Preparing for Worship - April 28, 2024

The Psalm for this week is the last Psalm in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 150. It simply calls us to “praise the Lord,” to sing “Hallelujah” or “Alleluia” (the Hebrew form of this phrase). The Lord is to be praised in the heavens, as well as on earth, for His greatness and mighty deeds (and especially for His saving work in Jesus). He is to be praised with musical instruments and by everything that has breath, including all people. Praise the Lord!

In the Gospel lesson, John 15:1-8, Jesus uses another of His “I AM” statements: “I am the True Vine.” Believers are His branches, connected to Him by faith. He brings us to that faith. Now, we need to abide in Him, for apart from Him, we can do nothing. Through Him, we can bear much fruit. Apart from Him, we would wither and die and be burned in a fire. If we are His, He will “prune” our branch and cleanse us so that we can bear more fruit for our Lord. (See Acts 15:7-9 as another example of this terminology.)

The first lesson is from Acts 8:26-40 and gives an example of someone being connected to Christ, the True Vine, through the Word of God and the gift of Baptism. An Ethiopian man has heard of the true God of the Old Testament and comes to worship in Jerusalem but knows very little and does not understand Scripture or God’s saving plan. Philip is sent by an angel and by the Holy Spirit to meet the man as he returns home. The man is reading from Isaiah 53:7-8, and Philip begins with this Scripture and uses many others to tell the man “the good news about Jesus” as Savior. The man is brought to baptism and faith in Jesus and goes home “rejoicing” as a believer in Christ and His Word. Philip is taken away by the Holy Spirit and continues to preach the Gospel of Jesus in many more towns. (Note that this happens in the area of Gaza, about which we still read so much today. The Good News of Christ still needs to be preached there and in Israel and everywhere, to this very day.)

The Epistle lesson is from 1 John 4:1-11 (12-21). The Apostle John warns that there are many false prophets and false teachers who are serving “the spirit of the antichrist.” They speak from the viewpoint of a sinful world that is opposed to Christ Jesus alone as Lord and Savior and His Word alone, the Holy Scriptures. As John tells us, “God is love” and “sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 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 and forgiving sacrifice) for our sins.” “We love Him and others because He first loved us and made His Son our Savior and the Savior of the world.” This is Good News to be shared with all.