The Trinity season extends from Pentecost to Advent. The color green is used to picture the Church as it matures and bears the fruits of the Spirit.
Service Folder Today is the Last Sunday in the Church Year. On this Sunday we look for Jesus to return and bring the Church, purchased with his blood and nurtured by Word and Sacrament, home. In the gospel for the day, Jesus is pictured as a Bridegroom and the Church as 10 Virgins waiting for him to bring us to the joyous…
Service Folder Today’s lessons turn us to the end times and Jesus’ return. The end times will be marked by tribulation and false prophets (Matthew 24:15-28). At the end, Jesus will return to raise the dead and “grant to all believers in him, eternal life. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) As we live in these last times, God gives us gospel promises to keep…
Service Folder Baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we belong to two kingdoms. One is called the Kingdom of the Left, where the state governs by laws. The other is called the Kingdom of the Right, where God governs by grace. The Kingdom of the Left is temporary; the Kingdom of the…
Service Folder The Whole Armor of God To the nobleman whose son was deathly ill, Jesus says, “Go; your son will live” (John 4:46–54). And in the very hour Jesus spoke, the nobleman’s son was made well. The Word of Christ still accomplishes what it says. In baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, He declares His life–giving forgiveness to you, and it…
Service Folder Jesus Invites Us to His Wedding Feast to Receive Abundant Righteousness. God sounds forth the Gospel call: “See, I have prepared my dinner … Come to the wedding feast” (Matt. 22:1–14). But many reject this invitation in favor of worldly pursuits. And so the call goes out to others, both the good and the bad. For the wedding invitation is…
Service Folder Theme: “The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:1–8) The Lord God was present in the flesh to absolve the paralytic. Jesus showed skeptics in the crowd that he had power to forgive sins. He did by healing the paralytic. The Lord still has power on earth to forgive sins. He does by giving authority…
Service Folder At the turning point in history, Michael, the protector of God’s people, appears. The angels’ battle against the powers of darkness is the other side of the coin from Christ’s victory over Satan. As an echo to this battle there sounds forth in the heavenly world the song of victory: “The enemy is defeated through the blood of the Lamb!”…