Worship Notes for Pentecost 5, 2015

Thursday after Pentecost 4

Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Commemoration)

June 25, 2015

The Lord be with you.

This coming Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper, as we do every second and fourth Sunday of every month. For our liturgy we will use Divine Service 1 (page 156). The only modification will be the use of the offertory from Divine Service 2 (page 176). This will be the last Sunday for Divine 1 for three months, as we will be switching to Divine 3 beginning in July.

The appointed lessons for the day are Lamentations 3:22–33; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9, 13–15; and Mark 5:21–43. The sermon is titled “Waiting, Waiting, Waiting …” The text for the sermon is Lamentations 3:26. Our opening hymn is “Speak, O Lord, Your Servant Listens” (LSB 589). The sermon hymn is “Be Still, My Soul” (LSB 752). Our closing hymn is “Go, My Children, with My Blessing” (LSB 922). Our distribution hymns are “Christ Is Surely Coming” (LSB 509), “Jesus, Refuge o the Weary” (LSB 423) and “Hail, O Source of Every Blessing” (LSB 409).

Below is a video of the first verse of our sermon hymn, “Be Still, My Soul” (LSB 752). It is sung by the Thomas-Cumberland Choir.

What follows is a synopsis of Sunday’s lessons, provided by the synod, then the lessons and finally some additional notes.

The Lord Jesus Is Faithful, and in Mercy He Raises You Up from Death to Life

The Lord is faithful. His steadfast love never ceases, and “his mercies never come to an end” (Lam. 3:22–23). To keep us in repentance and to make our faith grow, He causes grief for a while, but He does not cast off forever; in due time, “he will have compassion” (Lam. 3:31–33). Therefore, “hope in him,” and “wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord,” for “the Lord is good to those who wait for him” (Lam. 3:24–26). That is what the woman did who had “a discharge of blood,” and also the ruler whose daughter “was at the point of death.” Each waited on the mercy of the Lord Jesus, and each received His saving help (Mark 5:21–28). The woman had suffered much for 12 years, and the ruler’s daughter had already died before Jesus arrived. Yet at the right time, the woman was immediately “healed of her disease,” and the little girl “got up and began walking” (Mark 5:29, 42). Such is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who humbled Himself unto the extreme poverty of death “so that you by his poverty might become rich,” even unto life everlasting (2 Cor. 8:9).

Lamentations 3:22–33

^3:22        The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

                        his mercies never come to an end;

²³          they are new every morning;

                        great is your faithfulness.

²⁴          “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

                        “therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵          The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

                        to the soul who seeks him.

²⁶          It is good that one should wait quietly

                        for the salvation of the Lord.

²⁷          It is good for a man that he bear

                        the yoke in his youth.

²⁸          Let him sit alone in silence

                        when it is laid on him;

²⁹          let him put his mouth in the dust—

                        there may yet be hope;

³⁰          let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,

                        and let him be filled with insults.

³¹          For the Lord will not

                        cast off forever,

³²          but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion

                        according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

³³          for he does not afflict from his heart

                        or grieve the children of men.

2 Corinthians 8:1–9, 13–15

^8:1         We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ²for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—⁵and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. ⁷But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

⁸           I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. …

¹³          For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Mark 5:21–43

²¹          And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²²Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴And he went with him.

            And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. ²⁵And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³²And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵          While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Some Additional Notes

• LitWits will meet Sunday evening (6:30) and discuss the book The Gate by Dann Stouten. They did a lot of eating in the book, so I expect some wonderful “snacks” will be brought. We will gather at Samantha Parks.

• Sunday marks the beginning of our effort to collect school supplies for Jesse Boyd Elementary school. The supplies are distributed by the school to children whose family can’t afford them. For more information see the July newsletter, or the bulletin board.

• The July newsletter will be posted before Sunday morning and paper copies will be available Sunday morning.  

• The new Portals of Prayer are in. Pick up your copy Sunday.

• We will be blessed this coming up Sunday, July 5, when we baptize the Duckett children and bring the Ducketts and MaryAnne Henderson into membership of Lamb of God. Plan to stay a few minutes after worship to share a piece of cake and welcome them.

• Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue our examination of the biblical teachings concerning Vocation.

• Walking our neighborhoods and meeting our neighbors is going well. We have already reached our first two goals. Remember to record your miles each week on the bulletin board in the hallway. Our collective goal - 2,015 miles in 2015.

• Remember, we have pledged to pray for our neighbors. You can get a list of your 100 your closest neighbors from www.pray4everyhome.com. If you have no internet access, speak with Rachel Swain or Kitty Rickert and they will sign you up and get you a list.

• Don’t forget to check out the other posts on our blog that have been made this past week.  

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert