Festival of
St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor
Friday after
Epiphany II
January 24,
2014
The Lord be
with you
For those
who wonder why I haven’t posted my worship notes recently, it is because I have
been busy and out of town quite a bit. Of course, the Christmas schedule kept
my time filled up. After that I went to Florida for my mother’s memorial
service. Following that I went to Texas for a visit with my son and his family.
To top that off, I finally turned in my D.Min. paper, which I will have to defend
within a month or so. All that happening meant that these weekly notes were put
on the back burner. Now, they are back.
This coming
Sunday will probably be observed by most of our congregations as the Third
Sunday after the Epiphany. Many, though, will observe it as the Festival of St.
Titus, Pastor and Confessor. We will be using the second option.
Concerning
Titus the Treasury of Daily Prayer says:
St.
Titus, like Timothy with whom he is often associated, was a friend and
co-worker of St. Paul. Titus was a Gentile, perhaps a native of Antioch, who
accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem when they brought assistance to the
Christians in Judea during a famine (Acts 11:29-30; Galatians 2:1). It is not
known if he accompanied Paul on his first or second missionary journeys, but
Titus was with him on the third one, when he helped reconcile the Corinthians
to Paul (2 Corinthians 7:6-7) and assisted with the collection for the Church
in Jerusalem ( 2 Corinthians 8:3-6). It was probably on the return to Jerusalem
that Paul left Titus in Crete (Titus 1:4-5). Afterward he is found working in
Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10). According to tradition, Titus returned to Crete,
where he served as bishop until he died about AD 96.
This
festival has specially assigned readings (as do feasts but not commemorations).
They are:
Acts
20:28-35
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and
to all the flock, in
which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers,
to care for the church of God, which he obtained with
his own blood. 29I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30and
from
among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the
disciples after them. 31Therefore be alert, remembering
that for three years I did not cease
night or day to admonish everyone with tears. 32And
now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is
able to build you up and to give you the
inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I
coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities
and to those who were with me. 35In
all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he
himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Titus
1:1-9
1 Paul,
a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the
sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2in hope of
eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3and at the proper time manifested in his
word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Savior.
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that
you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town
as I directed you-- 6if anyone is above
reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers
and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7For an overseer, as God's steward,
must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a
drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8but hospitable, a lover of
good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9He must hold
firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction
in sound doctrine and also to rebuke
those who contradict it.
Luke
10:1-9
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two,
into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go your way; behold, I am sending you out
as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry
no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you
enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon
him. But if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they
provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not
go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is
set before you. 9Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come
near to you.'
We will be
using Divine Service I (page 515) for our liturgy. This is a communion service.
Our hymns will be:
Opening
hymn: “I Love Your Kingdom, Lord” LSB 651
Sermon hymn:
“By All Your Saints in Warfare” LSB 517:1, 11, 3
Distribution
hymns: “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage” LSB 582
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
LSB 621
“Sing with All the Saints in Glory”
LSB 671
Closing
hymn: “Abide, O Dearest Jesus” LSB 919
The sermon
is titled “Legacy.” The text is Titus 1:5.
Below is the
Lutheran Quartet singing “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage.” Listen quick, it
only has one verse.
In the Sunday morning Bible study we have resumed Colossians. Last week
we covered two whole verses.
Well, I pray
we will see you Sunday morning.
Blessings in
Christ,
Pastor John
Rickert
