Sunday, October 7, 2018: 20 th Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 2:18-24 Psalm 8 Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 A READING FROM GENESIS 18 The LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner. 19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken. 24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (If the Psalm is sung by the choir, you will not be required to lead the Psalm. Check the day s worship bulletin to confirm one way or the other) PLEASE JOIN ME IN READING THE 8 th PSALM IN UNISON 1 O LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 2 you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths of infants and children; you have set up a fortress against your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, 4 what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you have made them little less than divine; with glory and honor you crown them.
6 You have made them rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet: 7 all flocks and cattle, even the wild beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the sea. 9 O LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! A READING FROM HEBREWS 1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God s glory and the exact imprint of God s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 2:5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? 7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8 subjecting all things under their feet. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
Sunday, October 14, 2018: 21 st Sunday after Pentecost Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Psalm 90:12-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 A READING FROM AMOS 6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. 7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! 10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. 11 Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. 13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. 15 Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
(If the Psalm is sung by the choir, you will not be required to lead the Psalm. Check the day s worship bulletin to confirm one way or the other) PLEASE JOIN ME IN READING THE 90 th PSALM IN UNISON 12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD; how long will you tarry? Be gracious to your servants. 14 Satisfy us by your steadfast love in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad as many days as you afflicted us and as many years as we suffered adversity. 16 Show your servants your works, and your splendor to their children. 17 May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork. A READING FROM HEBREWS 12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. 14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Sunday, October 21, 2018: 22 nd Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 A READING FROM ISAIAH 4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. 9 They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper. 11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(If the Psalm is sung by the choir, you will not be required to lead the Psalm. Check the day s worship bulletin to confirm one way or the other) PLEASE JOIN ME IN READING THE 91 st PSALM IN UNISON 9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, and the Most High your habitation, 10 no evil will befall you, nor shall affliction come near your dwelling. 11 For God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. 12 Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion cub and viper; you will trample down the lion and the serpent. 14 I will deliver those who cling to me; I will uphold them, because they know my name. 15 They will call me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue and honor them. 16 With long life will I satisfy them, and show them my salvation. A READING FROM HEBREWS 1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, You are my Son, today I have begotten you ; 6 as he says also in another place, You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Sunday, October 28, 2018: Reformation Sunday Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 46 Romans 3:19-28 A READING FROM JEREMIAH 31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, Know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (If the Psalm is sung by the choir, you will not be required to lead the Psalm. Check the day s worship bulletin to confirm one way or the other) PLEASE JOIN ME IN READING THE 46 th PSALM RESPONSIVELY 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains shake in the depths of the sea; 3 though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble with its tumult. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be shaken; God shall help it at the break of day. 6 The nations rage, and the kingdoms shake; God speaks, and the earth melts away. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 8 Come now, regard the works of the LORD,
what desolations God has brought upon the earth; 9 behold the one who makes war to cease in all the world; who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire. 10 Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. A READING FROM ROMANS 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no human being will be justified in his sight by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.