Events

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 32:14–20\rPsalm: Psalm 85; antiphon: v. 10\rSecond Reading: Acts 8:14–17\rGospel: John 10:1–10\rIntroit: Psalm 78:1, 70, 71b–72; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rVerse: John 14:26; Liturgical Text

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 6:1–7\rPsalm: Psalm 29; antiphon: v. 2\rEpistle: Romans 11:33–36\rGospel: John 3:1–17\rGospel: John 3:1–15\rIntroit: Psalm 8:1–2a, 3–5; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Liturgical Text\rVerse: Liturgical Text\r\rThe Holy Trinity Reveals Himself to Sinners\r \rWhen Isaiah beheld the glory of the Lord, he cried out “Woe is me!” For the sinner cannot stand in the presence of a holy God and live (Is. 6:1–7). But God the Father lifted up His Son Jesus for us on the cross, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. This eternal life of Christ is given us according to the Holy Spirit’s good pleasure in Baptism. “Unless one is born [again] of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). To sinners in fear of death, the messengers of God place on our lips the living body and blood of Christ and speak His words of absolution, “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Is. 6:7). Having received forgiveness and life from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit, we join with the angels in praising the blessed Trinity, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” (Is. 6:3). “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:33–36).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Genesis 15:1–6\rPsalm: Psalm 33:12–22; antiphon: v. 20\rEpistle: 1 John 4:16–21\rGospel: Luke 16:19–31\rIntroit: Psalm 13:1–4; antiphon: vv. 5–6\rGradual: Psalm 41:4, 1\rVerse: Psalm 7:1\r\rFaith Trusts in Christ for Life Eternal\r \rWhen the beggar Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. For he was truly Abraham’s seed. Like Abraham, he believed in the Lord, and the Lord “counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). The name Lazarus means “God is my help.” The unnamed rich man, on the other hand, did not love and trust in God. For he evidently cared little for the beggar at his gate. And “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). He who loved and trusted in possessions and prestige died and was in torments in Hades (Luke 16:19–31). Repentance and faith are worked only through Moses and the prophets—that is, the Word of God, for it points us to Christ. Only through His death and resurrection are we brought the comfort of life everlasting.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 42:5–12\rPsalm: Psalm 112; antiphon: v. 1\rSecond Reading: Acts 11:19–30; 13:1–3\rGospel: Mark 6:7–13\rIntroit: Psalm 135:1–3; antiphon: v. 13\rGradual: Ephesians 4:8b, 11, 12b; 2:19a, c\rVerse: Mark 6:12\r\rSt. Barnabas, Apostle\r \rJoseph, a Levite from Cyprus, received the name Barnabas from the apostles (Acts 4:36–37). He was sent to Antioch to see “the grace of God” among the Hellenists, exhorting “them all to remain faithful to the Lord” (Acts 11:22–24). There, through His Church, the Holy Spirit “set apart … Barnabas and Saul for the work to which [He had] called them” (Acts 13:2). Just as Christ had sent out the 12 to proclaim repentance and cast out demons and heal the sick (Mark 6:7–13), so He now sent Paul and Barnabas to proclaim repentance and healing among the Gentiles. Still, this Word is not always received (Acts 13:44–52). Even within the Church, divisions threaten it. Barnabas knew this. He was at the Jerusalem council to see that the Gospel was preserved without mingling in the Law (Acts 15:2–4), and he parted ways with Paul over the usefulness of John Mark (Acts 15:36–41). Despite all these trials, St. Barnabas remained full of faith so the Gentiles could “give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands” (Is. 42:12). Thus, by the Lord’s calling and Spirit, Barnabas lived up to his new name: “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Proverbs 9:1–10\rPsalm: Psalm 34:12–22; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: Ephesians 2:13–22\rEpistle: 1 John 3:13–18\rGospel: Luke 14:15–24\rIntroit: Psalm 18:1–2a, 27, 30a, 49; antiphon: vv. 18b–19\rGradual: Psalm 120:1–2\rVerse: Psalm 7:17\r\rThe Gospel Call Goes Out to All\r \rWisdom has issued an invitation to the divine feast: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Prov. 9:5–6). This is the call of the Spirit of Christ to believe the Gospel and to receive His saving gifts in the Holy Supper. Many make excuses and reject this invitation, even as the Jews did in the days of Jesus, yet the Master’s house will be filled. The Gospel call therefore goes out to the lowly and despised, into the highways, even to all the Gentiles (Luke 14:15–24). For “you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13–22). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellow members of the household of God. The enmity of class and race is put to death through the cross. Having been reconciled in the one Body of Christ, we are enabled to love one another (1 John 3:13–18) as we await the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which will have no end.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Micah 7:18–20\rPsalm: Psalm 103:1–13; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 1:12–17\rEpistle: 1 Peter 5:6–11\rGospel: Luke 15:1–10\rGospel: Luke 15:11–32\rIntroit: Psalm 25:1–2a, 5b, 15, 20; antiphon: vv. 16, 18\rGradual: Psalm 55:22a, 16, 18a\rVerse: Psalm 18:1–2a\r\rJesus Receives Sinners\r \r“This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The Pharisees’ statement of judgment against Jesus is in fact a proclamation of Gospel truth. For our God is one who delights in mercy, who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea through the cross (Micah 7:18–20). “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Those who refuse to be counted as sinners also refuse Jesus who came only for sinners. Those like the older son (Luke 15:11–32), who think they are righteous of themselves, will not join in the heavenly celebration over the sinner who repents and so remain outside of the Father’s house. Let us therefore be on guard against self–righteously trusting in our own merits. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:6). Rejoice that Jesus receives sinners like us and that He still sits at table with us in the Holy Supper, bestowing His forgiveness and life.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 40:1–5\rPsalm: Psalm 85:7–13; antiphon: v. 9\rPsalm: Psalm 85; antiphon: v. 9\rSecond Reading: Acts 13:13–26\rGospel: Luke 1:57–80\rIntroit: Luke 1:68, 76–79; antiphon: Malachi 3:1\rGradual: Jeremiah 1:5, 9b\rVerse: Luke 1:17a, d\r\rThe Nativity of St. John the Baptist\r \rSt. John the Baptist is not the Christ, only His forerunner (Acts 13:25). He was called from the womb to bring Jacob back to God through his Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Is. 49:5), just as Christ was the true servant of the Lord. Miraculously conceived by Zechariah the priest of barren Elizabeth, John was marked to be the greatest born of women (Matt. 11:11). The Church rejoices over the Lord’s mercy just as Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives did at John’s birth. But when Zechariah’s tongue was loosed, John was not the subject of his song. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). John is the voice “[preparing] the way of the Lord” (Is. 40:3); Jesus, the virgin-born Son of God, is that Lord. John is “the prophet of the Most High.” He is born to “give knowledge of salvation to [God’s] people in the forgiveness of their sins,” because Christ, the Dayspring, is visiting (Luke 1:76–79). Thus, what John preaches is the comfort of iniquity pardoned by Jesus, the promised Savior of Israel (Acts 13:23) and “the nations, that [His] salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Is. 49:6).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship