Author: Bethlehem Lutheran
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Second Sunday of Advent
~ Populus Zion ~ Readings: Malachi 4:1-6 | Romans 15:4-13 | Luke 21:25-36 Text: Luke 21:25-36 The return of Christ is utterly inconvenient. It ruins our plans for the future. It ruins all of our imagining that life will just continue as is has been. Most of all, it completely obliterates our delusion that we…
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First Sunday in Advent
~ Ad Te Levavi ~ Readings: Jeremiah 23:5-8 | Romans 13:(8-10) 11-14 | Matthew 21:1-9 Text: Matthew 21:1-9 Christ, our Lord, is the promised King who reigns on the throne of David forever. So it is that, as He rode into the City of Peace to be executed as the King of the Jews,…
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Holy Cross Day
~ Observed ~ Readings: Numbers 21:4-9 | 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 | John 12:20-33 Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. Yeah…them unbelievers! Aren’t they terrible? Aren’t they foolish? But to us who are being saved, the cross is the power of God. Yes! Lift high the…
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Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: 1 Kings 17: 8-16 | Galatians 5:25-6:10 | Matthew 6:24-34 Text: Matthew 6:24-34 We’re so stressed today. There are so many things to be worried about, fueling anxiety, so that you don’t even want to get out of bed! Can you relate? What I wonder is, Is it that the world is more complex,…
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Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Proverbs 4:10-23 | Galatians 5:16-24 | Luke 17:11-19 Text: Proverbs 4:10-23 We’re starting to see a pattern: Jesus points out Samaritans. Is it that He’s showing favorites? Are they the Good Teacher’s pet? Not because of who they are, but because of what they demonstrate. A flesh-and-blood story teaches much more effectively than a…
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Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: 2 Chronicles 28:8-15 | Galatians 3:15-22 | Luke 10:23-37 Text: Luke 10:23-37 In the collect for today, we pray, “Almighty and everlasting God, give us an increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain what You have promised, make us love what You have commanded; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our…
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Second Sunday after Trinity
Holy Baptism of Seth & Wayne Burton and Jonathan Womack Readings: Proverbs 9:1-10 | 1 John 3:13-18 | Luke 14:15-24 Text: 1 John 3:13-18 The word “love” has taken on a life of its own. It’s as if everyone has their own private dictionary of what they want it to mean. So many interpret it…
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First Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 15:1-6 | 1 John 4:16-21 | Luke 16:19-31 Text: Genesis 15:1-6 “The Here and Now for the Now and Not Yet.” St. Paul comments on these verses in Genesis by saying, “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall…
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Feast of The Holy Trinity
Readings: Isaiah 6:1-7 | Romans 11:33-36 | John 3:1-17 Text: Isaiah 6:1-7; John 3:1-17 Who is God? That question is the foundation all religion, all spirituality, all philosophy, all science, and all human knowledge. The answer to that question affects how we understand everything. The atheist answers the question by saying no one is God.…
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Feast of Pentecost
Readings: Genesis 11:1-9 | Acts 2:1-21 | John 14:23-31 Text: John 14:23-31 How will you manifest yourself to your own but not the world? By the keeping of the Word of Christ. Many have asked in previous generations how you can tell the difference between Christians and unbelievers. Is it the number of good things…