Thursday
after Pentecost 9
Festival of
St. James the Elder, Apostle
July 25,
2013
The Lord be
with you
This coming
Sunday is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost. It is also the
Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, Kantor. Anyone who makes a list of the
greatest composers of all time has to put him on the list. Many would rank him
number one. For Bach, his music was an expression of his Lutheran faith. One
lesson we can all learn from him is that, whatever our calling, our calling
should be an expression of our faith. It may be more obvious how this can be
done for a musician than a clerk or cook, but everything we do, we do for the
Lord. So we value Bach, not only for his wonderful music, but also for giving
us a great example of living our lives for the Lord.
We will
celebrate the Lord’s Supper this Sunday. To prepare you can read what your Small
Catechism has to say about the Lord’s Supper. We will be using Divine
Service I (page 151) for our liturgy. Our opening hymn will be “Awake, O
Sleeper, Rise from Death” (LSB 697). Our sermon hymn will be “Let Us
Ever Walk with Jesus” (LSB 685). Our closing hymn will be “My Faith
Looks Up to Thee” (LSB 702). Our distribution hymns will be “Oh, That
the Lord Would Guide My Ways” (LSB 707), “Soul, Adorn Yourself with
Gladness” (LSB 636), and “Crown Him with Many Crowns” (LSB 525).
Our lections
will be Genesis 18: (17-18), 20-33; Colossians 1:21-29; Luke 11:1-13. The sermon
text will be Colossians 1:22. The sermon is titled “Are You Righteous?”
Below is a
video of our sermon hymn, “Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus.” It is preformed by “2GuitarGirls.”
In our
prayers, we will remember the blessing of music, The Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Haiti and their President, Rev. Marky Kessa. We will remember the
persecuted believers in North Korea. We will remember Emily Goddard, our
missionary in South Africa. Emily writes, “I would appreciate prayers for God
to open the hearts of the community where I serve and that He would use me as a
tool to spread His love and the Gospel to the people of South Africa. I also
ask for prayers to prepare me for all that lies ahead. And, please pray for the
school, including its teachers, administrators, students and families.” We will
continue to remember the churches in our denomination. This week we lift up
before our Lord Bethany-Trinity, Waynesboro, VA; King of Glory, Williamsburg,
VA; Our Savior, Winchester, VA; Grace, Woodbridge, VA; and Calvary, Charleston,
SC. We will continue to remember all those who have been misled by our cultures
advocacy of sexual immorality and abortion. We ask, not only that the Lord turn
our country around, but also that he bring healing to the lives damaged by our
current culture. We also remember the modern slave trade and ask God to bless
all efforts pleasing in his sight to end this sinful practice.
In our
Sunday morning Bible study we are in our second read through of the Gospel
of Luke. We are using the “book” method of studying Luke. This means we are
giving our own titles to the book, and small sections, seeking to capture in
our own words, the message of Luke. Everyone is welcome to join us and provide
your own section titles. In discussing the titles of our choice and why we like
them, we are discussing the themes of Luke. Bible study (reading) begins at
9:00 am.
Preview of
Lessons
Genesis
18: (17-18), 20-33
This is the well-known
story of Abraham interceding with the Lord on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. Angels,
and the pre-incarnate Christ, visited Abraham. They made known the plan to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to their very great sin. Abraham intercedes until
God says if only ten righteous people were found the cities would not be
destroyed. Abraham probably thought things would be okay as he knew his nephew
Lot, his wife, and three daughters lived in Sodom. His own flesh and blood
should fill half the count. As we know, it turned out that his family were the
only “righteous” people found. We also know that God spared them, but the cities
were destroyed. Prayer certainly is accented in this lesson. Because one of the
major sins of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexual activity, many focus on this.
However, as the prayer of Abraham accents, it wasn’t any specific sin that
brought ruin upon these cities, but that the people were not “righteous.” In biblical
language, a person is righteous by grace through faith in Jesus. So, ultimately,
these cities fell because they abandoned God. We may also learn that prayer for
those outside the Christian Faith is a vital part of our prayer life. Even the
heathen pray for those they love and who love them. Christians pray also for
their enemies. Another lesson often extracted from this story is that God was
indeed willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if only a handful of believers were
found. So why does a country stand when many have forsaken the Lord? It may
well be for the sake of the believers who remain. God does not wish to destroy
the righteous with the wicked.
Colossians
1:21-29
This reading
is the foundation for the sermon, so I’m not going to say much. However, it is
packed. Paul reminds us that we have been saved by the power of God, and we are
to cling to him in faith. Based on that foundation, we live for him.
The disciples
ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus does so. Therefore this lesson ties in
with our Old Testament lesson, which is also about prayer. As our lesson from
Genesis points out , God is merciful to those who believe in him. Jesus
also indicates that God is merciful to those who pray to him in faith. Jesus also
gives us the family prayer of the Church, the Lord’s Prayer. Notice that this
prayer is in the plural. Even if we pray this prayer in solitude, we are
praying it with the whole Church. Therefore we pray that God gives all of us
our daily bread, that God forgives all of the Church, just as the Church
forgives, a forgiveness based on Jesus’ merit, not our merit, and so forth.
Lesson Synopsis (from the LC-MS)
The Prayer
of the Church Is the Voice of Faith
Jesus
catechizes His disciples in the way of faith by teaching them how to pray. He
promises us: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). If earthly fathers know how to give
good gifts to their children, “how much more will the heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13). Thus, father Abraham was bold
in his prayer because he believed the gracious promise of the Lord, that he
would “surely become a great and mighty nation” (Gen. 18:18). When we pray in
Jesus’ name, we also hold “fast to the Head” (Col. 2:19), “rooted and built up
in him and established in the faith” (Col. 2:6–7).
Tidbits
- The August Newsletter will be posted, probably tomorrow. Print copies will be available Sunday.
- Remember, we are all on “Walkabout” all summer long. So, keep walking in your neighborhood, and beyond. When you see someone, say hello. If you don’t know them, introduce yourself. It is that simple.
- Our Youth/Adult VBS will be in just a couple of weeks (August 5-9). Time will be 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Refreshments will be available.
Well, I pray
we will see you Sunday.
Blessings in
Christ,
Pastor John
Rickert
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