Worship for Pentecost 4 - 2014

Thursday after Pentecost 3

July 3, 2014

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. With this Sunday we are rotating our worship liturgies. On non-communion Sundays, like the one coming up, we will use the Service of Prayer and Preaching (page 260). For Communion services we will use the Divine Service, setting four (page 203).

Prayer and Preaching follows a monastic format. It includes readings from the Catechism. It also uses the Psalm for the Day instead of the Introit for the Day. Because Karen will not be with us, we will speak the Psalm responsively. The appointed Psalm is Psalm 145:1-14 and the antiphon is verse 19. The appointed lessons are Zechariah 9:9-12, Romans 7:14-25a and Matthew 11:25-30. The text for the sermon is Romans 7:21 and the message is titled, “What’s Wrong With Me?”

Our opening hymn will be “Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways” (LSB 707). This well-known hymn by Isaac Watts is the subject of a little study I posted yesterday. If you read it, you will be better prepared to sing our opening hymn with a richer appreciation for, and understanding of, its words. Our sermon hymn will be “Renew Me, O Eternal Light” (LSB 704). Our closing hymn will be “Come unto Me, Ye Weary” (LSB 684). All hymns are well known to the congregation.

BTW, the hymn study I posted is the first in a series which I hope to keep up at least through the summer. To learn a bit more about it you can read the post “Hymns vs. CCM?”, which I posted on Monday.

Below is a video of “Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways,” sung by the Lutheran Warbler.

Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We will continue with chapter two of Ruth. Everyone is welcome.

What now follows is first a summary of Sunday’s lessons, provided by the LC-MS, and then the actual lessons.

Jesus Christ, Our Savior, Is Our True Peace and Sabbath Rest

Though we have died with Christ in Holy Baptism, and we are raised to new life in Him, we find “another law waging war” in our body and life, that is, between our old Adam and the new man (Rom. 7:23). By the Spirit of Christ, we “desire to do what is right,” but we are not able to do so because “nothing good” dwells in our sinful flesh (Rom. 7:18). “Thanks be to God,” therefore, “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” who delivers us from “this body of death” (Rom. 7:24–25). We rejoice in Him, our gentle King, who comes “righteous and having salvation” (Zech. 9:9). He speaks peace to our embattled hearts, and by His blood of the New Testament He sets us “free from the waterless pit,” and He returns us to the stronghold of our Baptism (Zech. 9:10–12). Though we “labor and are heavy laden,” He calls us to Himself and gives rest to our souls through His free and full forgiveness (Matt. 11:28), not because we are “wise and understanding,” but by the “gracious will” of God the Father, whom “the Son chooses to reveal” in love (Matt. 11:25–27).

Zechariah 9:9-12

⁹         Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

                   Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

          Behold, your king is coming to you;

                   righteous and having salvation is he,

          humble and mounted on a donkey,

                   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰        I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

                   and the war horse from Jerusalem;

          and the battle bow shall be cut off,

                   and he shall speak peace to the nations;

          his rule shall be from sea to sea,

                   and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹        As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

                   I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹²        Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

                   today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Romans 7:14-25a

¹⁴        For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. ¹⁵For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹        So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! …

Matthew 11:25-30

²⁵        At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Psalm 145:1-14, 19

¹         I will extol you, my God and King,

                   and bless your name forever and ever.

²         Every day I will bless you

                   and praise your name forever and ever.

³         Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

                   and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴         One generation shall commend your works to another,

                   and shall declare your mighty acts.

⁵         On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

                   and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

⁶         They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

                   and I will declare your greatness.

⁷         They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

                   and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸         The Lord is gracious and merciful,

                   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹         The Lord is good to all,

                   and his mercy is over all that he has made.

¹⁰        All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

                   and all your saints shall bless you!

¹¹        They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

                   and tell of your power,

¹²        to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,

                   and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³        Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

                   and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

          [The Lord is faithful in all his words

                   and kind in all his works.]

¹⁴        The Lord upholds all who are falling

                   and raises up all who are bowed down. …

¹⁹        He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

                   he also hears their cry and saves them.

Some Quick Notes:

• The officers of the LW-ML will have a meeting following Sunday’s worship service.

• Our new officers will be installed in our Sunday service July 20. Please remember that the new chairs of the various boards are looking for board members. If you are asked to serve, please, for the sake of Christ and his Church, agree.

• Our Summer Series, “Resolving Everyday Conflict,” has begun. Every Wednesday, through August 13, we are gathering to learn what Scripture says about the source of conflict and how to resolve it in God pleasing ways.

• The July newsletter is available. Just go to the newsletter link in the pages column on this blog.

Well, I pray we will see you Sunday morning.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert