Events

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: 1 Kings 19:11–21\rPsalm: Psalm 16; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: 1 Peter 3:8–15\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18–25\rGospel: Luke 5:1–11\rIntroit: Psalm 27:1a, 11–12, 14; antiphon: vv. 7, 9b\rGradual: Psalm 84:9, 8\rVerse: Psalm 21:1\r\rJesus Makes Fishers of Men\r \rThe Lord called fishermen to be fishers of men (Luke 5:1–11). The net they would use is the message of the cross, which is foolishness and a stumbling block to the world (1 Cor. 1:18–25). The power of God to save is not in spectacular signs like wind and fire and earthquakes (1 Kings 19:11–21), nor is it to be found in human intelligence and wisdom. The power of God to save comes in the still, small voice of the preaching of Christ crucified. In worldly darkness the disciples could catch nothing. But in the light of Christ, whose Word was attached to the water, the boats were filled with fish. So it is that in Baptism you have been drawn in to the ship of the Church. Though the nets are breaking and some who hear the Word do not believe, pastors continue to cast the net of the Gospel and the Sacraments, that Christians may abide in the boat of the Church and that we may be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:8–15).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Exodus 20:1–17\rPsalm: Psalm 19; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: Romans 6:3–11\rEpistle: Romans 6:1–11\rGospel: Matthew 5:20–26\rGospel: Matthew 5:17–26\rIntroit: Psalm 28:1–2, 7; antiphon: vv. 8–9\rGradual: Psalm 90:13, 1, 2b\rVerse: Psalm 31:1\r\rOur Only Hope Is in Christ’s Righteousness\r \r“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20). God demands nothing less than perfection and holiness from you in regard to His commandments (Ex. 20:1–17). Your only hope, then, is not in your own goodness but in the goodness of Christ, who did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them for you. In Christ, your righteousness does indeed exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. For you have been baptized into Christ’s death and your sinful nature crucified. Therefore, he who has died has been freed from sin (Rom. 6:1–11). You are now raised with Christ to walk in newness of life and to share in His resurrection on the Last Day. Christ has brought you through the baptismal sea “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2). Therefore, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Genesis 2:7–17\rPsalm: Psalm 33:1–11; antiphon: v. 6\rEpistle: Romans 6:19–23\rGospel: Mark 8:1–9\rIntroit: Psalm 47:3, 6–8; antiphon: vv. 1–2\rGradual: Psalm 34:11, 5\rVerse: Psalm 47:1\r\rJesus Restores Paradise and Feeds Us Freely\r \rIn the Garden of Eden, our first parents received food freely from the gracious hand of God, apart from any burdensome work (Gen 2:7–17). But after the fall, food would be received only through toil and labor. The curse declared, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground . . .” (Gen. 3:19). In other words, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). But into this wilderness world came Jesus the Messiah to restore creation. Having compassion on the weary multitudes, He renewed the bounty of Eden on the third day, freely granting an abundance of bread to the 4,000 (Mark 8:1–9). So also our Lord Jesus, having endured the burden of our sin, was raised on the third day to bring us back to Paradise. He now miraculously turns the bread of death into the Bread of Life in the Sacrament, giving you His very body and blood for your forgiveness. For “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Proverbs 31:10–31\rPsalm: Psalm 73:23–28; antiphon: v. 1\rSecond Reading: Acts 13:26–31\rGospel: John 20:1–2, 10–18\rIntroit: Psalm 30:1a, 2–3, 12b; antiphon: Psalm 31:1a\rGradual: Psalm 45:10; John 10:11b, 10b, 3b, 16c\rVerse: John 20:18a\r\rSt. Mary Magdalene\r \r“An excellent wife who can find?” (Prov. 31:10). The Lord’s love does not search out what is lovely. Instead, His love seeks out sinners and dies for them, washes them clean, and presents them to Himself as a spotless bride (Ephesians 5). Christ had no wife on earth; His bride is the Church — the assembly of forgiven sinners rescued by His death and resurrection. Among them is St. Mary Magdalene, one “who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:31). The Lord rescued her from the power of seven demons, and she provided for Him out of her means (Luke 8:2–3). Christians have traditionally connected her with the unnamed penitent woman who was forgiven much by faith and thus “loved much” by anointing Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36–50). She was there at Christ’s death, present at His burial and honored as the first witness of His resurrection. She would have clung to Him there in the garden, but the Lord had “not yet ascended” to His Father and our Father (John 20:16–18) to “fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). For now He is heard in the Word of His witnesses and is here bodily in His Supper, not just for Mary, but for all penitents “who [fear] the Lord” (Prov. 31:30), so that grace may abound “all the more” (Rom. 5:20).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 11:27—12:5\rPsalm: Psalm 56; antiphon: v. 4\rEpistle: Romans 8:28–39\rGospel: Mark 10:35–45\rIntroit: Psalm 89:1, 5, 15–16; antiphon: Psalm 119:46\rGradual: Romans 10:15b, 18b; Isaiah 52:7b, alt.\rVerse: Mark 10:45\r\rSt. James the Elder, Apostle\r \rThe sons of Zebedee ask for seats at Jesus’ “right hand and … left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). But they do not know what they are asking (Matt. 20:22), for God’s kingdom is not of glory and power but the cross. We will bear ours after Him. “For [His] sake we are being killed” and “regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him” (Rom. 8:36–37), for Jesus’ death is unique. He alone is baptized with our sin and drinks the cup of God’s wrath against it (Mark 10:38). We live in service to our neighbors after His example; He alone is “the Son of Man,” who came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Today the Church commemorates the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy about James, killed with Herod’s sword (Acts 12:2). He is honored as the first apostle to be “conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29). But what is that when “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God … interceding for us”? Nothing (not even a sword) can “separate” James and “us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:34–35).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Jeremiah 23:16–29\rPsalm: Psalm 26; antiphon: v. 12\rEpistle: Romans 8:12–17\rSecond Reading: Acts 20:27–38\rGospel: Matthew 7:15–23\rIntroit: Psalm 48:1, 3, 11, 14; antiphon: vv. 9–10\rGradual: Psalm 31:2b, 1a\rVerse: Psalm 78:1\r\rBeware of False Prophets\r \r“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Deceit has its strength in masquerading as the truth. False prophets speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord (Jer. 23:16–29). They deny the judgment of the Lord, speaking peace to the unrepentant, when in truth there is condemnation and wrath. “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:20). The “fruits” of a true prophet are not outward righteousness or success but faithfulness in proclaiming the Word of the Lord. This is the will of the Father in heaven, that pastors take heed to the flock, the Father’s adopted ones (Rom. 8:12–17), warning them against the wolves and their lies, and shepherding the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:27–38). For indeed, the cross is that good tree bearing good fruit—namely, the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: 2 Samuel 22:26–34\rPsalm: Psalm 51:1–12; antiphon: v. 18\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 10:6–13\rGospel: Luke 16:1–13\rGospel: Luke 16:1–9\rIntroit: Psalm 54:1–3, 7; antiphon: vv. 4–5\rGradual: Psalm 8:1\rVerse: Psalm 112:1\r\rThe Steward’s Shrewdness Sanctified\r \r“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:1–9). The steward’s shrewdness is praiseworthy for two reasons. First, he knew the master would be merciful. He trusted that the master would honor the debts he forgave in the master’s name. In the same way, though we have squandered our heavenly Father’s possessions in selfishness and sin, Jesus is the Steward who has canceled our debt, knowing that His forgiveness will be honored by the Father because of the holy cross. Secondly, the steward was shrewd in using oil and wheat to provide for his earthly welfare. So also do these earthly elements aid us when pressed into heavenly use in the anointing of baptism and the wheat of the Lord’s Supper. Those who have the Sacraments will have an eternal home when their earthly home fails. These provide us aid in times of temptation (1 Cor. 10:6–13). For the Lord is our strength and a shield to all who trust in Him (2 Sam. 22:26–34).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship