Calendar

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15–20\rPsalm: Psalm 1; antiphon: v. 6\rEpistle: Philemon 1–21\rGospel: Luke 14:25–35\rIntroit: Psalm 119:28–32; antiphon: v. 27\rGradual: Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.\rVerse: Galatians 6:14\r\rChrist Jesus Has Paid the Cost of Discipleship for You\r \rA disciple of Jesus Christ will “bear his own cross” (Luke 14:27) and follow the Lord through death into life. Discipleship is costly because it crucifies the old man with “all that he has” (Luke 14:33), in order to raise up the new man in Christ. The disciple disavows “his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life” (Luke 14:26), in deference to Christ. That way of the cross is impossible, except that Christ Jesus has already paid the cost. His cross is set before you as “life and good, death and evil” (Deut. 30:15). Taking up His cross is to “choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him” (Deut. 30:19–20). To live that life in Christ is also to bear His cross in love, “that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord” (Philemon 14).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Numbers 21:4–9\rPsalm: Psalm 40:1–11; antiphon: v. 13\rEpistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18–25\rGospel: John 12:20–33\rIntroit: Psalm 98:1, 4, 6; antiphon: v. 2\rGradual: Isaiah 49:22a; John 3:14b–15\rVerse: Galatians 6:14\r\rHoly Cross Day\r \r“Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Then look to His holy cross. For just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus, when He is “lifted up from the earth, will draw all people” to Himself (John 12:32). “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” to save us (Phil. 2:8). “Everyone who is bitten” by the ancient serpent’s venom of sin, “when he sees” Christ “shall live” (Num. 21:8). The true holy cross is lost to history, and we cannot return to Calvary to find our salvation. So, Christ brings the New Testament in His blood to us. “We preach Christ crucified …. the power of God and the wisdom of God,” though foolishness to the unbelieving world (1 Cor. 1:23–24). It pleases God, “through the folly” of the cross we preach, “to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). We find the fruit and benefit of this holy cross poured out in Holy Baptism, spoken in the preaching of Holy Absolution, and delivered in the body and blood given and shed there for us. Thus are we strengthened to take up our crosses, sanctified by His (John 12:25–26).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Ezekiel 34:11–24\rPsalm: Psalm 119:169–176; antiphon: v. 176\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 1:5–17\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 1:12–17\rGospel: Luke 15:1–10\rIntroit: Psalm 30:2–5; antiphon: vv. 11a, 12b\rGradual: Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.\rVerse: Luke 15:10\r\rJesus Christ Is the Great Shepherd of His Sheep\r \r“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). As He had mercy on Paul, in order to “display his perfect patience” (1 Tim. 1:16), so also does He seek out His sheep “from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Ezek. 34:12). To deliver His flock, He “will seek the lost, … bring back the strayed, … bind up the injured, and … strengthen the weak” (Ezek. 34:16), and “they shall no longer be a prey” (Ezek. 34:22). He sets over them one great Good Shepherd, the Son of David, who “shall feed them and be their shepherd” (Ezek. 34:23). For Christ Jesus is the one man who, “having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,” would “leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it” (Luke 15:4). When He finds the lost one and brings it home rejoicing, “the angels of God” and all the company of heaven rejoice with Him, with great joy (Luke 15:7, 10).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Amos 8:4–7\rPsalm: Psalm 113; antiphon: v. 3\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 2:1–15\rGospel: Luke 16:1–15\rIntroit: Psalm 119:137–140, 142; antiphon: v. 144\rGradual: Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.\rVerse: 1 Timothy 2:5–6a\r\rThe Lord Is Rich in His Grace and Mercy\r \rBecause God, our Savior, “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), He urges “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1). Christians should so pray “without anger or quarreling,” but “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (1 Tim. 2:8, 9). For the Lord does not forget “the poor of the land” (Amos 8:4). He remembers them according to the foolishness of the cross. “For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). Though we try to justify ourselves “before men,” God knows our sinful hearts and calls us to repentance (Luke 16:15). Though we are “not strong enough to dig,” and we are “ashamed to beg” (Luke 16:3), He justifies us by His grace and welcomes us into His “eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). More shrewd than even “the sons of this world” (Luke 16:8), He requires His stewards of the Gospel to bestow forgiveness freely.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Ezekiel 2:8—3:11\rPsalm: Psalm 119:33–40; antiphon: v. 35\rEpistle: Ephesians 4:7–16\rGospel: Matthew 9:9–13\rIntroit: Psalm 92:1–5; antiphon: Matthew 9:13b, c\rGradual: Psalm 119:105, 103; 45:1a, c\rVerse: Matthew 28:19a, 20b\r\rSt. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist\r \rOur ascended Lord gives “gifts” to His Church. In particular, He gave apostles and evangelists like St. Matthew, prophets like Ezekiel, and still gives pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:8, 11). All are “for the common good … empowered by one and the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7, 11). They speak Christ’s “truth in love” to wind- and wave-tossed children so that the saints may be equipped, served and built up as the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12–15). Christ is not only the head of this body, He is her Good Physician (Matt. 9:9–13). He has come not for the well but for the sick, not for “the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13) — even notorious tax collectors like Matthew. Christ’s team of spiritual physicians must serve faithfully. Their instrument is “thus says the Lord God,” to be spoken “whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezek. 3:11). To those stubborn, rebellious patients who believe they need no physician, the word “of lamentation and mourning and woe” must be fearlessly spoken: God’s Law calls to repentance (Ezek. 2:10). To those who recognize their trouble and sickness, the salve of the Gospel is to be applied. So Christ works to save us, as Matthew’s Gospel records.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Amos 6:1–7\rPsalm: Psalm 146; antiphon: v. 2\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 3:1–13\rEpistle: 1 Timothy 6:6–19\rGospel: Luke 16:19–31\rIntroit: Psalm 119:73–75, 77; antiphon: v. 76\rGradual: Psalm 91:11; 103:1\rVerse: Luke 16:31\r\rOur Help Is Not in Worldly Riches\r \r“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side,” and “the rich man also died and was buried” (Luke 16:22). The poor man Lazarus, who knew many bad things on earth, began to be comforted forever, whereas the rich man, after a lifetime of good things, began to be “in anguish” (Luke 16:25). Therefore, “woe to those who are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1), for “the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away” (Amos 6:7). The wealthy are urged “not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,” but “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Tim. 6:17–18). Covetous desire for what God has not given is idolatry and “a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim. 6:10). Contentment belongs to faith, by which the Christian has “great gain” in godliness (1 Tim. 6:6). \r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Daniel 10:10–14; 12:1–3\rPsalm: Psalm 91; antiphon: v. 11\rEpistle: Revelation 12:7–12\rGospel: Luke 10:17–20\rGospel: Matthew 18:1–11\rIntroit: Psalm 103:20–22; antiphon: v. 1\rGradual: Psalm 91:11; 103:1\rVerse: Revelation 12:11\r\rOur Father in Heaven Protects His Children by Giving His Holy Angels Charge Over Them\r \rWe live in “a time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1), in the midst of great tribulation. Satan and his wicked angels have been thrown out of heaven and have come down to earth “in great wrath,” with woeful “temptations to sin” and with constant accusations (Rev. 12:8–12; Matt. 18:7). Even so, we are encouraged by the presence and protection of St. Michael and the holy angels, whom God sends to help us in the strife (Dan. 10:11–13). By “the authority of his Christ,” His holy angels guard and keep us in body and soul. These heavenly servants of God preserve His human messengers on earth, the ministers of “the blood of the Lamb,” against all the power of the enemy, for by “the word of their testimony,” the Church is saved and the devil is defeated (Rev. 12:10–11; Luke 10:18–19). By their preaching and Baptism of repentance, the old Adam and the old evil foe are “drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6). As God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, so are His people delivered and raised from the dust of the earth through the forgiveness of their sins (Dan. 12:1–3).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship