“This is a day wherein, at this Festival Service, we will take time to remember the members of this congregation who fell asleep in Christ in the past year. As we do that, we are called to remember that the All Saints’ Feast has been handed on to our generation of the Faith. Further, as we
have received it rightly, we recall that this Feast Day has been accompanied by an ongoing prayer that it will be celebrated as a beautiful feast of and for living people.
Therefore, we declare that All Saints’ Day has been given to us to bring forth a remembrance of God’s grace and mercy for all the saints in heaven and on earth. That emphasis for this day has been in the Church for over 1,600 years. It was added to the Church calendar in the land of Syria.
From that, the joining of the primary readings for today was done, long ago, to bring clarity to the beatitudes that we heard from St. Matthew’s Gospel. Those are the “blessed be” proclamations of our Lord. Those may be heard in the Lord’s Services each year especially during this Feast Day.”
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Tag: Pastor Morehouse
Wednesday following The 18th Sunday After Trinity
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
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GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY IN ELECTING HIS PEOPLE
This is, as most of you know, the time of year which emphasizes endurance in the Faith. Behind that theme lies this Sunday’s Old Testament reading. It reveals the way God grants the Faith to people, and how He sustains them in the Faith. The Word for the day truly reveals that God shows no partiality in electing His people. Our short Old Testament reading is so divinely important that it, in the Greek language of the Scriptures, it is quoted directly, or strongly alluded to, fourteen times in the New Testament. The same Holy Spirit who inspired Moses to record our words from Deuteronomy moved Saints John, Luke, Mark, and Paul to quote it often.
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HOLDING TO THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE
As some of us heard this past Sunday, Jesus Himself was ringed about by the Pharisees and Scribes who continued to try to trap Him in His Word. As they continued to do that, they were simply doing the will of their father. That is because the Father of Lies still wages battles against God’s people. Satan continues to do that even as he knows that Christ Jesus has won the war! On account of that, such clashes take place in each of us, in the Lord’s congregations, and in the Church at large. For those reasons, Jesus faced the full brunt of the forces of evil.
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THE REST OF THE STORY
“Those among us who attended either of last Sunday’s services, or this past Wednesday’s Divine Service, heard the first half of a large narrative. It concerned Elijah, a widow, and her son. We heard of God’s gracious provision of oil and flour for a small household in a time of great famine. This week’s Old Testament reading follows upon that. It is part of that which is called a short lectio continua. That indicates that it is the second half of a continuous reading. It was chosen long ago to be proclaimed in this season, for it helps focus the faithful upon enduring in the Faith. So, today have heard, as a famous radio personality used to say, “the rest of the story…”” Click on the title above for the full sermon
FREED FROM AXIOUSNESS IN CHRIST
” Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Suffiencient for the day is it’s evil.” Click on the Title above to hear the full sermon.
Jesus–The true Word
Hold onto God’s Word, for though it the Holy Spirit gives life
Today, our Old Testament reading calls for any person who would be found faithful before God to hold onto God’s Word. It teaches that the faithful continue being called to hold onto God’s instruction; that He continues to reveal through rightly divided His Word.
It is through the proclaimed Word of God that the Holy Spirit wills to give salvation. At the end of a faithful person’s mortal life in the Faith, the Spirit, through the Word of God, will lead him or her into blessed eternal life. That is fitting for us to hear as Laurencetide’s theme of sanctification draws to a close for another year. …For more, click on the title above.
The law kills; the Spirit gives life
The true love of God leads to steadfastness in His Word
For those numbered among the faithful in this place, especially you who attended both this past Wednesday’s Divine Service and one of the last Sunday’s Divine Services, two themes were repeated in the public proclamation of God’s Word. Wednesday’s sermon was guided by these words: the letters of the Law kill, and the Gospel is the means through which the Spirit sustains life. As last Sunday’s sermon was developed it brought forth this theme: God listens to our pleas. Today, we hear of the true love of God. In it we are led to steadfastness in His Word. Through God’s Word, the Holy Spirit leads Christians into acting in true love for the benefit of our neighbors….For more, click on the title above.