deals with public life in a king’s court. However the application is broader. They speak of being humble and keeping confidences. These are traits our Lord demonstrated, and urged upon us. As such, it ties into our Gospel lesson.

Hebrews 13:1-17: This reading is form the final chapter in Hebrews. The writer is wrapping things up. Verses 1-6 basically say love your neighbor as yourself and trust in the Lord in all things. Verses 7 through 16 basically say remain true to the Christian Faith you have learned in the Church. Verse 17 basically says; don’t bum-out your pastor. Perhaps the best know quote from these verses is verse 8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” One of the purposes of the book of Hebrews is to provide a correct way to understand the Old Testament ceremonial law. Verses 11-12 teach a little know truth about that law. Check it out.

Luke 14:1-14: This lesson will serve as the foundation for Sunday’s message. This lesson occurs on a Sabbath. Jesus has been invited to the hope of a Pharisee for dinner. At the dinner he heals a man (My gosh, he worked!). He then tells some parables about the Kingdom of God using feasting metaphors.

Sunday’s Collect
O Lord of grace and mercy, teach us by Your Holy Spirit to follow the example of Your Son in true humility, that we may withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds avoid ungodly pride; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gradual (Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.)
Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing!
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Verse (Luke 14:11)
Alleluia. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Alleluia.

Introit (Psalm 75:1-2, 9; antiphon: Psalm 75:7)
It is God who executes judgement,
putting down one and lifting up another.
We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up.
But I will delcare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Adult Bible Study
We continue our series “Puzzlers and Questions about the Bible.” This Sunday’s question is: "Mark 16:18 & Luke 10:19 – What is the intent of these verses? What is the meaning of “evil spirits”? "

These passages read:

“… they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:18)

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19

Luke 10:20 has the word “spirits” in it, and I am assuming the question about “evil spirits” is referencing that. The name of our study is “A Deadly Battle.”

Well, I hope to see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

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