Wednesday after Pentecost 6
July 8, 2015
The Lord be with you.
We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper this coming Sunday
(July 12, 2015). For our liturgy we will use the Divine Service, setting 3 (184). The
only modification will be that we will use the offertory from the second
setting of the Diving Service (176). This will be on an insert. On the
liturgical calendar the day is the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. The
appointed lessons are Amos 7:7-15,
Ephesians 1:3-14 and Mark 6:14-29. The sermon is titled “Don’t Tell Me
That.” The text is Amos 7:12.
Our opening hymn will be “I Know My Faith Is Founded” (LSB 587). Our sermon hymn will be “The
Law of God Is Good and Wise” (LSB
579). Our closing hymn will be “Thine the Amen, Thine the Praise” (LSB 680). Our distribution hymns will be
“The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace” (LSB
580), “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives” (LSB
602) and “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” (LSB 655). Originally our sermon hymn and our first distribution
hymn were one hymn. As people don’t sing quite like they use to and people also
tend to not want to spend several hours in a worship service, the hymn was
divided into two. I might also add that not all of the verses were kept from
the original. However the hymn (579/580) is an excellent treatment of God’s Law
and God’s Gospel.
Below is a video of our sermon hymn. There is no singing,
but the words are provided. It has only four of the verses that we have in our hymnal, This is actually from a
different hymnal, titled “Christian Worship.”
What follows is a synopsis of Sunday’s lessons, provided by
the synod, then the lessons and finally some additional notes.
The Lord Jesus
Brings His People through Death into Life by the Preaching of Repentance
Amos did not
choose to be a prophet, but the Lord took him “from
following the flock” and said to him, “Go,
prophesy to my people Israel” (Amos 7:15). It was a hard word given him to preach: King
Jeroboam would “die by the sword,” and Israel
would “go into exile away from his land” (Amos 7:10–11). For this word, Amos was hated and
threatened. St. John
the Baptist also suffered for his faithful preaching of repentance. King Herod “sent
and seized John and bound him in prison,” even though he knew that John “was
a righteous and holy man” (Mark 6:17, 20). Out of pride and fear,
Herod “sent an executioner with orders
to bring John’s head” (Mark 6:27). Yet in Christ, St. John the Baptist “has
been raised from the dead” (Mark 6:14, 16). For Christ is the
destruction of death itself “before the foundation of the
world,” and even now by faith, “the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” has blessed us in Christ “with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3–4). Through Baptism into Christ, you also “were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” for life and salvation (Eph. 1:13).
Amos 7:7-15
7:7 This
is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a
plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you
see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I
am setting a plumb line
in
the midst of my people Israel;
I
will never again pass by them;
9 the
high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and
the sanctuaries of Israel
shall be laid waste,
and
I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 Then
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam
king of Israel, saying,
“Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to
bear all his words. 11For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam
shall die by the sword,
and
Israel
must go into exile
away
from his land.’”
12 And
Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land
of Judah, and eat bread there, and
prophesy there, 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and
it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then
Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but
I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15But the Lord took me from following the flock,
and the Lord said to me, ‘Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.’
Ephesians 1:3-14
1:3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he
chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption as
sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to
the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In
him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in
all wisdom and insight 9making known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan
for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth.
11 In
him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the
purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so
that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his
glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised
Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Mark 6:14-29
6:14 King
Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, “John the
Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are
at work in him.” 15But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said,
“He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod
heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 20For
it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake
of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. For John
had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's
wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death.
But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and
holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed,
and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But
an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles
and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
22For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod
and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish,
and I will give it to you.” 23And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask
me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24And she went out
and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of
John the Baptist.” 25And she came in immediately with haste to the
king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the
Baptist on a platter.” 26And the king was exceedingly sorry, but
because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27And
immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He
went and beheaded him in the prison 28and brought his head on a
platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29When
his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Some Additional Notes
- At the District Convention this past May the delegates voted to have a special “Sunday for the City” August 9. This was shortly after the shooting death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Since then we had the murders in Charlotte at Emmanuel AME congregation. The planning for “Sunday for the City” has expanded to include, not only Charlotte, but all our cities. The SED is preparing special material for this local commemoration, and we will participate at Lamb of God.
- The Board of Evangelism will meet Sunday following the worship service.
- Information about our annual effort to collect school supplies for Jesse Boyd Elementary school children can be found in the newsletter.
- The new Portals of Prayer are in. Pick up your copy Sunday.
- Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue our examination of the biblical teachings concerning Vocation.
- The weather has been better for Walking our neighborhoods and meeting our neighbors. 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 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. Many of these posts are from district, synod or one of the groups affiliated with us (like a seminary).
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert
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