Worship Notes for Pentecost 12, 2015

Friday after Pentecost 11

August 6, 2015

The Lord be with you.

This coming Sunday is Pentecost 12.It is also the Commemoration of Isaac. There are no special lections for this commemoration, but we will remember this Old Testament patriarch in our prayers. We will be using the Service of Prayer and Preaching for our liturgy (page 260). That means we will use the appointed Psalm for the Day instead of the Introit for the Day. In reference to our lessons, we have a choice of Old Testament readings, Proverbs 9:1-10 or Joshua 24:12a, 14-18. I have selected the reading from Joshua. Our lessons will then be Psalm 34:12-22 (antiphon v. 11), Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18, Ephesians 5:6-21 and John 6:51-69. The text for the sermon is Ephesians 5:13-14. The sermon is “A Wakeup Call.”

Our opening hymn will be “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” (LSB 607). Our sermon hymn will be “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying” (LSB 516). Our closing hymn will be “Come unto Me, Ye Weary” (LSB 684).

Our adult Bible class has begun the study, Word: God Speaks to Us. The author is John T. Pless and it is part of the Lutheran Spirituality series published by Concordia Publishing House. This is an excellent series. There are extra study guides available. We will finish the first lesson Sunday.

Below is a video of St. John’s Lutheran in Detroit singing our sermon hymn, “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying.”

What follows is a synopsis of Sunday’s lessons, provided by the synod, then the lessons. Because the synopsis refers to bother the reading from Joshua and the one from Proverbs, I am posting both lessons. Remember, though, on Sunday we will only read the Joshua lesson. Finally some additional notes are posted following the lessons.

Jesus Is the Word and Wisdom of God, Who Gives You Life and Light in His Flesh

Jesus is the divine Word by whom all things were made, who has become flesh and dwells among us. He gives His flesh “for the life of the world,” not only as a sacrifice for sin but as “the living bread” from heaven (John 6:51). Eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:54–57), and no longer walk in the darkness of sin, but walk in His light. “Arise from the dead” and live in Him, because you are “light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8, 14). Being filled with His Spirit, confess Him to “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart” (Eph. 5:18–19). Fear, love and trust in Him, “and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness” (Josh. 24:14). For He has brought you “out of the house of slavery” by His cross and resurrection, and now He does “great signs” in your sight (Josh. 24:17). Indeed, He is the divine wisdom, who has built His house, prepared His feast and set His table; He bids you to recline and eat of His bread and drink of the wine He has mixed (Prov. 9:1–5).

Psalm 34:12-22 (antiphon v. 11)

¹²          What man is there who desires life

                        and loves many days, that he may see good?

¹³          Keep your tongue from evil

                        and your lips from speaking deceit.

¹⁴          Turn away from evil and do good;

                        seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵             The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

                        and his ears toward their cry.

¹⁶          The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

                        to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷          When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

                        and delivers them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸          The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

                        and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹          Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

                        but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

²⁰          He keeps all his bones;

                        not one of them is broken.

²¹          Affliction will slay the wicked,

                        and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

²²          The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

                        none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Proverbs 9:1-10

^9:1         Wisdom has built her house;

                        she has hewn her seven pillars.

²           She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;

                        she has also set her table.

³           She has sent out her young women to call

                        from the highest places in the town,

⁴           “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

                        To him who lacks sense she says,

⁵           “Come, eat of my bread

                        and drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶           Leave your simple ways, and live,

                        and walk in the way of insight.”

⁷           Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,

                        and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

⁸           Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;

                        reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹           Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;

                        teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰          The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

                        and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

^24:1        Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people…         

¹⁴          “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶          Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, ¹⁷for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. ¹⁸And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Ephesians 5:6-21

⁶           Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

            “Awake, O sleeper,

                        and arise from the dead,

            and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵          Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

John 6:51-69

⁵¹          I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵²          The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

⁶⁰          When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

⁶⁶          After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Some Additional Notes

We will have our Voters’ Meeting Sunday following our worship service. Reports will be given. We will also officially transfer members of Faith Lutheran off our roles and onto theirs.

Keep Praying for your Neighbors and Walking your Neighborhoods.

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). For example, you can find a response from the LC-MS to the BSA decision to allow actively homosexual leaders for their Boy Scout troops.

Women’s Bible Fellowship will meet Wednesday, August 19. The hymn we will consider is “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming” (LSB 359).

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert