Pentecost Friday 5 June 2020
Reading: Acts 8:14-25
Hymn: Holy Spirit, Light Divine (LSB #496)
A Liturgy for the Home
The following service order is intended for use in the home at a time when our congregation cannot gather. It may be lead by a family member, or if you live alone, you may use it by yourself, in which case, simply say all parts. Of course this is not intended to be a substitute for the Divine Service of the gathered church, but as a provision for household devotion and prayer. You may also use the service orders of Matins, Morning Prayer, Vespers, Evening Prayer, or Compline depending on the time of day. For a simple service order, see Daily Prayer (LSB p. 294ff) .
Leader: O Lord, open my lips.
Response: And my mouth will declare your praise.
L: Make haste, O God, to deliver me.
R: Make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
A Liturgy for the Home
The following service order is intended for use in the home at a time when our congregation cannot gather. It may be lead by a family member, or if you live alone, you may use it by yourself, in which case, simply say all parts. Of course this is not intended to be a substitute for the Divine Service of the gathered church, but as a provision for household devotion and prayer. You may also use the service orders of Matins, Morning Prayer, Vespers, Evening Prayer, or Compline depending on the time of day. For a simple service order, see Daily Prayer (LSB p. 294ff) .
Leader: O Lord, open my lips.
Response: And my mouth will declare your praise.
L: Make haste, O God, to deliver me.
R: Make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
A Liturgy for the Home
The following service order is intended for use in the home at a time when our congregation cannot gather. It may be lead by a family member, or if you live alone, you may use it by yourself, in which case, simply say all parts. Of course this is not intended to be a substitute for the Divine Service of the gathered church, but as a provision for household devotion and prayer. You may also use the service orders of Matins, Morning Prayer, Vespers, Evening Prayer, or Compline depending on the time of day. For a simple service order, see Daily Prayer (LSB p. 294ff) .
Leader: O Lord, open my lips.
Response: And my mouth will declare your praise.
L: Make haste, O God, to deliver me.
R: Make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
“Lord, will those who are saved be few?” You wonder sometimes. I sure have. How many will be saved? When you look at the condition of the world around you, when you look at the state of the church today, when you consider the diminishing impact that Christianity seems to have in the world, you begin to wonder. Will only a few be saved in the end? How many are going to make it past those pearly gates? Will you?
Luke 24:36049 / Easter 3B / 22 April 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them: “Thus it is written: That the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins be preached in His name to all nations.” (Luke 24:47)
So here we are on the third Sunday of Easter and the news still seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? Christ is risen, we say, and yet somewhere in the more rational recesses of our minds there is this little flicker of doubt that goes, “really?” How can you know for sure? Beyond a reasonable doubt, at least, or to some reasonable certainty?
John 2:13:25 / Lent 3B / 11 March 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
In the Gospel of John, everything tends to mean at least two things. John is chock full of double entendres, double meanings all over the place. Today’s Gospel is a prime example: the temple and Jesus’ body.
John pushes this episode from Holy Week right up to the front. That’s how important it is for John. This episode of Jesus’ clearing the temple of the money changers and sacrifice sellers sets the tone for the entire Gospel. It comes immediately after the inaugural sign of Jesus’ changing washing water into wedding wine at a feast at Cana.
Mark 8:27-38 / Lent 2B / 4 March 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Jesus and His band of disciples enter the region of Caesaria Philippi, a Roman city sitting on the southwestern base if Mt. Hermon on what today is known as the Golan Heights. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. The region was known to the Greeks as “Panion,” named after the Greek god Pan. The city was dedicated to Caesar Augustus and had a large temple dedicated to him where Caesar was acclaimed “Kaiser Kyrios” - Lord Caesar.
And so it’s fitting that Jesus should spring two big questions on His disciples. The first question is the question of popular opinion - Who do men say that I am? What’s the buzz on the street? What are people saying about me? Jesus asks them this not because He wants to know, but because He wants them to see and say the difference between the world’s perspective on Jesus and the disciples’ perspective. It’s the difference between faith and unbelief, between confessing Jesus and denying Him. It is ultimately the difference between life and death.
God forgives and forgets. He forgives our wickedness, and He remembers our sins no more. That's that marvel and the mystery. The Judge of all, the One who could condemn us, and who could destroy body and soul in hell, forgives. And the omniscient One who knows all things, chooses in…
Salt is irritating and a good thing. Saltwater in the eyes stings. Salt in a wound irritates. Salt on meat preserves, and it tingles the taste buds. A dish without salt lacks flavor, zest. Jesus speaks of our being salted with fire and having salt in ourselves. James has…