Worship for Easter 6 - 2014

Thursday after Easter 5

May 22, 2014

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

This coming Sunday is the Sixth Sunday of Easter. It is also the Commemoration of Bede the Venerable, Theologian. As is standard for the liturgical calendar we use, there are no special propers for this commemoration. We will, however, remember Bede in our prayers and there will be an insert about him so you can learn a bit about this saint.

For our liturgy we will use the third setting of the Divine Service (page 184). This is a communion service. You may prepare by reading and pondering one or more of our hymns on the Lord’s Supper (LSB 617-643; LW 236-250; TLH 304-316). Scripture reminds us that examining oneself prior to receiving the sacrament is a vital step in receiving it for ones benefit (1 Corinthians 11:28), and our hymns are a wonderful guide for this. (Of course, they are not the only guide one might use.)

The appointed lessons for Sunday are Acts 17:16-31, 1 Peter 3:13-22 and John 14:15-21. The text for Sunday’s message is John 14:16. The message is titled “Are You Ready?” Our opening hymn will be “Sing with All the Saints in Glory” (LSB 671). Our sermon hymn will be “Christ Is Arisen” (LSB 459). Our closing hymn will be “Stay with Us” (LSB 879). Our distribution hymns will be “He Is Arisen! Glorious Word” (LSB 488), “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” (LSB 633) and “Jesus, Christ, My Sure Defense” (LSB 741).

Below is a video of the Lutheran Warbler, singing our sermon hymn, “Christ Is Arisen.”

Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue with Colossians.

What now follows is a summary of the lessons provided by the LCMS.

The Lord Jesus Comforts Us with the Preaching of His Resurrection

“The God who … gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24–25) wants all people to seek Him that they might “feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27). But in our sinful ignorance, we humans turn instead to idols “formed by the art and imagination of man” (Acts 17:29). Therefore, God appointed the Man of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, and “has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Because He lives, we also live (John 14:19) in His forgiveness, and thus we love Him and keep His commandments (John 14:15). While the risen Lord prepares us for His ascension, He will not leave us “as orphans” (John 14:18), but He gives “another Helper,” the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever (John 14:16) through the preaching of “Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18). Because He “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18), we “honor Christ the Lord as holy” and are always “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” for the reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Our Baptism “now saves” us “as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).

Acts 17:16-31

¹⁶        Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

²²        So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

          “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

          “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

²⁹        Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

1 Peter 3:13-22

¹³        Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

¹⁸        For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, ²⁰because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. ²¹Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

John 14:15-21

¹⁵        “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

¹⁸        “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

A Few Quick Note:

• Thanks to a surprise celebration of my receiving a D.Min degree, Church Council was postponed last Sunday. We will meet after the worship service this Sunday.
• The June newsletter will be available Sunday.
• A 3-minute video about our summer series, Resolving Everyday Conflict, is available for anyone to view.
• This Thursday, May 29, is our annual joint Ascension Day worship service. The LC-MS congregations in the upstate gather at Good Shepherd (Greenville) to celebrate the day. The service begins at 7:00 pm. Pastor Rickert will be giving the sermon this year.
• Don’t forget, you can listen to Easter music throughout the Easter season through live streaming on your internet on Lutheran Public Radio. Also, CLASSIC99.com, which is part of the KUFO family, is playing mostly Easter music.

Well, I pray we will see you Sunday morning.

Easter Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert

CROSS DEFENSE

CROSS DEFENSE --- on your Lutheran Radio Station Worldwide KFUO. Join us as we talk with guest Craig Parton about his book  Religion On Trial --- Many today would agree that beneath their clashing claims, most world religions hold similar stances across the whole of their shared purview. Parton, an experienced trial lawyer, seeks to debunk this concept by clearing away subjective hearsay from tangible fact, drawing the reader's attention to just how different various religions are in their approaches to humanity, salvation, evil, and even truth. Listen this Monday @ 2:00-3:00pm CT.  Find us at  kfuo.org and follow us at Facebook.com/KFUOradio.

Worship for Easter 5, 2014

Thursday after Easter 4

May 15, 2014

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

This coming Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Easter. For our liturgy we will use the service of Matins (page 219). This is one of the historic “prayer hours” that developed in the monasteries and, as such, is a non-communion service. The accents of such services are word and prayer.

Matins uses the appointed Psalm of the Day instead of the Introit of the Day. For this Sunday it is Psalm 146. The antiphon is verse 2. We will chant it by the half verse. While this is our common practice at Lamb of God, it is only one of the ways currently popular. In some churches the psalm is chanted whole verse by whole verse. Sometimes a Psalm Tone is used that goes two verses by two verses. Some churches do not use an antiphon. Some congregations speak the Psalm instead of chanting it. If you look on page xxiv in the hymnal, you will see the various suggested Psalm Tones. We tend to use three of the eleven options. Perhaps, down the road, we will expand our choices.

After the Gospel lesson we will use the Easter Responsory (page 222) instead of the Common Responsory. For our Canticle we will use the Benedictus (page 226) instead of the Te Deum. The Benedictus just feels a little more like Easter to me.

Our hymns for Sunday will continue to reflect the Easter season. The opening hymn will be “This Joyful Eastertide” (LSB 482). The sermon hymn will be “Alleluia! Let Praises Ring” (LSB 822). The closing hymn will be “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain” (LSB 487).

The appointed scripture lessons (aside from the Psalm) are Acts 6:1–9; 7:2a, 51–60; 1 Peter 2:2–10; and John 14:1–14. The text for the sermon is John 14:6. The sermon is titled “Knowing God.”

Below is a video of the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, singing our opening hymn, “This Joyful Eastertide.” The voices are so rich that you don’t even notice at first that it is a cappella.

Our Sunday morning Bible hour begins at 9:00 am. We continue with Colossians.

Below is the summary of the lessons provided by the LCMS, followed by the lessons themselves.

The Lord Jesus Christ Is the Way, the Truth and the Life

The risen Lord Jesus alone is “the way, and the truth, and the life,” and we come “to the Father” only through Him (John 14:6). God is thus “glorified in the Son,” and those who believe in Him will do the works of Christ because He goes to the Father for us (John 14:12–14). Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5) and “doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8), did the works of Christ. When he was falsely accused and put to death, he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Fixing his hope there, he commended his spirit to the Lord Jesus and prayed for his murderers. In the same way, all the baptized are called to follow the example of Christ Jesus by faith. Though He was “rejected by men” in the sight of God, He is “chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). He is the chief cornerstone of the Father’s “spiritual house,” and we are built upon Him as “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5).

Acts 6:1–9; 7:2a, 51–60

^6:1       Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. ²And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. ³Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷         And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸         And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. …

^7:2a      And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. …

⁵¹        “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. ⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

⁵⁴        Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. ⁵⁸Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

1 Peter 2:2–10

²         Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴         As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in Scripture:

          “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

                   a cornerstone chosen and precious,

          and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷         So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

          “The stone that the builders rejected

                   has become the cornerstone,”

⁸         and

          “A stone of stumbling,

                   and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹         But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1–14

^14:1      “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.” ⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸         Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

¹²        “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

A Few Quick Notes:

• Church Council will meet after the worship service Sunday.
• Information for the June newsletter is due Sunday.
• A short video about our summer series, Resolving Everyday Conflict, will be shared near the end of the Bible Study hour Sunday. If you want to know more about this DVD based study, this is a great chance to do just that. Also, a sigh-up sheet will be available for those who desire to attend the Resolving Everyday Conflict series.
• Coming Thursday, May 29, is our annual joint Ascension Day worship service. The LC-MS congregations in the upstate gather at Good Shepherd (Greenville) to celebrate the day. The service begins at 7:00 pm. Pastor Rickert will be giving the sermon this year.
• Don’t forget, you can listen to Easter music throughout the Easter season through live streaming on your internet on Lutheran Public Radio. Also, CLASSIC99.com, which is part of the KUFO family, is playing mostly Easter music.

Well, I pray we will see you Sunday morning.

Easter Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert

Resolving Everyday Conflict

Coming This Summer

What is Resolving Everyday Conflict? It is an eight-week, DVD study that unpacks amazing and powerful things the Bible has to say about conflict and relationships.

Who can benefit? Anyone who has conflict, large or small, at home, at work, with neighbors, or in church. "Anyone" includes active church members, non-active church members and those who are not members of a church, even those who do not consider themselves Christian.

Where: Lamb of God Lutheran Church (1645 Fernwood-Glendale Rd., Spartanburg, SC)

Dates: Each Wednesday, beginning June 25, and going for eight (8) weeks

Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM

Why are we asking people to sign-up? Each participant will receive a Resolving Everyday Conflict Participant Guide, and other materials. We need to have enough for each participant.

Cost: FREE (However, if you wish to help defray the cost we won't say no)

For more information, contact Pastor Rickert.

LC-MS President, Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison on the Global Seminary Initiative

Supporting Unity in the One True Faith

The world has changed from the time of sending LCMS missionaries out to places where people had never heard the Gospel. In most parts of the world today, partner churches or potential partner churches exist, and they firmly believe that one of the best qualities of the LCMS is our theology as it is handed down from one generation to the next. Lutherans in other countries are clamoring for the Biblical treasures we steward in the LCMS, handed to us in the Lutheran Confessions. They are our niche, the most important of our core competencies, closely followed by our commitment to education excellence.

Together you and I are well-positioned to make a world of difference by assisting these relatively young Lutheran church bodies to live them in their own confession of faith.

As each new partner church takes root and grows, they express a desire to establish their own seminaries and prepare their own pastors to teach and proclaim the one true faith, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Congregations in these countries want faithful Lutheran pastors who understand their culture, their neighbors, and their struggles as they teach this one true faith. They want their own sons to be their pastors and church leaders, shepherds well- grounded in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

____________

The Global Seminary Initiative (GSI) exists to equip current partner church pastors to serve as well-formed seminary professors, as well as future partner church leaders with the capacity to form future generations of spiritual shepherds and plant new congregations.

____________

We earnestly desire you to be directly involved in this effort, joining us as we appeal to our Father in heaven to bless this work through special prayers, and by including GSI in your charitable giving as our heavenly Father allows.

So I boldly ask you to take a few minutes to first learn about our Synod’s Global Seminary Initiative, and to contemplate the impact it could have on our brothers and sisters around the world. You can watch the video below, or visit www.lcms.org/GSI.

I also ask you to help me share the story of GSI with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Forwarding this email or speaking about GSI in your congregation will help us tremendously

.

If you agree that this is a good thing for the LCMS to do, please consider making a special gift. Every person who supports the Global Seminary Initiative helps empower our partner churches as they become self-sustaining, preparing future generations of indigenous Lutheran pastors and church leaders who possess the depth of our theology as Lutherans.

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

____________

For additional information about supporting GSI as a donor or volunteer spokesperson, contact LCMS Mission Advancement at 888-930-4438.