Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist
October 18, 2012
The Lord be with you
This coming Sunday is the 21st Sunday after
Pentecost. For our liturgy we will use the service of Matins (page 219). This
is a non-communion service. The assigned lessons are Ecclesiastes 5:10-20,
Hebrews 4:1-16 and Mark 10:23-31. The appointed Psalm is Psalm 119:9-16,
antiphon verse 14. Our opening hymn will be “Christ Is Surely Coming” (LSB 509). The sermon hymn is “We Give
Thee But Thine Own” (LSB 781). Our
closing hymn is “Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way” (LSB 857). The sermon text is Mark 10:23 and its title is “A
Christian View of Wealth and Work.”
In our public prayers we will remember the Church Universal,
David & Joyce Erber, missionaries who work with English speaking people in
Nigeria and West Africa, the believers in Turkmenistan, our sister SED
congregations Christ, Dundalk, MD; Immanuel, Easton, MD; Faith, Eldersburg, MD;
Advent, Forest Hill, MD; and Good Shepherd, Charleston, SC. We will also continue
to remember those who have been misled by our cultures acceptance of abortion
and advocacy of sexual immorality, asking God’s grace for their lives that they
may be healed and restored by the Holy Spirit. We continue to remember those
trapped in the modern practice of slavery and ask God to bless all efforts that
are pleasing in his sight to end this sinful practice. We will also remember the
Lutheran Malaria Initiative’s effort to end malaria in Africa
by 2015.
Below is a video of a congregation in Michigan
singing our closing hymn, “Lord Help Us Walk Your Servant Way.”
Our adult Bible class
meets at 9:00 Sunday morning. We have begun
a new study titled "The Intersection of Church and State,” produced by the Men’s
Network of the LLL. It is a four-part
video-based study. Due to the lively discussion, we didn’t even come close to
finishing the first part this past Sunday. This is a very timely topic and you
may want to invite a friend. We have plenty of materials. You can view last
week’s worship notes for more information.
Preview of the
Lessons
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20: What is the secret to having a contented
life? The world often offers wealth as the answer, and so we chase after “the
almighty dollar.” But Solomon warns us that such a quest if “vanity,” a
“seeking after wind.” All the money in the world will not fill a heart that is
missing Jesus.
Hebrews 4:1-16: We continue with our lessons from Hebrews. This reading is the
entire fourth chapter. The writer continues to point us to the superiority of
the New Covenant over the Old. This reading focuses on the “rest” we are
promised. The Old Testament events point to the rest, but it is in the New Testament
that the rest is realized. Therefore all the Old Testament “rest” passages,
like the Sabbath Rest, point to New Testament realities and find their
fulfillment in Christ. The writer makes a special point of Joshua and the
entering of the Promised Land. In the end, those Hebrews didn’t find the “rest”
that was tied to the promise of land. Now that we have our “rest” in Christ,
the promise of land has been fulfilled and superseded.
Mark 10:23-31: Last week’s lesson recounted how a rich man
came to Jesus asking what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus follows up
this conversation by teaching his disciples about wealth and the deceptive
nature of it. Like Ecclesiastes, Jesus does not feel wealth is a mark of
spiritual blessing or a particular indicator of God’s favor. On the other hand,
wealth can be a great blessing. So what is the Christian’s approach to wealth
and the secret of contentment? That is the focus of the sermon.
Tidbits
- Our Pancake Breakfast to support the Lutheran Malaria Initiative is fast approaching (Saturday, October 27; 8:00-10:00 am). Jill needs to know how many tickets you have sold so FATZ in Boiling Springs can have a general idea of how many people to expect. Tickets will also be sold by members of Lamb of God at the door.
- If you didn’t read the post Ideas Needed, then you might not have heard about what we will be doing in our worship life during the summer of 2013. Follow the link, and leave an idea.
- Today is the Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist. A post about St. Luke was posted earlier today. Just scroll down.
- Wednesday was the Commemoration of Ignatius of Antioch, Pastor and Martyr. Just keep scrolling down to read about this saint.
Well, I pray I’ll see you Sunday.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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