Brothers and sisters, greetings to you in the name of our Savior, Jesus, who has brought the light of the gospel to our world darkened by sin. I encourage you to be in bible study and worship on Sunday to hear more about what God has done for you through Jesus the Christ. His word is the lamp that guides our steps along the path to eternal life.
We have designated this coming Sunday October 13 as a day to especially recognize God’s work done through the ladies’ auxiliary Lutheran Women Missionary League (LWML).
Sunday, October 13 we will be following the liturgy of Divine Service Setting One beginning on page 151 in the LSB hymnal. As part of our ongoing catechetical study, we will also recite commandments 7 through 10 with Luther’s explanation for each of them.
.Hymns chosen for the day are #565 Thy Works, Not Mine, O Lord; #730 What is the World to Me; and #629 What is This Bread, and a hymn that highlights a response of service to Jesus, Serve the Lord with Gladness, sung to the tune of ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’.
Scripture texts assigned to the day are Psalm 90:12-17; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Hebrews 3:12-19; and Mark 10:17-22. Christianity can be described as trusting Jesus Christ for eternal life and forgiveness from sin. Scripture repeatedly makes the point that faith is not mere lip service, but includes sincerely following Jesus in the way we think, act, and speak. Said another way, a Christian is someone who, by the power and work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, believes in and confesses Jesus as Savior and Lord. To demonstrate faith in Jesus, Scriptures instruct us to serve our neighbor with humility and love. To clarify, good works don’t save us. Rather, good works are a proper response expressing trust, thanksgiving, and praise toward Jesus who has saved us. Several of the lessons read Sunday give examples of this proper response.
The heading of Psalm 90 reports it is a prayer of Moses, the man of God who was used to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Moses begins the psalm by describing God’s creative power, a power that He would be justified in using against each of us to punish us for our sin. It is foolish and deadly to ignore God’ss hatred of sin. So Moses sets an example for us, praying God to teach us to number our days, to consider our sinful condition and the eternal danger we are in. From this posture of humble confession, fearing God and recognizing our need for His pity, grace, ad forgiveness, we gain a heart of wisdom. With wise hearts, we ask God to demonstrate His gracious power among us, to not give us the punishment we deserve, but instead to pour out His favor on us and to satisfy us with His steadfast love. Our earthly lives are brief. We should live each day fulfilling our responsibilities and enjoying the blessings God has granted us, remembering that He is our judge and also our Savior. Pray that God would guide your ways.
In Amos Chapter 5, God speaks through the prophet, criticizing His people for ignoring Him. They take short cuts in worshipping Him. they mistreat their neighbors. They are deceitful and dishonest because they don’t think God is watching or listening (or they no longer care what God thinks of them). They resent God and complain against Him for seeming to stifle the fun in their lives. God threatens judgment against them, and urges them to instead seek good, avoid evil, and lift justly with a true heart. In other words, God is urging them to live in a way that expresses His will and character. Seek the Lord and live. God is merciful to those who trust in Him.
The epistle lesson from Hebrews 3 recalls an event from Israel’s past recorded in the Old Testament book, Numbers Chapter 14. After God had released the tribes of Israel from slavery in Egypt, they had reached the land God had promised them. Spies were sent in to gather information on the people God would help them displace. When the spies returned with reports of giants in the land, the Israelites were frightened. Rather than trusting God, they complained and refused to enter the land. They said they would prefer to return to Egypt and live in slavery rather than receive the freedom God was offering them. So as punishment, God sent them back out into the wilderness for forty more years, time for most of that unbelieving generation to pass away. Through the writer of Hebrews, God warns his readers not to harden their hearts or fall into the same unbelief. Unbelief separates us from God. Unbelief leads to eternal death. So we should trust Jesus and His words. We share in Christ and His blessings if we remain confident in Him. O Holy Spirit, help us to believe in Jesus!
In the gospel lesson from Mark 10, a man seeks to gain eternal life. Jesus sees that the man has a misplaced trust in earthly things and his own abilities. When Jesus recites several of the ten commandments, the man states that he has always kept the law. With loving concern, Jesus instructs the man to do one more thing—sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Hearing this, the man went away disheartened and sad. The indication is that he loved his possessions and could not let go of them. Possessions might be considered a blessing from God. But we should all be aware that possessions can displace God in our lives, that is, we might end up serving our possessions, or trusting in our possessions, rather than serving and trusting Jesus. Jesus is urging His followers to consider their priorities and values. Worldly material things are temporary. Jesus’s blessings are eternal. Money is the currency of this world. Even so, it is foolish to dedicate our lives to material things we cannot keep. Rather we should turn our attention to those heavenly eternal things we cannot lose.
COLLECT: Lord Jesus Christ, Your grace always surrounds us, preceding and following us wherever we go. Help us to forsake all trust in earthly gain and to find in You our heavenly treasure; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Please let me know if you have any prayer requests or questions about Sunday’s Scripture lessons. God bless you. Pastor Boster
