Sunday Worship Podcast

Proper 24

(18 October 2026)

 

Isaiah 45:1–7

1 Thessalonians 1:1–10

Matthew 22:15–22

 

We Are Recreated in the Image of God by the Cross of Christ

 

Plotting against Jesus, the Pharisees attempted “to entangle him in his words” by asking about the payment of taxes to Caesar (Matt. 22:15). The Lord pointed to coins required for the tax, and He answered that we should “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). But if coins bearing the image of Caesar should be rendered to him, then man — who is made in the image of God — must be rendered to the Lord. That tax is paid for us by the Lord Jesus, the image of God in the flesh, by His self-offering on the cross. And from His cross, as the Lord’s anointed, He reigns as the true Caesar over all nations “from the rising of the sun and from the west” (Is. 45:6). The Lord once called and anointed Cyrus “to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings” (Is. 45:1). Now by the preaching of the Gospel, “in power and in the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:5), foreigners from all over the world are “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9–10)

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Proper 23

(11 October 2026)

 

Isaiah 25:6–9

Philippians 4:4–13

Matthew 22:1–14

 

Clothed in the Righteousness of Christ, We Partake of His Wedding Feast

 

By His cross and resurrection, the Lord has swallowed up death forever, and by His Gospel He “will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth” (Is. 25:8). Therefore, “let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Is. 25:9). On the mountain of the Lord of hosts — in His Church on earth, as in the kingdom of heaven — He has made “for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine” (Is. 25:6). It is the royal “wedding feast” of the Son of God, “and everything is ready” (Matt. 22:1, 4). Thus, His servants are sent into the highways and byways to invite and gather as many as they find, “both good and bad,” to fill the wedding hall with guests (Matt. 22:8–10). In Holy Baptism, He clothes them all in the “wedding garment” of His own perfect righteousness (Matt. 22:11). Therefore, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,” and “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4–6)

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

 

Proper 22

(4 October 2026)

 

Isaiah 5:1–7

Philippians 3:4b–14

Matthew 21:33–46

 

The True Vine Redeems the Vineyard of the LORD of Hosts

 

“The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel” (Is. 5:7), which He planted “on a very fertile hill” (Is. 5:1). He did everything for His vineyard, not only clearing it of stones and planting it with “choice vines,” but also building the “watchtower” of His prophets and hewing out the “wine vat” of His priesthood in its midst (Is. 5:2). But when “he looked for it to yield grapes,” there were only “wild grapes” of bloodshed and unrighteousness (Is. 5:2, 7). The Lord Jesus likewise described the unfaithfulness of those who were called to care for His vineyard (Matt. 21:33–35). But in this He also describes His cross and Passion (Matt. 21:38–39), by which He has redeemed the vineyard for Himself. He is the true Vine, planted by death into the ground, and in His resurrection He brings forth “the fruits in their seasons” (Matt. 21:41). Among those good grapes of the true Vine is the apostle Paul. Once a zealous persecutor of the Church, he “suffered the loss of all things” in order to “gain Christ and be found in him,” to “know him and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:8–10).

 

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Proper 21

(27 September 2026)

 

Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32

Philippians 2:1–4 (5–13) 14–18

Matthew 21:23–27 (28–32)

 

The Cross of Christ Opens to Us the Way of Repentance to Life with God

 

The way of the Lord is righteous and just: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). However, because the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of anyone” (Ezek. 18:32), He calls sinners to repentance and faith in His gracious forgiveness of sins. The man who is thus turned away from his wickedness, who henceforth lives by the grace of God, “shall surely live; he shall not die” (Ezek. 18:28). This way of repentance has been opened for us by the cross of Christ. In the righteousness of faith and love, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Phil. 2:8), and He was vindicated in His resurrection from the dead. Indeed, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). He has given us this name in our Baptism into Christ, in whom we now “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). He uses the authority that He has received from His Father (Matt. 21:23–27) to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, by which even “the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God” (Matt. 21:31–32).

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Proper 20

(20 September 2026)

Isaiah 55:6–9

Philippians 1:12–14, 19–30

Matthew 20:1–16

 

Disciples Live in Their Vocations by Grace through Faith in Christ

 

Those who are sent as “laborers for his vineyard” (Matt. 20:1) depict the wide diversity of vocations to which the disciples of Christ Jesus are called. Whatever our particular stations in life may be, we are called to live and serve by faith in His promises. Our labors do not merit anything before Him, for He is already generous to one and all without partiality. In mercy, He has chosen to bear “the burden of the day and the scorching heat” on our behalf, to make us equal to Himself and to give us what belongs to Him, that is, the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 20:12–15). This way of the Lord is foolishness to the world and foreign to our thoughts, but He draws near, so that “he may be found” (Is. 55:6), “have compassion” and “abundantly pardon” (Is. 55:7). So it is that we are found in Christ Jesus, and He is honored in our bodies, “whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20), by “fruitful labor” (Phil. 1:22) or by suffering. It is by faith in His forgiveness that our works are “worthy of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).

 

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Jeremiah 20:7–13

Romans 6:12–23

Matthew 10:5a, 21–33

Delivered from Sin and Death, You Now Live before God in the Righteousness of Christ

The outcome of sin is death, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). He has set you free from the slavery of sin and has brought you “from death to life” (Rom. 6:13). No longer are you under the condemnation of the Law, but you live “under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Such is your courage in the face of “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). For though “you will be hated by all” and maligned by the world for the name of Christ (Matt. 10:22, 25), you abide in the care of your Father in heaven, who numbers “even the hairs of your head” and values you more “than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:30–31). By the Word of Christ, you have become like Him, your Teacher and Master in whom you endure to the end, and “will be saved” (Matt. 10:22, 25). For He is with you “as a dread warrior,” who has overcome your enemies (Jer. 20:11). By the righteousness of faith, He delivers your heart, mind, body and life “from the hand of evildoers,” and He brings you into the land of the living (Jer. 20:12–13).

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Exodus 19:2–8

Romans 5:6–15

Matthew 9:35—10:8 (9–20)

The Lord Our God Saves Us in Love and Cares for Us by the Ministry of His Gospel

The holy Triune God “shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,” ungodly and at enmity with Him, “Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). The incarnate Son has justified us by His blood and reconciled us to His God and Father (Rom. 5:9–10). Whereas sin and death originated with Adam, forgiveness and life abound for all his children through “that one man Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:12–17). As the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, so does He bring us to Himself by the Gospel and make of us “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6) by our Baptism into Christ. For “all that the LORD has spoken” (Ex. 19:8), Christ has done for us. As He has gone up to God by His cross and resurrection, so does He bring us to the Father in Himself (Ex. 19:3–4). Nor does He leave us “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36), but He sends men with authority “to heal every disease and every affliction” by His forgiveness of sins (Matt. 10:1). In their proclamation, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 10:7).

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Hosea 5:15–6:6

Romans 4:13–25

Matthew 9:9–13

Jesus Calls Sinners to Repentance and Newness of Life in Accordance with His Mercy

In calling Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, Jesus demonstrates that He has come “not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:9, 13). As a good physician, He comes not to confirm them in their sins, but to heal them with His grace, calling them to repentance, faith and newness of life (Matt. 9:12). He puts them to death by the preaching of His Law, in order to raise them with His Gospel, to live before Him in the righteousness of His resurrection (Hos. 6:1–2, 5). It is in this way that God “gives life to the dead,” that is, through faith in Jesus, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:17, 24–25). Thus, sinners from all nations are called to share the same faith as Abraham, the father of all who trust in Jesus (Rom. 4:16–18). And as our Lord in mercy thus welcomes us poor sinners to recline at the table in His house, so does He “desire steadfast love and not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:10, 13; Hos. 6:6), that we should have mercy on our neighbors and forgive their sins against us for Jesus’ sake.

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Numbers 11:24–30

Acts 2:1–21

John 7:37–39

The Risen Lord Jesus Pours Out the Holy Spirit

The Lord took “some of the Spirit” that was on Moses “and put it on the seventy elders” of Israel (Num. 11:25), and they “prophesied in the camp” (Num. 11:26). In the same way, our risen Lord Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost — the 50th day and the “Eighth Sunday” of Easter. When “a sound like a mighty rushing wind” and “tongues as of fire appeared” and rested on each of the 12 apostles, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” and proclaimed “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:2–4, 11). The Lord Jesus grants this same Spirit to His Church on earth to proclaim Him glorified on the cross and risen victorious from the grave for us sinners. From His open heart, our crucified and risen Lord pours out His Holy Spirit in “rivers of living water” (John 7:38) and invites everyone who thirsts to come to Him and drink freely (John 7:37). Through this life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, we hear our pastors “telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11), and “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Acts 1:1–11

Ephesians 1:15–23

Luke 24:44–53

 

The Ascended Lord Jesus Is with Us Always in His Church on Earth

 

After He rose from the dead, the Lord Jesus presented Himself alive to the apostles, “appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). When He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He did not orphan His Church, but He fills all things in heaven and on earth and gives gifts to His disciples. Even now, through His Church, He continues “to do and teach” (Acts 1:1), preaching “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47) even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Though the cloud hid Jesus from the sight of His disciples then, and He remains hidden from sight even now, He remains with His people through His Gospel and Sacraments. He comes to us by the Word of His apostles, by the promise of His Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom He pours out upon “the church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22–23). In this holy Christian Church, we bless God and worship Christ with joy, for in His Church He blesses us with forgiveness, lifts us up in His hands and seats us with Himself “in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20).

Acknowledgments:

The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship

Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries