Sunday Worship Podcast

TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

(17 August 2025)

 

Jeremiah 23:16–29

Hebrews 11:17–31 (32–40); 12:1–3

Luke 12:49–53 (54–56)

 

Christ’s Suffering and Death Bring Division

 

The Lord Jesus causes fear and trembling and division because His Word is “like fire … and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” (Jer. 23:29). His Law puts us all to death, whereas only His Gospel can bring us to life. He has fulfilled that Word for us by His cross and in His resurrection from the dead. He undergoes such a distressing baptism, accomplished by His death, in order to open the way for us through our Holy Baptism into His cross and resurrection. So, then, if we are able “to interpret the appearance of earth and sky” (Luke 12:56), let us mark this sign of His cross — recognizing that this world is subject to death, but knowing that Christ Jesus also has conquered death and obtained life everlasting for us. Let us fix our eyes on “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” and “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1–2).

 

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

 

NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

NinTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 14C)

(10 August 2025)

 

Genesis 15:1–6

Hebrews 11:1–16

Luke 12:22–34 (35–40)

 

The Lord Is Surely Coming to Give You His Kingdom

 

The Lord Himself was Abraham’s shield and great reward. For “the word of the Lord came to him” and sustained the patriarch’s faith in the face of death (Gen. 15:4). By divine grace, Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6), on account of the holy Seed, Christ Jesus. To that one old man, the Lord granted “descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore” (Heb. 11:12). The Lord is likewise faithful to you. It is His glad desire “to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Therefore, “do not be anxious about your life,” but instead “seek his kingdom” (Luke 12:22, 31). Set your heart on that treasure. “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning … for the Son of Man is coming” (Luke 12:35, 40).

 

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

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

(3 August 2025)

 

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12–14; 2:18–26

Colossians 3:1–11

Luke 12:13–21

 

Faith in Christ Is Rich Toward God

 

To live for earthly things “is vanity and a striving after wind,” and work that is driven by such vanity “is an unhappy business” (Eccl. 1:13–14). The man who lives like that has nothing to show for “all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun … all his days are full of sorrow” (Eccl. 2:22–23). So, too, your “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5), makes a god out of that which cannot give you life or happiness. For “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). But “Christ who is your life” (Col. 3:4), in giving you Himself, gives you all the wealth of heaven. Instead of striving to lay up treasures for yourself, be “rich toward God” in Him (Luke 12:21).

 

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

 

 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 

(22 June 2025)

 

Isaiah 65:1–9

Galatians 3:23–4:7

Luke 8:26–39

 

Jesus Brings Release from the Bonds of Sin, Death and the Devil

 

The Lord finds those who did not seek Him or ask for Him. He spreads out His hands “to a rebellious people” (Is. 65:2) and calls them to be His people and to dwell in peace upon His holy mountain (Is. 65:9). For wherever Jesus Christ enters in, Satan is cast out. Those who were enslaved and driven mad by the assaults and accusations of the devil are set free by the Word of Christ. He drowns and destroys the old Adam in us with the waters of Holy Baptism and thereby brings us out of death into life. No longer naked in our shame, living “among the tombs” (Luke 8:27), we are brought into the Lord’s house, fully clothed by Christ; He has come in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4) to fulfill the Law on our behalf and to redeem us from its every accusation. Therefore, having been justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel, “you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:7).

 

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

THE HOLY TRINITY

THE HOLY TRINITY

(15 June 2025)

 

Proverbs 8:1–4, 22–31

Acts 2:14a, 22–36

John 8:48–59

 

The Triune God Reveals Himself in Christ Jesus

 

The divine Word of the Father also is the holy wisdom who “was beside him, like a master workman,” who “was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always” (Prov. 8:30). This Word became flesh and suffered death in order to bestow life by the preaching of His Gospel “to the children of man” (Prov. 8:4). He honors the Father, and the Father glorifies Him by raising Him from the dead, so that all who keep His Word “will never see death” (John 8:51). Long ago, “father Abraham rejoiced” in the day of Christ, for “he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Though Christ was “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men,” “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death” (Acts 2:23, 24). As He “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:33), so it is by and through the Son that God the Father pours out the Holy Spirit upon His Church.

 

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

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

(8 June 2025)

 

Genesis 11:1–9

Acts 2:1–21

John 14:23–31

 

The Holy Spirit Gives Peace

 

Following the flood, Noah’s descendants failed to spread out and fill the earth as God had spoken. Rather, they exalted themselves; with “one language and the same words” (Gen. 11:1), they spoke proudly and arrogantly. The Lord humbled them by confusing “the language of all the earth,” dividing and dispersing the people (Gen. 11:9). That dispersal was reversed on Pentecost Day (the 50th day of Easter), when God caused the one Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to be preached in a multitude of languages. “At this sound the multitude came together” (Acts 2:6), for the preaching of Christ is the primary work of the Holy Spirit, whereby He gathers people from all nations into one Church. The Holy Spirit teaches and brings to our remembrance the words of Jesus, which are the words of the Father who sent Him. These words bestow forgiveness and peace to those who keep and hold on to them in love for Jesus. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

 

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

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

(18 May 2025)

 

Acts 11:1–18

Revelation 21:1–7

John 16:12–22 or John 13:31–35

 

Jesus Turns Sorrow into Joy

 

On earth “you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). Already the Spirit grants you peace and joy through the forgiveness of your sins. For by the cross of Christ, “God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). His Gospel is “a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14). He gives freely “from the spring of the water of life” (Rev. 21:6), “and death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4). He dwells with His people, adorning His Church as a bride for her husband, “making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Therefore, as the Son of Man is glorified by His cross, “and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31), so He is glorified in us by our “love for one another” (John 13:35), which His Spirit works in us by His grace.

 

 

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

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

(11 May 2025)

 

Acts 20:17–35

Revelation 7:9–17

John 10:22–30

 

The Good Shepherd Cares for His Sheep

 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from the Father and became flesh among us in order to rescue us, His sheep. He laid down His life for us and took it up again in order to give us eternal life. By the preaching of His Gospel, He calls His sheep to Himself and keeps them with Him forever. As they hear His voice and follow Him, “they will never perish” (John 10:28), for “no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:29). In the same way, faithful pastors (literally, “shepherds”) “care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28), “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Therefore, with all the company of heaven, the Good Shepherd gathers His flock in worship, as they cry: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:10).

 

 

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

 

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

(4 May 2025)

 

Acts 9:1–22

Revelation 5:(1–7) 8–14

John 21:1–14 (15–19)

 

The Good Shepherd Feeds His Lambs

 

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 5:12), who by His cross has conquered sin and death. With His blood, He has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). This same Lord Jesus visits people of all nations and calls them to Himself by the Gospel, even as He “was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:14). He restored Simon Peter to faith and life, and He commissioned him to feed His lambs and tend His sheep (John 21:15–17). Likewise, He revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus and brought him to repentance, so that the persecutor of Jesus might carry and confess His name “before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

 

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

 

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

(27 April 2025)

 

Acts 5:12–20 (21–32)

Revelation 1:4–18

John 20:19–31

 

That You May Believe and Have Life in His Name

 

On the Lord’s Day, St. John the apostle was given a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Living One, “the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). He died for all people, and behold, He is alive forevermore! Therefore, He has “the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1:18). For His death atoned for sin and conquered death, and in His resurrection He opened the kingdom of heaven to us. The “sharp two-edged sword” of His mouth (Rev. 1:16) calls you to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” that by such faith “you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). To that end, He sends His ministers of the Word, as the Father sent Him, “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).

 

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