Preparing for Worship - May 8, 2022

This Sunday in Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, as you can probably tell as you read the assigned Scriptures. The Psalm is Psalm 23. Jesus our Good Shepherd provides all that we need and so much more through what He has done for us. We don’t have to be controlled by our wants and desires. He is with us in green pastures and dark valleys and gives us strength at His table even when enemies threaten and He will one day take us to the house of the Lord forever.

John gives us a glimpse of that eternal house of the Lord in the Epistle, Revelation 7:9-17. Jesus, the victorious Lamb of God, who shed His blood for us to cleanse us from all sin, will be our Shepherd, wiping away all our tears and giving us and innumerable believers eternal joy and peace. “Salvation belongs to the Lamb.”

In the Gospel lesson, John 10:22-30, Jesus says that He knows all His sheep and will give them and all of us believers eternal life. He can do this because He and the Father are One, the One True Triune God, along with the Promised Holy Spirit. (See John 14:16-17.)
     A reading from Early Christian Church history is also included, from Acts 20:17-35. Paul gives encouragement to elders, earthly shepherds of the church, in caring for the flock, the people for whom Jesus shed His blood. He warns of wolves, teachers coming with false teachings, and entrusts all believers and leaders into the hands of God and the Word of His grace. He prays that they follow the Word and will help the weak and know that “It is more blessed to give" (in service to others) "than to receive.”