Author: Bethlehem Lutheran
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Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 50:15-21 | Romans 8:18-23 | Luke 6:36-42 Text: Luke 6:36-42 We are living in what could possibly be the most judgmental period in human history. Despite the efforts of previous generations to teach us not to be judgmental, the pendulum has swung back sharply and made us and the society we live in…
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Third Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Micah 7:18–20 | 1 Peter 5:6–11 | Luke 15:1-10 Text: Luke 15:1-10 There are times in Scripture where we can see the truth of God’s work on the lips of His enemies. Consider how Caiaphas spoke of the Sanhedrin’s plot to kill Jesus in John 11: Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said…
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Second Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Proverbs 9:1-10 | Ephesians 2:13-22 | Luke 14:15-24 Text: Luke 14:15-24 If it wasn’t true before the pandemic, it is certainly true now: We are a people who are at odds with one another. Family members alienated from one another, friendships strained and breaking from sharp disagreements, and a media culture that would rather…
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The Feast of the Holy Trinity
Readings: Isaiah 6:1–7 | Romans 11:33–36 | John 3:1–17 Text: John 3:1-15 (Isaiah 6:1-7, Romans 11:33-36) Trinity Sunday is a feast day to remember that God is transcendent, and in many ways for us, unknowable. He’s greater than us, and not just in the way that a king is greater than his servant, because He…
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The Feast of Pentecost
Readings: Genesis 11:1–9 | Acts 2:1-21 | John 14:23-31 Text: John 14:23-31 We often think of the Day of Pentecost in the past tense. Around May 11 in the year 33 (or 29),[1] “they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it…
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Sunday after the Ascension
Exaudi – Answer Readings: Ezekiel 36:22–28 | 1 Peter 4:7–11 | John 15:26—16:4 Text: John 15:26—16:4 From ancient times, this Sunday has been known as “Waiting Sunday”—the time in between the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, where they were commanded to wait for the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49) But before His passion, the Lord…
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Sixth Sunday of Easter
Rogate ~ Ask Readings: Numbers 21:4–9 | James 1:22–27 | John 16:23–33 Text: John 16:23-33 This Sunday differs from the other ones in Easter, with the Latin names that we’ve been seeing, Quasimodo Geniti and Jubilate and things like that, because in this one it doesn’t come from the first verse of the Introit. It…
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
Cantate – Sing Readings: Isaiah 12:1–6 | James 1:16–21 | John 16:5–15 Text: James 1:16-21 The text is the epistle reading which we’ve heard where Saint James teaches the church, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with…
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Fourth Sunday of Easter (Jubilate)
Readings: Isaiah 40:25–31 | 1 Peter 2:11–20 | John 16:16-22 Text: John 16:16-22 Alleluia! Christ is risen! There is a caricature of Christianity that says because Christ is risen, we should always be happy, always be looking up, and seeing the bright side of everything. It’s backed up by dreadful platitudes like, “God has a…
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Third Sunday of Easter (Misericordias domini)
Readings: Ezekiel 34:11–16 | 1 Peter 2:21–25 | John 10:11-16 Text: John 10:11-16 The Lord Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” This Sunday in the Church year has come to be known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” So, let’s to dig deeper into what this statement of Jesus means. Let us not just pass over…