Category: Sunday
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Sixth Sunday after Easter
Readings: Acts 10:34–48 | 1 John 5:1–8 | John 15:9–17 Text: John 15:9-17 Today’s Gospel lesson is a challenge for Lutherans, who so heavily stress that we are saved by grace through faith, not a result of works [Eph. 2:8-9]. But it’s challenging not only Lutherans, but anyone who confesses that the Lord loves us…
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 8:26–40 | 1 John 4:1–21 | John 15:1-8 Hymn of the Day: LSB 540 Christ, the Word Incarnate Text: John 15:1-8 If last Sunday has the popular name, Good Shepherd Sunday, then perhaps a good name for this would be “Christ the Vine Sunday.” Today, the picture of a vine growing and branching…
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Fourth Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 4:1-12 | 1 John 3:16-24 | John 10:11-18 Text: John 10:11-18 There are many shepherds in the Bible. It’s a recurring theme, almost like God’s trying to teach us something. We come across the first one very early with Abel “who was a keeper of sheep,” who was also killed by Cain. The…
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Third Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 3:11–21 | 1 John 3:1–7 | Luke 24:36–49 Text: Luke 24:36-49 How can we know if what we hear is true? In an age of fake news, deep fakes, and just plain bald-faced lies, it’s really a problem. Because of these things, people’s trust of institutions and media agencies has plummeted. A Pew…
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Second Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 4:32-35 | 1 John 1:1-2:2 | John 20:19-31 Text: 1 John 1:1—2:2 In the Introit at the beginning of service this morning, we heard: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter…
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The Resurrection of Our Lord
Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9 | 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 | Mark 16:1-8 Text: Mark 16:1-9 In our day, despite ignorance of the Bible and a general apathy toward religion, Christianity is so ingrained into the society, that hardly anyone objects to the celebration of Easter. So long as by Easter you mean spring, sprinkled with subtle hints…
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Sunrise of the Resurrection of Our Lord
Readings: Exodus 15:1-11 | 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 | John 20:1-18 Text: John 20:1-18 Mary came early to the tomb of Jesus, similar to how we have gathered much earlier than normal for worship this morning. She was intent to do for her Lord what they had not time for when He died. She was prepared…
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Palm Sunday
Readings: Zechariah 9:9–12 | Philippians 2:5–11 | Mark 14-15 Text: Mark 14-15 The Passion of our Lord is stark and cruel. There’s no painting it with a nice gloss to make it more attractive. It forces us to gaze deeply and uncomfortably at something grotesque: an innocent Man arrested and falsely accused, with no one…
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Hebrews 5:1–10 | Mark 10:35-45 Text: Mark 10:35-45 In Jeremiah 31, the Lord says in coming days that He will make a new covenant with His people. He says that in this new covenant, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I…
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
Readings: Numbers 21:4–9 | Ephesians 2:1–10 | John 3:14–21 Text: John 3:14-21 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16—it’s one of the best loved passages in all of Scripture. It appears everywhere from signs in the…