Sunday Worship Podcast

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Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Austin and Our Savior Lutheran Church of Brownsdale, MN

Episodes

Saturday Dec 30, 2023

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Saturday Dec 30, 2023

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
(3 December 2023)

Isaiah 64:1–9
1 Corinthians 1:3–9
Mark 11:1–10 or Mark 13:24–37

The Lord Jesus Comes in Meekness and Humility to Save Us

Although we pray that God “would rend the heavens and come down” (Is. 64:1), that He would take vengeance against our enemies, we ourselves “have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Is. 64:6). We have continued in our sins for “a long time, and shall we be saved?” (Is. 64:5). Yet, the Lord does not punish us in anger. He comes in voluntary meekness and humility to save us by His grace. Just as He once came into Jerusalem to sacrifice Himself for us upon the cross (Mark 11:4–8), He still comes to His Church with the fruits of His Passion. By His ministry of the Gospel, we are “enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge,” and so He will “sustain you to the end” (1 Cor. 1:5, 8). Although “heaven and earth will pass away,” His words “will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). As He sends disciples to call us to Himself in the fellowship of His Church, so will He “send out the angels” to gather us and all of His elect “from the ends of the earth” to Himself in heaven forever (Mark 13:27).

Acknowledgments:
The Lutheran Service Book. CPH Creative Worship
Scripture quotations are from ESV Bible
All Liturgy Audio Files are from LCMS Worship Ministry - Lutheran Service Book Audio (https://lcms.app.box.com/v/lutheran-service-book)
Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lutheran Warbler, Koiné, Downtown Music Publishing, CPH, Hope of the World" - Foundry Virtual Choir; Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Saturday Dec 30, 2023

LAST SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR

Saturday Dec 30, 2023

LAST SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR
Proper 29
(26 November 2023)

Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24
1 Corinthians 15:20–28
Matthew 25:31–46

By the Cross of Christ, We Enter the Kingdom of Our God and Father

When the crucified and risen Lord Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead, “he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:32). “To those on his right,” who have been crucified and raised with Him through repentance and faith in His Gospel, He will grant the blessed kingdom of His Father (Matt. 25:34). Having been justified by His grace, they live unto righteousness in Him (Matt. 25:35–40). But “those on his left,” who trust in themselves and despise their neighbor, will depart “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Until that day, the Lord searches for His sheep “as a shepherd seeks out his flock” (Ezek. 34:11–12). Through His preaching of repentance, He disciplines the proud sheep and goats, “the fat and the strong,” but through the preaching of forgiveness He rescues the lost, binds up the injured, strengthens the weak and feeds “the lean sheep” (Ezek. 34:16, 20). In this way, He destroys the power of death in the children of Adam by His cross, so that “in Christ shall all be made alive” by His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20–26).

Wednesday Nov 22, 2023

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Wednesday Nov 22, 2023

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 28
(19 November 2023)

Zephaniah 1:7–16
1 Thessalonians 5:1–11
Matthew 25:14–30

God’s Gift of Forgiveness Engenders Our Forgiveness of Others

The Day of the Lord is “near and hastening fast,” and it will be “a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation” (Zeph. 1:14, 15). The Lord will search out and punish “the men who are complacent” concerning His Word, “who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud” (Zeph. 1:9, 12). Then all their works and efforts will be for nothing: “Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them” (Zeph. 1:13). But those who fear, love and trust in the Lord are “good and faithful” stewards of His property (Matt. 25:21). They live by faith in His free gift of forgiveness, and they multiply His goods in the loving forgiveness of their neighbor, and “the master of those servants” settles His accounts with them by the gracious reckoning of His Gospel (Matt. 25:19). Likewise, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). Therefore, let us also “put on the breastplate of faith and love” in our dealings with one another (1 Thess. 5:8).

Wednesday Nov 22, 2023

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Wednesday Nov 22, 2023

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 27
(12 November 2023)

Amos 5:18–24
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Matthew 25:1–13

The Gospel Prepares Us for Our Heavenly Bridegroom’s Coming

The Day of the Lord is “darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18, 20) for all who trust in their own righteousness and piety. The Lord will not accept their “burnt offerings and grain offerings,” nor will He look upon their “peace offerings” (Amos 5:22). Instead, He desires a heart of faith that trusts in Him, which lets “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24) in love for the neighbor. In order for the “lamps” of our lives to burn brightly with such love, we must be filled with the “oil” of forgiveness through faith in our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ (Matt. 25:1–4). Therefore, as we await His coming, wisdom directs us “to the dealers” (Matt. 25:9), that is, to the ministers of His Gospel. Thus we wait upon the Lord, and we “encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). Waking or sleeping, we are prepared to meet Him when He comes “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” and “we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

Monday Nov 13, 2023

ALL SAINTS’ DAY

Monday Nov 13, 2023

ALL SAINTS’ DAY (Observed)
(5 November 2023)

Revelation 7:(2–8) 9–17
1 John 3:1–3
Matthew 5:1–12

Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ

“A great multitude … from all tribes and peoples and languages” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–10). Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Joined with the throng of angels and myriad saints, we shall “serve him day and night in his temple” (Rev. 7:15). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ, propels us forward to our eternal home, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure and the persecuted are all blessed, and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1–12).

Monday Nov 13, 2023

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Monday Nov 13, 2023

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 24
(22 October 2023)

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).

Friday Oct 20, 2023

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Friday Oct 20, 2023

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 23
(15 October 2023)

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).

Friday Oct 20, 2023

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Friday Oct 20, 2023

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 22
(8 October 2023)

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).

Saturday Oct 07, 2023

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Saturday Oct 07, 2023

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Proper 21

(1 October 2023)

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

All Liturgy Audio Files are from LCMS Worship Ministry - Lutheran Service Book Audio (https://lcms.app.box.com/v/lutheran-service-book)

Please note that the Hymnals are taken from online Auto-generated by YouTube or from thehymnalproject.org, Lutheran Warbler, Koiné, Downtown Music Publishing, CPH, Hope of the World" - Foundry Virtual Choir; Lectionary Summary from: https://www.lcms.org/worship/lectionary-summaries

Saturday Oct 07, 2023

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Saturday Oct 07, 2023

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Proper 20

(24 September 2023)

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

All Liturgy Audio Files are from LCMS Worship Ministry - Lutheran Service Book Audio (https://lcms.app.box.com/v/lutheran-service-book)