Worship Notes for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - 2014

Thursday after Pentecost 4

July 10, 2014

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. For our liturgy we will use Divine Service, setting four (page 203). This is a Communion service. To prepare you can meditate on the words of “Your Table I Approach” (LSB 628; LW 249; TLH 310). Setting four is “new” for the congregation and we will be using if for the next three months as we learn it. The long-range goal is to become familiar with all the main services in LSB so that our members might be able to worship with any congregation using LSB while on vacation.

The appointed lessons for Sunday are: Isaiah 55:10–13; Romans 8:12–17; Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23. The text for the sermon is Isaiah 55:11. The sermon is titled “You Have God’s Word on It.”

Our opening hymn will be “Lord, This Day We’ve Come to Worship” (LSB 911). Our sermon Hymn will be “Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast” (LSB 577). Our closing hymn will be “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” (LSB 655). Our distribution hymns will be “Your Table I Approach” (LSB 628), “I Know My Faith Is Founded” (LSB 587) and “Christ Is Surely Coming” (LSB 509).

On Monday I posted a Bible study based on the words in our opening hymn, “Lord, This Day We’ve Come to Worship.” This is the second time we will sing this hymn, and we will sing it for the next two Sundays. (This is how we learn a hymn.) So, going through the post concerning the thinking behind this hymn will pay dividends for each of these Sundays. Below is a video of St. Lorenz Lutheran Church singing the hymn. It includes the words.

Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We will continue in 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.

The Preaching of the Word of Christ Bears the Good Fruits of Faith and Love

As “the rain and the snow come down from heaven” and “water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout” (Is. 55:10), so the Word of God accomplishes the purpose for which He speaks it, granting joy and peace through the forgiveness of sins and producing the fruits of faith and love in those who are called by His name. Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word, has established the name of the Lord as “an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Is. 55:13). He opens our ears to hear, our minds to understand and our hearts to believe His Word, lest the evil one come and snatch it away. He thus transforms our rocky hearts into good soil, which clings to the Gospel and “indeed bears fruit” (Matt. 13:23). He is Himself the firstfruits of all who “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15). Thus being “led by the Spirit of God,” we are not afraid, but we cry out in faith to our Father in heaven (Rom. 8:14–15). For as we suffer with Christ, the beloved Son, so shall we “also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17).

Isaiah 55:10–13

¹⁰        “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

                   and do not return there but water the earth,

          making it bring forth and sprout,

                   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹        so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

                   it shall not return to me empty,

          but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

                   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²        “For you shall go out in joy

                   and be led forth in peace;

          the mountains and the hills before you

                   shall break forth into singing,

                   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

¹³        Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

                   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

          and it shall make a name for the Lord,

                   an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Romans 8:12–17

¹²        So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

^13:1      That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ²And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear.” …

¹⁸        “Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Some Quick Notes:

• A sign-up sheet for the pot-luck lunch coming Sunday, July 20, will be available this coming Sunday. There is also a post on this blog about this pot-luck lunch where you can indicate what you are bringing in the comment section. Just follow this LINK to that post.

• Our new officers will be installed in our Sunday service July 20 (same Sunday as the pot-luck). 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.

• The Board of Evangelism will be meeting following this Sunday’s worship service.

• Our Summer Series, “Resolving Everyday Conflict,” has now met three times. We will continue to meet every Wednesday, through August 13.

• Women’s Bible Fellowship will meet Monday, July 14, at 10:00 am. The Elders will meet Tuesday, July 15, at 2:00 pm.

• A post giving the history of hymnals in our denomination was posted Monday on this blog.

Well, I pray we will see you Sunday morning.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert