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Preparing for Worship - March 22, 2026

This Sunday is the 5th Sunday in our Lenten season, and in the One Year Series, it is known as Judica Sunday, a day in which the Scripture readings call us to think about “judging” and “judgment.” “Judica” is the Latin word for “judging.”

The psalm for the day is Psalm 43, which begins with the words “judge me.” This psalm has some of the same words as Psalm 42 and seems to be linked with it, where the psalmist is away from the Promised Land and cannot get back to Jerusalem and God’s “holy hill” and His “dwelling” there, the temple, “the house of God.” In Psalm 43, he says that he is facing “ungodly, deceitful, unjust enemies,” who are “oppressing” him. Four times in these two psalms, he says that “his soul is cast down” and he is “in turmoil.” At times, he even asks God, “Why have You forgotten me?” (Psalm 42:9) and “Why have You rejected me?” (Psalm 43:2). He struggles and confesses and sorrows over his weaknesses, especially when his “adversaries taunt him” and ask, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:10). He cannot hear the encouraging Words of Scripture with fellow believers at “God’s altar.” Yet he has not lost faith. He still says, “You are my God in Whom I take refuge.” He reminds himself, again and again, even on troubled days, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my Salvation and my God.” He prays that he would be led by the Light and Truth of God and His Word, and that ultimately God would “judge” and “defend him and his cause” and “vindicate” him, declare him “not guilty,” by His mercy. Psalm 127:1 says, “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation,” and we know from the New Testament that Jesus is “the Light of the world” (John 8:12) and says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” and that “no one comes to the Father except through Him” and His forgiving love that takes away our guilt (John 14:6).

The Old Testament lesson is Genesis 22:1-14. Even Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, had his ups and downs and struggles at times, not waiting for God to fulfill His plans in His own way. When Abraham finally was given his child of promise, Isaac, he had grown in faith and was willing to trust his Lord, even when he was asked to do what seemed totally wrong - to sacrifice that son, his only son. It was only a test of faith, but Abraham did not know that. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham still trusted his Lord and “considered that God was able even to raise his son, Isaac, from the dead” and that, “figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” How agonizing, though, it must have been for Abraham to travel for three days to Mt. Moriah, with his son carrying the wood for the sacrifice. How hard it must have been to hear his son ask, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” and to answer, “God will provide for Himself the lamb,” knowing what he himself was soon to do to his son. Abraham was ready to kill his son as a sacrifice when the Lord stopped him and provided a ram for him to sacrifice, instead. This was a dramatic prediction of what would happen to God’s only Son when he was not stopped, but went to the cross to suffer and die for our sins and the sins of the whole world, since none of us could atone, pay the judgment penalty for our own sins or the sins of anyone else. The line of promise of a Savior did come through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and later on through David and finally through the sacrifice of God’s only Son, who had become the human Child, our Lord Jesus. That was the plan from the beginning because of the love of God the Father and the love of God the Son and His willingness to become that sacrifice, and His birth through the Virgin Mary by the loving power of God the Holy Spirit. When we think of what Abraham and Isaac went through, in human terms, until that sacrifice was stopped by God on Mt. Moriah, we appreciate more and more the meaning of the Triune God’s love in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,” and that John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and that Paul writes, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him give us all things” He has promised us in Christ our Savior and the Words of Scripture (Romans 8:32). Our eternal future is secure in Him, as he has brought us to faith in Him and keeps us in that faith. One more note. In 2 Chronicles 3:1, we are told that the temple was later built in Jerusalem on Mt. Moriah, where Abraham and Isaac had been. Jesus was sacrificed on the cross just outside Jerusalem to sanctify us through His blood, so that we might receive the heavenly Jerusalem, eternal life, prepared for us by Him. (See Hebrews 12:22-24 and Hebrews 13:12,14-15 and John 14:1-3.)

This sacrificial work of Christ Jesus and its result are also described for us in Hebrews 9:11-15, our Epistle lesson for this Sunday. Christ is our great “High Priest.” In the Old Testament, priests offered animal sacrifices in a tent, the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, and needed to keep doing so, again and again, as part of the Old Covenant, and in preparation for the coming of the Christ, our Lord Jesus. Christ offered the sacrifice “of His own blood,” “once for all,” and thus “secured an eternal redemption” available for all people. Old Testament priests were sinners who needed forgiveness for themselves, too. Christ Jesus “offered His blood” and “Himself without blemish to God.”
He carried all of our sins on the cross to pay for them, but He had no sins of His own, as the perfect Lamb of God. He did all this as the Son of God, but also as a true man, “through the power of the eternal Holy Spirit.” Through His perfect life in our place and His death that redeemed us from our sins, our transgressions, and His mighty resurrection, we and “all who are called to faith in Him may receive the promised eternal inheritance of the “New Covenant” that He mediates. Our consciences are purified from “dead works,” for that is all we could perform on our own as sinners, and we have a new life in Christ, through which we can serve the living God, and one day be taken to “the greater and perfect tent” of eternal life.

Jesus, in the Gospel lesson, John 8:(42-45) 46-59, is telling His fellow Jews that He was “sent from God, His heavenly Father,” and is speaking “His Word, the Word of God, the Truth.” If people reject Him, it is because they are serving “their father, the devil”… “a liar and the father of lies.” “Whoever is of God hears the Words of God,” Jesus says. Some then accused Him of being an unbelieving “Samaritan” and “having a demon.” Jesus responds by saying that He honors His heavenly Father, and claims again that if people keep His Word, they will never see death.” These Jews then say that Abraham died. Is Jesus claiming to be greater than Abraham and the prophets, who also died? Jesus then says that these people do not know and understand God as they should, from His Word, and that Abraham did know, through prophecy and the Word of the coming Savior. (See, for example, 1 Peter 1:10-12, where it is indicated that the prophets knew more about the suffering Christ and people He would serve than they wrote down. Peter also had just reminded us in 1 Peter 1:8-9 that most fellow believers lived by faith, trusting the eyewitness testimony of Peter and others, though they had not seen Christ themselves, as Peter had. See also Peter’s own eyewitness Words in 2 Peter 1:16-21, speaking and writing by the power of God the Holy Spirit, and his affirmation of the words and writing of the apostle Paul, also, in 2 Peter 3:15-18.) Finally, in the Gospel lesson, John 8:58, Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am,” using the name of God for Himself (Exodus 3:13-15) and affirming the truth that He had always existed, long before Abraham and was God the Son, the promised Messiah and Savior. He claimed this numerous other times, too, with His many “I am” sayings. Sadly, many of the people hearing Jesus did not believe Him and picked up stones to throw at Him, thinking that He was blaspheming, speaking against God (Leviticus 24:16).

You may have heard of C.S. Lewis, an atheist, who became a Christian through the Word of God and the Good News of Christ, his Savior. Lewis realized that people could not simply say that Jesus was a good man and an interesting teacher. Hearing the Scriptures and passages like this Gospel, Lewis realized and said that Jesus was either “a liar,” as many of his enemies said, or He was “a lunatic,” a crazy man who had lost his mind, or He actually was “the Lord” and Savior. By the grace of God and the Holy Spirit’s power, C.S. Lewis became a believer and a strong advocate for the Christian faith and the reliability of the Scriptures. May we continue to be strengthened in that same faith in Christ this Lenten season, through these and other Scriptures and the remembrance of our own baptism and the gift of Christ’s forgiveness also in the Lord’s Supper. And if we know of others, like the psalmist we heard of in Psalms 42 and 43, who cannot get out to the Lord’s house, because of illness or other problems, may we pray for them and send them cards with encouraging Scriptures or call or visit them, bringing God’s Word and His love in Christ to them, as we are able. God’s Word in Christ is the Lamp and the Light for us all (Psalm 119:105).

Preparing for Worship - March 15, 2026

March 15, 2026, is the Fourth Sunday in the Lenten Season. Lent is usually a very somber time of repentance for our sins, and of remembering that it took the great, sorrowful sacrifice of Christ on the cross to pay the penalty for those sins and to earn forgiveness for us. This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday, a Sunday for some rejoicing, singing, and remembering in true faith that the celebration of Christ’s joyful resurrection is coming soon.

The psalm is Psalm 132:8-18. Twice the saints, the faithful people of God, are called to “shout for joy,” for one day coming the Lord would keep His “sure oath,” His promise that someone from the line of King David would be “set on God’s throne forever.” That One will be the Lord’s “Anointed One,” His Messiah, and those who do not turn His face away from them,” but trust Him, by God’s grace, and keep His “New” Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-14) and “the testimonies He will teach them,” will enjoy “His resting place forever.” They will be “clothed with righteousness” and “salvation,” as their “Horn” (Luke 1:68-69) and “Lamp” ( Luke 1:78-79 and John 1:9 and 5:33-36,39 and 8:12, etc.) comes, whose “crown will shine” forever (Hebrews 2:7-9). All these are references to our Lord Jesus and His coming as the Son of God and Son of David. He had His enemies, who put Him to death, but He eventually “clothed them with shame” in His mighty resurrection and victory. See His promises in 1 Peter 2:9-10 to “the priesthood of all believers,” who are brought to faith in Him. See also the Lord’s promise in Psalm 132:15 of provisions and bread that satisfy His poor and needy people, as Jesus is “the Bread of Life” (John 6:35,47-51).

The first possibility for the Old Testament lesson is Exodus 16:2-21. The children of Israel were about a month and a half away from Egypt when they grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. They imagined life in Egypt would be much better and expressed fear of starving. Maybe their provisions were getting lower, or maybe they just complained. The Lord was ready to rain bread from heaven for them, manna, day by day, just enough for them for each day. On the sixth day of each week, they could gather twice as much and rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath day. If they tried to gather too much bread, it would spoil. The Lord was teaching them to trust Him to care for them, as we have been taught by Jesus to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God also provided quail for meat at times and showed that it was all from Him by revealing His glory in a cloud they could see. He provided this food, manna, for all the forty years until they reached the Promised Land. This was also a prediction of what Jesus came to do and was able to do, as a part of His saving work.

The alternative Old Testament lesson is Isaiah 49:8-13. If you look earlier in Isaiah 49, you will see a prophecy of the coming Savior, the Redeemer and Holy One, who would be a light for the people of Israel and for all nations throughout the earth. In 49:8-9, this is predicted to be a “day of salvation” (see Paul’s quotation of 49:8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2), as this coming One would bring in God’s “New Covenant” and call out those in the prison and darkness of sin and affliction into a whole new life, with the promises of eternal life, where there will be no more hunger or thirst. Portions of 49:8-10 are quoted in Revelation 7:16-17 as a picture of life in heaven itself. Jesus also uses words very similar to 49:12 in Luke 13:29, where he promises that through His saving work, “people will come from east and west and from north and south and recline at table in the kingdom of God” - non-Jews, too. All this is reason for rejoicing, for “singing for joy,” 49:13 says, as the Lord will bring “compassion” and “comfort” to “afflicted” people, with the coming of Christ Jesus. See how this happened for Simeon, who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” in Luke 2:25-32 and predicted that the Savior would be for “all peoples,” including Gentiles and his own Jewish people. This great comfort also came to Anna in Luke 2:36-38, who “thanked God” and spoke about Jesus to those “waiting for redemption.” Even as we, too, confess our own sins, needs, and struggles this Lent, there is also comfort and rejoicing in Jesus our Savior and in what He has done for us.

The Gospel lesson is John 6:1-15. A large crowd followed Jesus because they had seen signs (miracles) that He was performing among the sick. The Jewish Passover was near, and John mentions that in this Gospel reading because the Passover was a celebration and remembrance of God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt in the Old Testament and His providing special bread, manna, to sustain them during their journey to the Promised Land. Seeing the large crowd coming, Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed so many people. This was a test for Philip, as Jesus already knew what He would do. A denarius was an average day’s wage, and Philip knew that even 200 denarii would not be enough to feed all these people. Andrew suggested that a boy had five barley loaves and two fish, but asked what good would that do for so many. Jesus simply had the people sit down - about 5,000 men. (In Matthew 14:21, we hear that there were also women and children there.) Jesus took the loaves and fish of the boy, gave thanks to God, and, in a miraculous way, fed all those people as much as they wanted, and 12 baskets of leftover food were gathered up as well. This was a great miracle, reminding us of the manna provided in the Old Testament. The people saw this sign (this miracle), though, and thought that Jesus must be the Prophet who was to come into the world. How wonderful it would be to have a king who could continually provide food for them, they must have thought. Jesus realized that they were about to take Him by force and try to make Him king, and so he went away by Himself to a more isolated mountainous area nearby. Jesus knew that His primary mission was not to feed people and take care of their physical needs. He was to be their Savior and deal with their sins and spiritual needs, which could affect them eternally. He knew and had used the Scripture which says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:1-3). Jesus also knew that attraction to Him simply because of the signs and miracles He could do was not a saving belief in Him. See what Jesus already knew in John 2:23-25. The commentator, Martin Franzmann, says, “The faith that feeds on signs is an appetite that grows by what it feeds on; it cannot simply rest in the revelation of the given sign but demands another (and another).” That is “the self-seeking will of natural man.” It cannot be satisfied that “the Heavenly Father (alone) makes Jesus both King and Lord” by His own way and plan (Acts 2:36).

There are two choices for the Epistle lesson, too. The first is Acts 2:41-47. This passage shows that the early Christians did care for one another and tried to help each other with their needs by sharing. They did so with “glad and generous hearts.” But they also knew what was most important: “receiving the Word of God and being baptized” and then “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (the Word of God) and “fellowship” (worshiping together around that Word and “the breaking of the bread” (the Lord’s Supper) and prayer and “praising God.”

The alternate Epistle lesson is from Galatians 4:21-31 and is not an easy passage to understand. Paul is dealing here with people who talk about Jesus, but especially want everyone to live by the Old Testament laws and rules and regulations, including circumcision and other ritual laws, which often went far beyond Scripture itself, and ignored Christ’s own teaching about the New Covenant in Him. Paul reminds us that Abraham had two sons. If you remember the story in Genesis, Abraham and Sarai grew tired of waiting for a son by God’s plan, and Sarai talked Abraham into having a son by her Egyptian female servant, Hagar. This son was named Ishmael, and yet Sarai treated Hagar and Ishmael badly. It was about 14 years later when Abraham and Sarai (now called Sarah) had the child Isaac, who would be the child of promise about whom God had spoken to them. (You can read about this contrast between Isaac and Ishmael in Genesis 16 and Genesis 21:1-21.) Paul says that these two represent two covenants. The Old Covenant is Hagar, who was a slave, like Judaism, with its focus on Mt. Sinai and laws, and is still in slavery to such laws. The New Covenant is a Covenant of Promise and is represented by the free woman, Sarah, and her child of promise, Isaac, through whom our Savior, Jesus, would eventually come. Note that Paul then quotes Isaiah 54:1, right after speaking of the New Jerusalem above. This Isaiah passage then speaks of the enlargement of the tent of God’s people, including “the nations.” It also comes right after Isaiah 53 and the great prophecy of the work of the Servant Savior, Jesus. Jesus came to set us free from the condemnation of the Law, which we could not keep, and brought us a new freedom through Him and His perfect life for us, and forgiveness of all our sins through His suffering, death, and resurrection for us. Paul says that our hope is not now in the Jerusalem of his day, with its rejection of Christ and its trust in its own keeping of laws, rules, and regulations (which it never fully keeps). Our hope is in “the Jerusalem above,” won for us in and through Christ, and the eternal future we have in Him. (See Galatians 5:1 and passages like John 8:31-36 and Galatians 2:15-21, etc. See also Hebrews 12:18-24, where the same picture image, contrasting Mt. Sinai and the Old Covenant Law with the heavenly Mt. Zion and Jesus and His Gospel and the New Covenant centered in Him.) As always, Paul focuses on salvation by the grace of God through faith in Christ and His saving work, not in ourselves or our faithful keeping of God’s Law. In Christ and what He does for us is our hope.

Preparing for Worship - March 8, 2026

The Third Sunday in Lent in the One Year Series of readings is known as Oculi Sunday. We are to keep our “eyes” upon our Lord and His Word and will for us, especially in Christ our Savior, in this Lenten season. We are also caused to “see” that the Lord has His eyes on us, too, and knows our sins and calls us to repentance, but still looks upon us with His love and mercy and forgiveness in Christ.

There are two choices for a psalm. Psalm 4 is a psalm of David. He knows that the Lord has given him relief when he was in distress, in a tight spot, in the past. He prays again for the Lord to be gracious to him, when others are trying to shame him with vain words and lies. He has learned from the Lord what to try to do. He is angry, but he is not to attack others and sin against them, but to trust in the Lord, as he ponders in silence what is going on. (Paul quotes this passage in the New Testament in Ephesians 4:26-27, telling us not to let the sun go down on our anger, and not give the devil an opportunity by doing something harmful and foolish in return to others.) In Psalm 4, David says to offer “right sacrifices.” In Psalm 51:17, David calls these sacrifices “a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart,” confessing our own sins, failings, and weaknesses, and asking God’s forgiveness. The Lord then shows us the light of His mercy and forgiveness, especially in Christ, renews our joy, and gives us peace in Him. Only then can we also be more patient and understanding and forgiving of the weaknesses of others, too, and show them God’s goodness and mercy. David knows that only in the Lord can he finally dwell in safety, as the Lord knows best. (A side comment on v.7: someone has said that a true “happy hour” for us is not in “abounding wine” and other drinks at the end of a day, but in joy in our hearts in the Lord and His continuing mercy and love for us.)

The alternate Psalm is Psalm 136:1-16. The psalmist calls upon us again and again to “give thanks to the Lord.” Every verse ends by calling us to see that “His steadfast love endures forever.” It can be seen in His creating a marvelous universe for us. It can be seen in His continuing care for a now fallen world, caught up in sin and slavery to evil, and His keeping His promises to rescue His people of Israel and bring them through the wilderness to a promised land. Above all, as we see in the New Testament, the Lord kept His promise to bring blessings available to all people through the gift of His own Son, our Savior Jesus.

There are also two possible readings for the Old Testament lesson this week. The first is in Jeremiah 26:1-15, where God called the prophet Jeremiah to speak to all the people of Judah, calling them to “turn from their evil ways” and listen to “God’s servants the prophets” and to “walk again” in the Lord’s way. If they continued to refuse to listen and went their own way, judgment would come upon Judah and the city of Jerusalem, as “cursed among all the nations of the earth.” The reaction of the priests and other prophets and many of the people was that they “laid hold of Jeremiah” and said that he must die for speaking against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Other officials of Judah were called to sit in judgment of Jeremiah for what he said. Jeremiah said again that he was speaking only what the Lord told him to say and called the people to “mend their ways and deeds” and “obey the voice of the Lord their God.” Only then could they escape “the disaster that the Lord was pronouncing against them.” Jeremiah also warned them that they would be shedding “innocent blood” if they killed him, for he was sent to “speak all these words into their ears.” The threats against Jeremiah were prophetic of what later happened to our Lord Jesus, when He also came and spoke God’s Word to people. Jeremiah was spared for a while, but Jesus was put to death as an innocent man, bearing our sins in payment for them in His saving work for us.

The alternative Old Testament reading is Exodus 8:16-24, when God spoke through Moses, warning Pharaoh and the Egyptians of more plagues coming upon them, of gnats and then of flies, if they would not set God’s people free. Pharaoh’s magicians had been able with the earlier plagues to do something like what God had sent, but they could not produce gnats and flies, as God did. The magicians now had to tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” - something that only God could do. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, though, and he would not listen to Moses and his warnings from God. When the swarms of flies came, they troubled all of Egypt, but not Goshen, where the Israelites lived. There was a clear division between what happened to the Egyptians and what happened to the Israelites.

As the Gospel lesson begins in Luke 11:14-28, a demon possessed a man, leaving him unable to speak. Jesus cast out the demon, and the man could speak again, and the people marveled. Some people, however, claimed that Jesus was using the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, to cast out demons. (This alludes to a story in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 1, when King Ahaziah had an accident, and instead of asking God about his illness, he sent messengers to ask advice from “Baalzebub,” the false god of Ekron. This greatly displeased the Lord, and Ahaziah died.) Other people wanted to test Jesus about where his power really came from and kept demanding that he give them a sign or proof of its origin. (See Matthew 9:34 and Mark 8:11, where it is clear that Pharisees were stirring up such challenges to Jesus and demanding proof of the source of His power.) Jesus simply points out that any divided kingdom or household would fall. Why would Satan use his own power to work against himself? There were also some Jews, allies of the religious leaders, who claimed to cast out demons. Jesus asked where their power came from. Then Jesus used the phrase used in our Old Testament Exodus passage. Even “the finger of God” was powerful enough to do great things. (See Exodus 8:19 and Exodus 31:19 and Psalm 8:3-4 and Romans 1:20.) Jesus then said that He was casting out demons by “the finger of God” and that was a sure sign that “the kingdom of God had come,” in Him. Satan was a strong one who had brought great evil and chaos into the world, but Jesus was the stronger one, who would eventually attack and overcome him. It would look as if Jesus were defeated when He suffered and died. But He would win the victory over Satan through His mighty resurrection, and the forgiveness He earned for us and the world, in being sacrificed for us. We receive that victory in our own baptism and new life in Christ, as we are brought to faith in Him. (See that victory described in Colossians 2:9-15, and the realization that Jesus was really calling Himself equal with God, in passages like John 5:5-18.) In the Gospel lesson, then, in Luke 11:23, Jesus says that there is now no longer any neutral ground in the world. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” That’s why Jesus wants to bring everyone possible to faith in Him, in victory over Satan’s control of them. People can resist and reject Jesus, of course, and Jesus also warns that Satan would like to try to lure people back into his evil kingdom and take control of them again, as described in Luke 11:24-26 and in Matthew 12:43-45. (Remember also the parable of the sower and the seed that we heard in Luke 8:11-15. Some hear and begin to believe, but then fall away for various reasons.) Coming to faith in Jesus and continuing in that faith, by God’s grace and power, through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, is so important. That is indicated in the final verses of this Gospel, Luke 11:27-28. A woman cries out from the crowd about how blessed the mother of Jesus was. Mary was blessed to give birth to and help raise Jesus, by the miracle of God’s grace, but she cannot save or help us. Jesus said. “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it,” in faith in Jesus, by God’s grace, and stay in that faith. (See also Luke 8:19-21 and Mark 3:20-21 and 3:31-35 and James 1:17-18, 21-22, and 2:1.)

Finally, the Epistle lesson is Ephesians 5:1-9. Paul reminds us that we are now the beloved children of God, by faith in Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross for us, offered in payment for our sins. As little children like to imitate their parents, we are to seek to imitate our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus, in His true love. As we heard last week, Paul again warns about the serious danger of sexual immorality being practiced in much of the world around us. Even filthy and foolish talk and crude joking are dangerous, he says (along with pornography and immoral books and movies and what we can see and hear with our phones and on the internet these days). These can tempt us to desire and covet what is impure and unhelpful to us. Once we were all in the darkness of sin. Now, though, we are children of light, with light in the Lord, and “the fruit of Christ, our Light and the Light of the World (John 8:12) is found in all that is good and right and true, according to God’s standard in His Word and in Christ. As we close this study, do remember that we are not saved by finally getting all this straightened out in our lives in a perfect way. We try, but none of us come close to what God wishes for us. That is why Christ had to come to be our Savior and to show us “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us.” Paul says, as we hear so often, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." But then he adds that as believers we are now “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:7-10). What an exciting future we have ahead in Christ, with His guidance, and a perfect future in eternal life!

Preparing for Worship - March 1, 2026

This Second Sunday of Lent in the One Year Series is known as Reminiscere Sunday, Remembering Sunday. We have plenty of troubles and struggles in this life, even as Christians, but we are called to remember that our Lord will bless and keep us and carry us through these difficult times with His mercy and grace in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

The psalm is Psalm 121. The psalmist seems to be away from the land of Israel and the hills of Jerusalem. He remembers where his help comes from, though - from the Lord, who is the Creator of all things in the heavens and the earth and who can help us wherever we are and “not let our foot be moved.” That doesn’t mean that we won’t stumble and fall at times, but the Lord keeps us in His care and steadies us, as people He loves. (See other Scriptures that use this same picture image: Psalm 55:22, 66:8-9; Proverbs 3:23-26, 1 Peter 5:6-7, etc.) Six times in Psalm 121, the Lord is described as being our “keeper” and “keeping us” in all kinds of circumstances in this life and forevermore. The Lord does not slumber or sleep, but He helps give His beloved people sleep from “their anxious toil” (Psalm 127:1-2). The psalm reminds us that the Lord is our keeper, day and night. He provides shelter for us from the hot sun and sunstroke, in His wisdom. (See how He dealt with Jonah, bothered by the sun, in Jonah 4:6-11. Ancient people often believed, superstitiously, that the moon could harm them. The word “lunatic” literally means someone who is “moonstruck,” not able to think rationally. Today, we know that the moon does affect tides and that is an important issue for people near water. The Lord protects, as He knows best. Interestingly, the heavenly holy city is pictured in Revelation 21:22-23 as needing neither sun nor moon, because the Lord and His Son, the Lamb, will provide all the Light we need.) While still here on earth, Jesus teaches us to pray, “deliver us from evil,” and to ask the Lord to provide what He knows is best for our lives, now and in eternal life. We are called to live by faith in our Triune God, though there is much we do not understand, as we come and go in this life. (See other related Scriptures, like Deuteronomy 28:6 and Proverbs 3:3-5, ending with “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” Remember also the benediction the Lord taught us to hear: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).)

We seek to trust in our Lord, but we also know that there are times when we struggle and know that we need to be “kept” by God in faith and His gracious forgiveness. We see that in Jacob in our Old Testament lesson, Genesis 32:22-32. Jacob and his brother, Esau, were twins, and even in the womb, they struggled with each other. Esau was born first, but Jacob was grabbing his brother’s heel when he was born. The name Jacob means “a supplanter,” someone who takes the position and place of another, often by dishonesty and cheating. Esau lost his position as firstborn son by despising his birthright by selling it to Jacob for some food, when he was exhausted and hungry (Genesis 25:22-34). Over time, Esau also married wives displeasing to his parents and to God and went away from the land God had promised and away from the one true God, as well. Judgment finally came upon him and his people, the Edomites, for continued unbelief. (See Genesis 26:34-35 and 28:7-9 and eventually, Malachi 1:3-4.) Jacob was far from a perfect man, too. He helped cheat Esau out of his birthright and the blessing he should have received as the oldest son. Esau hated him, and Jacob had to flee from the land. He found a woman he wanted to marry, but was cheated himself by Laban and given another woman in marriage, before marrying the woman, Rachel, whom he wanted. He had other struggles with Laban, and finally returned home, but was fearful of his brother. In Genesis 32:24-32, he wrestles with a man, who turns out to be God in a human form. (Some think it might have been the pre-incarnate Son of God.) God had already appeared to and forgiven Jacob for his sins, and brought him renewed faith, and promised that the line of the promised Savior, who would bless all families on earth, would come through him and his descendants, the Jewish nation (Genesis 28:12-22). The Lord God could have easily defeated Jacob in the wrestling match and showed that by putting Jacob’s hip out of joint. He lets Jacob seem to win and renews His blessing to him. Jacob marvels when he realizes that he had seen God in this way, face to face, and yet lived. Much later, the Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote of Jacob in Hosea 12:3-6 and called his own people to return to the Lord by His help, as Jacob did, and hold fast to and wait continually for their God. Our Savior, Jesus, did finally come from the line of Jacob, and people did see Him face to face in human form and did receive grace upon grace from Him, above all. See John 1:14-18. That grace is ours, too, by the gift of faith in Christ.

The Gospel lesson is Matthew 15:21-28. Jesus Himself had many spiritual “wrestling matches” with the Jewish religious leaders. Just before our text, Jesus was teaching about the New Covenant, doing away with human traditions and the commandments of men, and calling people to trust in Him and His forgiveness of their sins. Jesus then withdrew to an area in far northeast Israel. A Canaanite woman must have heard about him and came to him, correctly calling Him the “Lord, Son of David,” and asking help for her daughter, severely oppressed by a demon. Jesus said nothing to her, and the disciples begged Him to send her away, for she was continually crying out to Him. Jesus finally says what was true. His primary mission was among the lost people of Israel, and His saving work, His later suffering and death, and resurrection would happen within Israel. (His work was for the benefit of the whole world, but only after He had completed His work would the sharing of Him and His salvation begin in earnest beyond Israel.) The Canaanite woman, though, did not give up. She knelt before Him and called Him Lord, which He was, and kept asking for His help. In a sense, she wrestled with Him in asking for help, even when He did not respond, at first. She did not give up, even when He said something that sounded very harsh, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The word Jesus used for dogs, though, meant “pet dogs” who would live in a home and were loved by a family. This gave the woman the chance not to give up, but to express her faith in Jesus and in His ability to help her and her daughter. She still called Jesus “Lord” and said that, as “pet dogs” ate scraps that fell from a table at a meal, even “crumbs” from Jesus would be enough to help her daughter. Jesus then spoke of her “great faith,” even what it was tested by Him, and He healed her daughter instantly. This would have been a great surprise for Jesus’ disciples, for in the Old Covenant, Jews were to avoid and remove Canaanites, because they could lead God’s people astray to false gods, as had happened to Esau and so many others. Even as His ministry began, Jesus protected His disciples and fulfilled His Father’s plan by His focus on fellow Jews. (See Matthew 10:5-6. Notice, though, that Jesus was preparing the disciples for the fact that they would eventually “bear witness before the Gentiles,” the non-Jews (Matthew 10:18).) Jesus had earlier helped a Roman Centurion who had come to great faith in Him, greater than what many Jews had, Jews who rejected Him and would lose out on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10:10-13). The most important thing is ultimately being brought to faith in Jesus, no matter who we are or have been or how great our faith is at any given moment. The greatness is in Christ and what he has done for us, and our hanging on to His mercy, by His grace.

It is a struggle, though, as believers, to stay in faith and grow in faith, because the world wants to pull us in very different directions, away from God’s will and what is best for us and others. Paul speaks about this in our Epistle lesson, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7. Paul encourages us to seek to walk and please God by following the instructions given to us through the Lord Jesus in the Holy Scriptures. Paul particularly focuses on abstaining from sexual immorality. The Greek and Roman world had very weak moral standards, and people could do whatever they wanted sexually. Paul reminds the believers then (and us today) of controlling our bodies in holiness and honor, according to God’s standards, and not “the passions of lust” of those who do not love God. Paul reminds us that we can truly hurt ourselves and wrong others with an impure life in this way. If we are unsure what those standards of our Lord are, we look at the Scriptures and/or talk with those who can help us. Right after this passage, in v. 8, Paul also speaks of the importance of the Holy Spirit, who has brought us to faith and can keep us in that faith through His Word and who lives in us, along with Christ. See, for example, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. The Lenten season is a good time to repent of these or any other sins and ask God’s strength to battle sin and follow His will more faithfully.

The alternative Epistle reading is Romans 5:1-5 and takes us right back to Christ our Savior and what He has done for us. We are not saved by overcoming all our struggles and doing everything right, though we try. We are saved by what Christ has perfectly done for us and His payment for all of our sins in His sacrifice on the cross and His victory for us in His resurrection. We have peace with God through Christ and the access to God’s grace He has provided for us, and the hope we have in Him. We are not perfect. We still have struggles and sufferings, but those challenges can teach us to endure in hope and grow in our Christian character, even through ups and downs, and to rely on God’s love shown us in Christ and poured into our hearts through the working of the Holy Spirit through His Word. In this  Lenten season, we pray with the psalmist in Psalm 25:6-7. “Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

Preparing for Worship - February 22, 2026

This First Sunday in Lent is sometimes called Invocavit Sunday, as we call upon (invoke) the Lord to have mercy upon us sinners, as we begin this Lenten season. There are alternative readings for the Old Testament, the Psalm, and the Epistle readings, along with the Gospel, so I cannot do proper justice to all these important Scriptures. I will try to make some comments on all of them, though, since I do not know which readings your congregations will choose.

The Old Testament lesson is Genesis 3:1-21. Here is the reason that we need the Lenten season - the temptation of Adam and Eve and their fall into sin, which brought sin and death to everyone in this world ever since. All that God had made in His creation was perfect, “very good,” until the rebellion of Satan and other angels against the Lord. This rebellion is briefly described in Revelation 12:7-9, and it is here that we know that the serpent was the devil in disguise, coming to be “the deceiver of the whole world.” He first tried to confuse the woman by questioning and distorting God’s Word to her and to Adam. She corrects the devil, but in the process, distorts the Word herself, saying that they were not even to touch the special tree in the garden. Some think there might have been more conversation, but the devil then clearly says that Eve would not die by eating from the tree and could actually become more godlike by eating from it and gaining more knowledge. Eve sees that the fruit of the tree looks very desirable and could make her wiser, and so she eats of it and gives some to her husband, Adam, whom this passage clearly says was with her. He does not try to stop her, but eats of the tree, too. The eyes of both were now open to the evil, the rebellion they had done against God. They were naked and ashamed and tried to cover over their sin and shame with fig leaves and tried to hide from God. God confronts them, and Adam tries to blame Eve and even God for giving Eve to him. Eve blames the serpent - “the devil made me do it.” God judges them all. Serpents would be lowly creatures that many would not like. Eve and other women would desire a husband and yet have great pain in childbirth, and the husband would rule over her. Men would have their own great problems, trying to provide food and support for their families and others in what was now a fallen world, full of thorns and thistles and much trouble. Finally, everyone would die because “the wages of sin is death” (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23). Yet God still loved these fallen people and their world. Fig leaves were lousy clothing, so God clothed Adam and Eve with garments of skins, a sign of forgiveness, covering over their sin. Above all, He promised that an Offspring of Eve would one day come who would defeat the power of death and the devil, though He (our Lord Jesus) would suffer in that process. (See Galatians 3:16, Romans 16:19-20, John 12:31-32, Hebrews 2:14-18, and Revelation 1:5-6, etc.) Everyone now needs Christ Jesus and His saving work.

The alternative Old Testament lesson is 1 Samuel 17:40-51, the story of young David defeating the mighty giant, Goliath. A descendant of David, our Lord Jesus, would defeat for us the greater spiritual enemy, Satan, the devil. Jesus would come, as David did, in the name of the Lord, to battle Satan, and “all the earth” would know the one true God, and that “the Lord saves not with sword and spear.” The Lord would save through the battles with Satan and suffering and death and yet victory over death of His own Son, Jesus.

We see a part of that battle of Jesus with Satan in the Gospel lesson, Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus had just been baptized, as part of His “fulfilling all righteousness” in our place. He was the “beloved Son of God, well pleasing to His heavenly Father” (Matthew 3:13-17). Immediately, Jesus was led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness. He fasted for 40 days and nights and was weak and hungry, as God’s Old Testament people often were when they were also in the wilderness, on the way to the Promised Land. Most of them sinned and rebelled and complained against God, though, and died apart from God. Satan came with similar temptations for Jesus. But Jesus fought off Satan by trusting His heavenly Father and using “the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), quoting Scriptures from those wilderness wandering times. Though very hungry, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, “A man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” (That’s what all Scripture is!) Satan himself then quotes Scripture, Psalm 91:11-12, but in a distorted, out-of-context way, trying to get Jesus to obey him and jump off the temple, just to see if God would care for him. Jesus simply replies with Scripture: “Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test'” (Deuteronomy 6:16). Satan then offers an empty promise: to give Jesus the whole world if He would worship him. Jesus tells him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve'” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Satan finally leaves Jesus for a while, and angels come to Jesus to help and strengthen Him. (Jesus was continually facing such Satanic attacks, but he knew and used His Father’s Word and will and power. The same Word is available to us all as we learn and use it. We too often fail to do so, though, and that is why Jesus had to go to the cross to earn forgiveness for us. See one of the two possible Epistle lessons for this Sunday, Hebrews 4:14-18. Jesus, the “Son of God,” is our “Great High Priest.” He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” because He has been here in this world and in “every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” We can therefore “with confidence draw near to our Lord and receive mercy and find His grace to help us in our times of need” - every day!

The psalms for this week also remind us of our continual need for God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Sometimes David ignored his sins until confronted with them, as with Bathsheba, but sometimes he spoke, as he does in Psalm 32, of how miserable he was trying to hide his sins. His bones hurt, and he groaned and had little strength, for he knew that the Lord was not pleased with him. David names different kinds of sins: transgressions (stepping beyond God’s boundaries for our lives), sins (missing the mark we should aim for in our lives), iniquity (unevenness in our life with our Lord - lots of ups and downs), and deceit (pretending to be what we aren’t and hurting others in the process and trying to fool God with our “goodness”). How good it was for David when he prayed and acknowledged his sins and confessed them to his Lord and received His forgiveness. The Lord delivered Him from His sin and guilt and became a “hiding place” for him, “preserving him” from trouble. The Lord speaks through David, then, and wants to instruct and counsel us all in the right ways we should go, with understanding, so that we are not like a wild horse that must be curbed with a bit and bridle to keep us near. The wicked may seem to prosper, but their sorrows are ultimately many. Many joys and steadfast love ultimately surround those who trust in the Lord, though. The alternate psalm, Psalm 118, reminds us four times in a row that “the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever,” for the Lord has eternal promises for us, in Christ our Savior. We can take refuge in Him, better than any human being or even “princes” that we hear about. If the Lord is with us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31-38)? Even if many nations and people seem to be against us, as Christian believers, the Lord will help and protect us, in Christ, as the rest of Psalm 118 predicts even more clearly, in prophecy, referring to Palm Sunday and the days following.

The other possible Epistle reading is 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. The Lenten season teaches us so clearly that the grace of God is available for us all in Christ and is not to be ignored or “received in vain.” Paul writes that “now is the favorable time; now is the day” to receive and/or renew our own confidence in Christ and His salvation for us. Paul lists suffering and hardships he has endured, but also the patience, kindness, and genuine love he has received through Christ and His Holy Spirit. We, too, have the “truthful speech” and “power of God” in His Word in our hands. We have sorrows, but can rejoice in Christ and His promises. We are not rich, but we can share the riches of Christ with many. We may seem to have nothing, but possess everything we really need for this life and for eternal life to come, in Christ. This Lenten season is a great time for us to be renewed in our lives in our Savior and His grace for each of us and to look for opportunities to share our Savior’s love with others who don’t yet realize that they really need the Savior, as we know we do need Christ always. May the Lord strengthen us all in that trust in Jesus, day by day.

Preparing for Worship - February 15, 2026

This Sunday is known as Quinquagesima Sunday in the One Year Series. (Quinqua is the Latin word for the number “five” and continues the countdown to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season on February 18. In the last few weeks, we have heard of God’s gifts to us: His “grace” and the “Word of God,” the Holy Scriptures, centered in Christ our Savior. This week’s readings focus on the gift of “love” - God’s great mercy and love shown to us in sending Jesus and His great sacrifice for us that we hear of especially in this Lenten season. (Those churches using the three-year series of readings this week will hear of the Transfiguration of Jesus, a great revelation of His being the “Beloved Son of God” that we heard about on January 25 in the One Year Series.)

The Old Testament lesson is 1 Samuel 16:1-13. We hear of God’s rejection of Saul as king because of his continual failure to follow God’s will. The prophet Samuel is reluctant to anoint a new king because King Saul will kill him for doing so. God sends Samuel to Bethlehem, though, to anoint the person He will choose. The Lord looks at the heart of people, not the height or outward appearance. All the sons of Jesse are passed over, until the youngest son, David, doing the work of a shepherd, is called. “This is he,” the Lord says. Samuel anointed him, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him from that day forward. David became king, and from his line would eventually come Jesus, the Son of David and our Savior, as we will hear.

An alternative Old Testament reading is Isaiah 35:4-7, in which God’s people, with anxious hearts, are encouraged to be “strong” in the Lord and “fear not,” for He will “come and save His people.” When He came, in the person of His own Son, Jesus, miracles would happen, like “the eyes of the blind being opened” (our Gospel lesson), and the Water of eternal life would be provided, through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (See John 7:37-39, for example.)

The psalm is Psalm 89:18-29. The Lord had predicted, through the prophet Nathan, that David would have an “Offspring” from whom the steadfast love of God would not depart, as it did from Saul. This King, from the line of David, would establish an everlasting kingdom. (See 2 Samual 7:14-17.) Now, in this psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite, the Lord adds to this prediction, mentioning the “vision” given by Nathan to David. and saying that another from the line of David would come, chosen and anointed by God. This was Jesus, and He would be strengthened, and the enemy (Satan) would not outwit or humble Him (Matthew 4:1-11). God’s faithfulness and steadfast love would be with Him, and He would be the “Horn of salvation” for His people (Luke 1:68-70). He would have power over the sea (Mark 4:35-40). He would call God His Father and the Rock of His salvation (John 8:20-30). While the people of Israel were called God’s “firstborn son” and rescued from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 4:21-23), Jesus would be the ultimate “Firstborn,” higher than any king on earth. (See Luke 2:7, Colossians 1:15, 18, Hebrews 1:6, and Revelation 1:5.) This One, Jesus, would be kept forever in God’s love (though He would suffer and die, carrying out His Father’s plan of salvation for the world) and then would be “Firstborn from the dead.” He would fulfill the “new covenant” of His Father (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and have many spiritual “offspring” who will live forever, even beyond death (Romans 8:29, Hebrews 12:22-24), rejoicing at His heavenly throne.

The alternative Psalm is Psalm 146, where the psalmist praises the Lord and calls us to trust in Him and His everlasting reign in Christ our Savior. We are not to trust in other earthly leaders, who cannot save us, who are only men, not like the true “Son of Man, who came to seek and to save the lost.” (See Matthew 20:28 and Luke 19:10.) This psalm also predicts that when Jesus, the true Savior, came, He, as Lord, would “open the eyes of the blind.”

The Gospel lesson, Luke 18:31-43, tells of the coming fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies we have just been reading about, as Jesus now approaches Jerusalem as our Savior. Jesus tells His disciples to “see” what is going on, for He says, “everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.” He then predicts being turned over to Gentile authorities, the Romans, and being shamefully treated and killed, yet would rise from the dead on the third day. Sadly, His own disciples could understand none of this, though. They were blinded and did not grasp what was being said. A crowd of people accompanied Jesus, and a blind beggar heard the commotion and then learned that Jesus of Nazareth was coming by. He must have heard of Jesus, and though blind, could hear and see and trust that Jesus could actually help him. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” People try to shut the blind man up, but he keeps crying out, and he has it right. Jesus was the promised Son of David, and He could have mercy and help this blind man. Jesus asks the blind man what he wants. The man was not just wanting a handout or some money from Jesus. He had faith that Jesus could help and heal him. Jesus then says to him, “Regain your sight,” and literally, Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you.” Immediately, the man was able to see, physically and spiritually, and followed Jesus (what Jesus ultimately wants all of us to do, by His grace and mercy and power), glorifying God. The crowd also praised God for this miracle, and whether they realized it or not, this was exactly what the promised Messiah, Jesus, could and would do. He was the promised Savior and full of mercy for all who would be brought to faith in Him, including the blind man and you and me.

The Epistle lesson is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, often called the “love chapter” of the Bible. It describes what Christian love should look like. The only one who has perfectly lived out this love, though, is our Lord Jesus. “We love,” the Scriptures say, “because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). John, inspired by God, adds, “Love is from God and whoever loves (in the truest Christian way) has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). We see the clearest example of this love in Jesus and His sacrificial love for us in this coming Lenten season. Again, John says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 Corinthians 13 gives that pattern for us and our lives with others. We don’t have time to go through this chapter as we should. The key is not, though, in our self-centered actions, in speaking and gaining great knowledge and doing amazing things that impress others and somehow earn God’s favor in the process. The key  is continually looking to Christ and His patient and kind way of serving others and seeking to do God’s will at the same time. We don’t do so well because we know God’s will only partially and can see it only dimly, as sinners in this very sin-filled world. We have plenty of spiritual blindness ourselves and continually need also to cry out with the blind man, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us, too.” We live by faith and hope in our perfect Lord, and trust in His saving, merciful, forgiving love for us. And we seek, by His grace, to love and forgive each other, as He has patiently and kindly loved us. Without that love of His, we gain nothing. With that love of Christ, we are more than conquerors, through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37-39). And we are saved, not by our perfect love, but by His love and grace.

Preparing for Worship - February 8, 2026

This Sunday is Sexagesima (“sex” is the Latin word for the number “six”) Sunday in the One Year Series of Scripture readings, and the countdown continues toward Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season. This week, the readings focus on the importance of hearing God’s Word and staying in that Word, as we have the opportunity for additional services and study during Lent.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 55:10-13. God promises that, as we have rain and snow to water the earth and cause seeds and crops to grow, so He sends out from His mouth the seed of His Word. The Word will accomplish His saving purposes and succeed in bringing faith and spiritual growth in people, who will find joy and peace in Him. The creation will sing and rejoice, and good growth, instead of thorns and thistles, will come forth. Above all, the Name of the LORD, the one and only true God, will be proclaimed, and the everlasting Sign of His promises will be seen and not cut off (in our Savior, Jesus). People can resist and reject God’s Word, as we will hear in later readings this week, but if you want other Scriptures that assure us that God’s Word will never return “empty” and devoid of any results, see Isaiah 45:22-23, 46:9-10, Psalm 33:8-11, Jeremiah 1:9-10, and Hebrews 4:12.

The psalm is Psalm 84. The psalmist, who helped provide music, rejoices in the courts of the Lord, the dwelling place of God with His people. His “heart and flesh,” his whole being, sings for joy to the Lord. (That suggests that we can all make “a joyful noise” to the Lord, even if we are not good singers, as Psalm 100:1-2 says!) If even birds can find a home and nest there, how much more blessed God’s people can be, finding strength in their God and King. The psalmist hopes that the hearts of people would lead them on the highways to Zion, the place of worship and prayer, and to appear before God. They can hear God’s Word, and He will “give ear” and listen to their prayers. He will especially point them to “the face of His anointed One,” our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Every day in the Lord’s house is a blessing, in contrast with the “tents of wickedness” that we find all around us, still today. The Lord provides favor (His grace and forgiveness in Christ) and good things for us, and sunny days for us, as our “Sun and Shield” in this dark world. Above all, He can bless us with greater trust and confidence in Him through His Word.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 8:4-15. Great crowds were gathering to hear Jesus, and He spoke a parable, calling them to keep hearing His Word and to ask the Lord to help them be open to that Word in faith, because there were many enemies of Him and His Word, and many distractions to hearing that Word. Jesus used the example of what people at that time were very familiar with: small plots of land where seed was sown by hand. The seed was scattered and landed in different places: some on hard paths between the plots, some on rocky ground, some among thorns and other weeds, and some on good soil. Only the seed in good soil grew bountifully. Jesus then said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus told parables like this primarily to keep people’s attention and make them think, using examples they could relate to, but even then, people, including His disciples, could not always understand or get the point. Jesus then explained that the seed was the Word of God. The devil snatched away the Word from people where he could, so that they would not believe and be saved. The Word on rocky soil represented people who began to believe but had no roots and fell away from faith in times of trial and testing. Thorns, the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, choked out others, and they did not mature in faith and continue in it. Other things seemed to become more important than faith in the Lord and His Word. There were those, though, who heard the Word and held it fast in an honest and trusting heart, by God’s grace, and bore fruit with patience, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, even in difficult times. That is what we ask the Lord to continue to help us believe and do, through His Word and Sacraments, and to keep us close to that Word in our daily lives. The Lenten season can help us with that, as we remember how much Christ has done for us in His saving work.

The Epistle lesson is one of the longest readings of the year, from 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:10, as Paul writes of God’s grace at work in him, through the Word. He could boast of His strong Jewish background, as he also does in Philippians 3:4-9. But he knows that it is only worthless rubbish compared with Christ, his Lord, and what Jesus has done for him. He could speak of the many troubles and sufferings he has gone through, as he does in this passage, from 2 Corinthians 11:23-27. But those sacrifices and struggles do not help or save him. Instead, he must speak of the things that show his weaknesses and his need simply to trust in the mercy and work of Christ His Savior, for him. He teaches, “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). Yet he has to admit to his own anxiety for all the churches” and his “daily pressures” (2 Cor. 11:28-29). He was still a poor miserable sinner and calls himself the “foremost,” the “chief“ of sinners (1 Timothy 1:14-15) and is saved only by God’s grace. Paul then speaks of visions and revelations of the Lord and even being caught up to see a glimpse of heaven, of “paradise” (12:1-4). Some think that he may have needed these special revelations and more teaching, as a fairly new convert to Christ after being a Pharisee. At the same time, God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble and not conceited (12:7). What it was, we do not know, but even when he prayed three times for it to be taken away, God did not do so. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul then says, “for the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” - strong not in himself, but in Christ as his Lord and Savior, and Christ’s Word, the Scriptures, and His guidance and forgiveness. That is how we, too, with all our weaknesses and struggles, at times are strong in Christ, confessing our own sins and weaknesses, and trusting His mercy, forgiveness, and strength for our future as we continue to listen to the Word. The coming Lenten season, then, gives us another good opportunity for that, as well as in our regular worship.

Preparing for Worship - February 1, 2026

The Scripture readings for this Sunday follow the One Year Series, which some of our local churches and others are now following. This differs from the Three Year Series, where the Epiphany season continues for three more weeks. The One Year Series has three weeks of Pre-Lenten services, leading up to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent on February 18th. The first of these, on Feb. 1st, is called Septuagesima Sunday, from the Latin word for “seven,” and marks the Third Sunday before Lent. One commentator, Fred Lindemann (CPH, 1958, p. 20), says that this week involves the “call” to get ready for the serious, penitential season of Lent.

The Old Testament lesson is Exodus 17:1-7. God’s Old Testament people were not ready for the challenges of traveling through the wilderness from Egypt to the promised land. God had just provided the gift of manna, daily bread from Him for them, but then they came to a place where there was no water. They quarreled with Moses and accused him and God of bringing them into the wilderness to die of thirst. Moses pleaded with God for help, and the Lord had Moses and some of the elders of Israel go to a rock. The Lord would be at the rock, and Moses was to strike the rock with the staff he had used to turn the water of the Nile River into blood (Exodus 7:14-25). From the rock flowed abundant water for all the people. This was a “call” from the Lord to trust Him, even in difficult circumstances in the wilderness wanderings. Moses called this place “Massah” (testing) and “Meribah” (quarreling), because the people were asking whether the Lord was among them. This is a call for us to trust the Lord, too, even in difficult times. He will be there and provide, as He knows best.

The Psalm is Psalm 95. It is a “call” to come and sing to the Lord and praise Him as the Rock of our salvation, with thanksgiving and joy. He is the one true God, the Creator, the Maker of all things, their Good Shepherd, in contrast with other “gods,” which are only “worthless idols” (Psalm 96:5). Parts of this psalm are used in the Matins and Morning Service in our current hymnal, in the song called the Venite (Oh Come). This psalm then ends with a warning not to harden hearts against the Lord and His voice and Words, as the people did in our Old Testament lesson (Exodus 17:1-7 and again in Numbers 20:1-3 and warned about in Deuteronomy 6:16): “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.” There was the danger of going astray from the Lord and losing out on the “rest” in the Promised Land and the eternal rest and peace in heaven. (See a longer discussion of this in Hebrews 3:7-4:10.

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:6. Paul uses the image of athletes in training for a race. Olympic athletes and others competing in sports know the importance of “disciplined” and not “aimless” training. As Christians, we need that “self-control” in our lives, too, for our goal is the “imperishable” crown of eternal life with our Lord in Heaven. Paul uses the story of God’s Old Testament people in the wilderness that we have been hearing about in these readings. They had so many blessings from the Lord. They went through the waters of the Red Sea (a pre-figuring of baptism), and they had spiritual food and drink from the Lord. The pre-incarnate Christ, God the Son, was with them, as their spiritual rock. Yet, as Paul says, many of them rebelled against God and desired evil and were “disqualified” and “overthrown in the wilderness.” They are examples for us, so that we stay with Christ as the Rock of our Salvation, by God’s power and grace. The Lenten season coming up is a great time for us to be strengthened and encouraged in our own faith through Christ and His gifts for us, in His Word and Sacraments. (This is not to say that we can save ourselves by our own efforts. See other Scriptures that describe our Lord as “the Rock of our salvation”: Psalm 18:1-2, Psalm 19:14, etc. Jesus is our Good Shepherd as we listen to His voice. He leads and guides us. See Jesus in John 10:1-11. See the promises of “the crown of eternal life” that the Lord promises to those who continue in Christ: 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4, Revelation 2:10, 3:11, 4:10-11, etc.)

Above all, listen to our Gospel lesson for today, Matthew 20:1-16. Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. People are called and hired by the master to go and work in his vineyard at various times of the day. Some work all day, and others only for a short time, at the end of the day. Yet all receive the same wage - the gift of eternal life. They are only in trouble if they think they have earned this gift by doing something more or better, or deserve something more than others, by their efforts, focusing on themselves and what they have done, in comparison with others. instead of simply trusting God’s grace, in calling them to faith and keeping them in that grace and faith. Just before this parable of Jesus, the disciples are surprised by what Jesus has been saying and teaching about rich people, who seem so blessed in this life but may not be in the Kingdom of God. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and then said, “With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”

By the grace of God, anyone could be brought to faith in Christ Jesus - but not by their own power and efforts and work. Paul writes about himself: “Of this Gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of His power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:7-8). Jesus said, on another occasion, “People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the Kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (Luke 13:28-30). Jesus used almost the same words before and after our Gospel lesson for today (Matthew 19:30 and 20:16). We trust not in ourselves or in what we have done and accomplished, but in Christ alone and His saving work for us: His life, death, and resurrection. And we should not “begrudge His generosity” for others or for us. Stay close to Christ in faith through His Word. As John wrote (2 John 9), “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teachings of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” The coming weeks and the Lenten season will help you with all of that and keep the faith.

Preparing for Worship - January 25, 2026

If you have switched from the three year series of readings for worship to the one year series, you will notice some changes. For example, in the one year series, this Sunday’s readings are about the Transfiguration of Jesus. In the three year series, the Transfiguration readings do not come until Feb.15, just before Ash Wednesday. These readings are all Scripture, though, and as God’s Word, it does not matter just when we hear them. Just keep listening and learning.

The psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 2, another of the psalms that prophesy the coming of “the Anointed One,” an Old Testament term translated in the New Testament as “the Messiah” or “the Christ,” titles for our Lord Jesus. See John 1:41, where Andrew told his brother, Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah,” (which means “Christ”). He brought him to Jesus.”  This psalm also says that this coming one would be the Lord’s “King” and would be the Son of God, “begotten of the Father.”  Unfortunately, many nations and peoples and earthly kings and leaders (including Satan and his forces) would oppose Him and plot against Him (and even put Him to death). The Lord would laugh at them in derision, though, and ultimately win the victory through His Son, who would bring forgiveness for our sins through His suffering and death. By their rejection of Christ Jesus, His enemies would lose the gifts and blessings of Christ, and would be defeated completely when He returns on the last day. The Lord then warns all leaders and others to be wise and “serve the Lord with gladness” and “kiss the Son,” as Samuel had kissed Saul when he was anointed him as the first “prince” of God’s people (1 Samuel 10:1). All are “to take refuge in Him” and “rejoice” in Him, in Jesus, as we do, too.

The Old Testament lesson is Exodus 34:29-35. Moses was a great leader of God’s Old Testament people, the Jews. He was allowed to be in the presence of God and see some of God’s glory when he received the Ten Commandments, and his face shone with a bit of God’s glory as he spoke to the people. Then Moses would put a veil on his face, until he spoke again with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:4-18 tells us that the glory on Moses was hidden because it would be a “fading glory” due to the sin and rebellion of the people, again and again, and even Moses’ own sin and weakness. Eventually, the Old Covenant with Israel was replaced by the New Covenant in Christ Jesus as Savior, when He came, available for all nations and peoples. Read this 2 Corinthians 3 passage carefully, as you have time.)

The Gospel lesson is Matthew 17:1-9. Jesus took three of His disciples to a mountain, and His glory as “the beloved Son of God” was seen by them as His face and clothing shone like the sun with great light. Elijah, the great Old Testament prophet, and even Moses, the prophet and Biblical writer, whose face also shone, reflecting a bit of God’s glory, were with Jesus and talking with Him. And then God the Father appeared, in a bright cloud, as he had often appeared to Moses and the people during the Exodus, and in the tabernacle and the temple. God the Father spoke from the cloud and clearly identified Jesus as His Son, who was perfectly well-pleasing to Him. The disciples were therefore to “listen to Him.” At first, though, Peter wanted to build tents for them all to keep this good thing going. But then the glory of the Father, and of Jesus, and all that was happening, terrified the disciples, and they fell on their faces. They could not look on even a glimpse of this glory. Jesus, though, touched them and told them to rise and not be afraid, and everything was back to normal. Only Jesus was with them, and He told them not to say anything about all that had happened until He, “the Son of Man” and Son of God, was raised from the dead.

Peter and the others did not understand a lot of this and failed Jesus miserably, running away when He was arrested and suffered and died on the cross. But after His resurrection, both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were mightily at work in these disciples, and they became stronger in faith in Jesus, and Peter then spoke and wrote about Jesus as Lord and Savior and the importance and truth of this Transfiguration event, in our Epistle lesson for today, 2 Peter 1:16-21. This was not “a cleverly devised myth,” as some people said back then and some still say today. Peter and the others were eyewitnesses to the majesty, honor, and glory of Jesus and the words His heavenly Father spoke about Him on the holy mountain. And they had something they called “even more sure, the prophetic Word of God.” They had heard that Word for three years, though they struggled to understand and believe it at times. They also had the teaching of Jesus after His resurrection, pulling everything together for them as their risen Lord. And they had the blessing and power of the Holy Spirit (the Third person of the One True Triune God) given to them by the Father and Jesus, and at Pentecost. This is what was true of all the Scriptures we now have, in the Old and New Testaments. Peter put it this way, about himself and all the other Biblical speakers and writers: “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The picture is of a sailboat that cannot move unless carried along by the wind and current, in this case, of the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired (literally, 'God-breathed) (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is the very Word of God Himself, coming through these human writers and speakers. Peter says the same thing about Paul's words and writing in 2 Peter 3:15-18. Jesus Himself had also promised, “If you abide in my Word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-36). Jesus also said, in John 16:12-13, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” And Jesus said, in John 17:14-17, “I have given them (the disciples) Your Word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world… Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is Truth.” May we stay in that Word of God, the Scriptures, always!

Preparing for Worship - January 18, 2026

The Epiphany season continues this week, with the light of Christ Jesus shining forth with His first great “sign,” or miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, in the Gospel lesson, John 2:1-11. There are two choices for the Old Testament lesson, for the psalm, and for the Epistle lesson that relate to the Gospel. I can’t go into all those readings in detail and don’t know which reading you will hear in your particular church, but I’ll try to focus mostly on one of them in each case. I encourage you to look at both readings, if you have the time.

The first choice for the Old Testament lesson is Exodus 33:12-23. The children of Israel had rebelled and built a golden calf to worship, instead of the One True God. Moses had pleaded for God’s mercy and forgiveness for them. There is some judgment, but God shows mercy, too. Moses prays that God would give him a glimpse of His glory to sustain him in dealing with the difficult people of Israel. God gives him a glimpse, but only a glimpse, for sinful man cannot see the face of God in all His glory, in this life.

The other Old Testament reading is Amos 9:11-15. The Lord had predicted through Amos the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel because of its great sinfulness. There is still hope, though, for a remnant of God’s people, from the line of King David. There will be abundant crops and grapes and sweet wine and vineyards and wine to drink. This is a picture of the New Israel, with people of “all the nations who are called by the Lord’s Name,” with God doing His rescuing work through our Lord Jesus. This will be a true everlasting kingdom.

The psalm could be Psalm 111, which we heard on December 20th, where the focus is on the great works of our faithful Lord, as He remembers His covenant promises and sends redemption to His people through the coming of our Lord Jesus. The psalm could also be Psalm 67, where the Lord promises to be gracious to us and bless and let His face shine upon us in the Person of His own Son, Jesus. There would be increased blessings on earth, through the saving power of Jesus, for all nations, as the Savior who died and rose again for all. People on all the ends of the earth could fear and trust in Him. For He is the way to eternal life for all who are brought to faith in Him. (John 3:16 and 14:6). (See also Acts 9:2, 18:25, 19:9,23, 24:22, and 28:26-28.)

The Gospel lesson is John 2:1-11, when Jesus goes to a wedding at Cana. When the wine runs out, sooner than expected, His mother is there, too, and tells Him about this problem. Jesus does not identify her by name and seems to speak strangely and says, "Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus knew that He had to speak and act according to His heavenly Father’s way and plan and will. His mother trusts him, at this point, and tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” When the time was right, Jesus had the servants fill to the brim six stone water jars with water. He tells them then to take some of the liquid, now turned into wine, and take it to the master of the wedding feast. The master is amazed and calls the bridegroom and says, “Everyone serves the good wine first… but you have kept the good wine until now.” Then we hear the closing statement, “This was the first of the signs, the miracles, of Jesus, and manifested His glory” as the promised Savior. And what a sign it was - as much as 180 gallons of water turned into wine! The goal of all that Jesus did was that his disciples would believe in Him and that as many others as possible would believe in Him, too.

People might say, though, “Why didn’t Jesus do something much more spectacular, as the first of His signs, His miracles?” This was exactly what was predicted in the Amos nine passage when the promised Savior would come. There would be good, sweet wine in abundance. This same picture of great abundance is used in other places in prophecy in the Old Testament, too. See Isaiah 25:6-9, where the Lord is promised to save His people and swallow up death forever, and provide well-aged wine and rich food in eternal life for His people. See the words of Joel 3:18-19, 24, 26, too. The Lord Jesus would do many more dramatic signs and miracles, through His ministry and sacrificial death and resurrection, to forgive our sins and count us acceptable to Him for salvation. But this miracle also affirmed our Lord’s care for us in our daily lives with marriage and family and joys together.

The Scriptures also affirm the importance of love and care in marriage and families, in one of the possible Epistle lessons for today, Ephesians 5:22-33. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us and His cleansing us through baptism, the washing of water with Word, and His counting us holy and without blemish through what He has done for us are all demonstrations of His amazing grace and love for us. In the same way, husbands and wives are to live in love and commitment to each other and be willing to live sacrificially for each other and their families.

This is true also for us as we seek to live together in the body of Christ, the church, as Paul describes in Romans 12:6-16, the other possible Epistle lesson. We have the same faith in Christ, but we have different gifts and abilities, as God has blessed us, and we are called to use what we have, not just for ourselves, but for each other and others around us. “Let love be genuine,” Paul says. “Abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good.” Paul then provides a long list of what qualities might be shown in that love. “Be fervent in Spirit, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer; show hospitality to strangers. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Don’t be haughty, but associate with the lowly” … and on and on. Of course, the church is not perfect, and neither are we. So we live by the grace and mercy of God and Christ’s perfect love and forgiveness for us, and seek to show that love with one another, too, as best we can.