Worship notes for Pentecost 10, 2014

Thursday after Pentecost 9

August 14, 2014

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. It is also the Commemoration of JohannGerhard, Theologian. The link takes you to a post I made back in 2012 about Gerhard. The only update I would make to it is that his Loci Theologica is currently being translated and published by CPH.

For our liturgy Sunday we will use the service of Prayer and Preaching (page 260). The Lord’s Supper is not celebrated with this service. It uses the appointed Psalm for the Day instead of the Introit. The lessons for Sunday are: Isaiah 56:1, 6–8; Romans 11:1–2a, 13–15, 28–32; Matthew 15:21–28; and Psalm 67 (antiphon verse 5). The text for the sermon is Matthew 15:28. The sermon is titled, “I Don’t Believe It.” The opening hymn will be “How Wide the Love of Christ” (LSB 535). This is the third time we will have sung this hymn. We will sing it again next week and then it will move from the unknown category to the known category. Our sermon hymn will be “All Depends on Our Possessing” (LSB 732). Our closing hymn will be “May God Bestow on Us His Grace” (LSB 824).

Earlier this week I posted a Bible study “May God Bestow on Us His Grace.” A couple of weeks ago I posted a Bible study on “How Wide the Love of Christ.” Links to both of these studies can be found on the “Bible Studies Based on Hymns” page on the right hand side of this page. They are listed in numerical order, followed by the name of the hymn. Our third hymn for this Sunday, “All Depends on Our Possessing,” will be the subject of Sunday morning’s Bible study. Availing yourself of these studies is a great way to prepare for Sunday’s worship.

Below is a video of a choir singing our closing hymn, “All Depends on Our Possessing”.

Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am.

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

The Church Lives Under the Cross of Christ and Prays

in the Hope of His Mercy

By her persistent prayer that Jesus would have mercy and help her (Matt. 15:22, 24), and even in the face of His initial silence and apparent rejection (Matt. 15:23–26), the Canaanite woman boldly confessed her faith in Him (Matt 15:27–28). Her beautiful example encourages us to cling to the words and promises of the Gospel, even in the face of the Law that accuses and condemns us. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29), and His Law “has consigned all to disobedience” for the very purpose “that he may have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). Hence, the woman’s faith and hope were not disappointed, but her prayers were answered in the mercy of Christ. Not only does He grant us the crumbs from His Table, but He also feeds us with “the children’s bread” in the house of His Father (Matt. 15:26–27). He has brought us to His “holy mountain,” and He makes us joyful in His house, where He hears our prayers and accepts our sacrifice of praise upon the altar of His cross (Is. 56:7).

Isaiah 56:1, 6–8

¹         Thus says the Lord:

          “Keep justice, and do righteousness,

          for soon my salvation will come,

                   and my righteousness be revealed. …

⁶         “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

                   to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

                   and to be his servants,

          everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,

                   and holds fast my covenant—

⁷         these I will bring to my holy mountain,

                   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

          their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

                   will be accepted on my altar;

          for my house shall be called a house of prayer

                   for all peoples.”

⁸         The Lord God,

                   who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,

          “I will gather yet others to him

                   besides those already gathered.”

Romans 11:1–2a, 13–15, 28–32

¹         I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. …

¹³        Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? …

²⁸        As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³²For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Matthew 15:21–28

²¹        And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Some Quick Notes:

• Church Council will meet Sunday following the worship service.  

• LitWits will meet Sunday, 6:30 pm, at the Ludvik’s home. The book we will talk about is “Bones of the Lost” by Kathy Reichs.  

• Our “Jesse’s Supplies” drive has been wrapped-up and the supplies have been delivered to Jesse Boyd Elementary School.

• Our Summer Series, “Resolving Everyday Conflict,” has wrapped-up.

• Any hard copy information for the September newsletter needs to be turned into Kitty Sunday. E-mail submission can be sent in as late as the 24^th.

• Rev. Allen Bergstrazer will be installed as the new pastor of Good Shepherd, Charleston, Sunday, August 25. Pastor will conduct the service with the assistance of other clergy from SC.

• Kitty and I will be taking a two week vacation, beginning Monday, August 18.

Well, I pray we will see you Sunday morning.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert