Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

SERMON TEXT:  Galatians 3:23-29

But before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. So the law was our chaperone until Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a chaperone. In fact, you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise.

Bible Readings

FIRST LESSON:  Zechariah 13:7-9

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man who is my associate, declares the LORD of Armies.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
This will take place in the whole land, declares the LORD:
Two thirds of those who remain in it will be cut off and perish,
but one third will be left in it.
I will put that third into the fire,
and I will refine them as silver is refined,
and I will test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, “This is my people.”
And they will say, “The LORD is my God.”

SECOND LESSON:  Galatians 3:23-29

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VERSE OF THE DAY:  Galatians 4:6

Because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of his Son into hearts, crying “Abba! Father!

GOSPEL: Luke 9:18-24

One time when Jesus was praying alone and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “‘John the Baptist,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others say ‘one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” He gave them a strict command not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law. He must be killed and be raised on the third day.” Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

SERMON TEXT:  Galatians 2:11-21

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group. And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, “If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?” “We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not! “In fact, if I build up again those things that I destroyed, I bring on myself the judgment of being a lawbreaker. Indeed, through the law I died to the law that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not regard the grace of God as nothing. As a matter of fact, if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

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Bible Readings

FIRST LESSON:  2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

The wife of Uriah the Hittite heard that her husband was dead, so she mourned for her husband. When her mourning was completed, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife. She gave birth to a son for him. But what David had done was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
:So the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came and told him this:
There were two men in a city. One was rich and one poor. The rich man had a large number of flocks and herds. The poor man did not own anything except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He raised it so that it grew up together with him and his children. It ate from his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. When a traveler came to the rich man, the rich man was unwilling to take an animal from his flock or from his herd to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. So he took the lamb from the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him.
David’s anger flared up against that man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this is as good as dead. In place of that lamb, he will restore four lambs, because he did this and had no pity.”
Nathan told David, “You are the man. This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says.”
I anointed you king over Israel. I rescued you from the hand of Saul. I gave the house of your master to you, and I gave the wives of your master into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and the house of Judah. If this was too little, I would have added even more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife as your own wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. So now the sword will not depart from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.”
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan said to David, “The LORD himself has put away your sin. You will not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have treated the LORD with utter contempt, the child that is born to you shall surely die.” Then Nathan went to his house.

SECOND LESSON:  Galatians 2:11-21

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VERSE OF THE DAY:  John 20:31

These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

GOSPEL: Luke 7:36-50

A certain one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. Just then a sinful woman from that town learned that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, stood behind him near his feet weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she began to wipe them with her hair while also kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would realize who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, because she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He said, “Teacher, say it.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the larger debt forgiven.” Then he told him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, but you did not give me water for my feet. Yet she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that is why she loved so much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Those reclining at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Third Sunday after Pentecost

SERMON TEXT:  Galatians 1:11-24

But I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ. Certainly you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God to an extraordinary degree and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my own people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. However, God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I would preach him among the Gentiles. At that time, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, and I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead I went away into Arabia, and then I returned again to Damascus. Next, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now about the things I am writing to you—look, I assure you in the presence of God that I am not lying.) Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They heard only: “The one who was once persecuting us is now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy.” And they were praising God for what happened to me.

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Bible Readings

FIRST LESSON:  1 Kings 17:17-24

After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. The illness became worse until he stopped breathing.
Then she said to Elijah, “What is the issue between us, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?”
He said to her, “Bring your son to me.” Then he took him and carried him to the upstairs room where he was living, and he laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, have you sent tragedy on this woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?”
Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times, and he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, let this boy’s soul return to his body!” The LORD listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s soul returned to his body, and he came to life. Then Elijah took the boy and brought him down to the house from his upstairs room, and he gave him to his mother.
Elijah said, “See, your son is alive!”
The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is true.”

SECOND LESSON:  Galatians 1:11-24

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VERSE OF THE DAY:  2 Corinthians 5:19

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

GOSPEL: Luke 7:11-17

Soon afterward Jesus went on his way to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him. As he was approaching the town gate, there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. She was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not cry.” He went up to the open coffin, touched it, and the pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear gripped all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us” and “God has visited his people!” This was reported about him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.