Join us at 11:00 a.m. as we gather to celebrate the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. The season focuses on the broad range of teaching Jesus did in his ministry. Below are brief explanations of the readings for the day. We invite you to join us in hearing these life-giving Scriptures and receive Christ’s gracious gift of himself in the Lord’s Supper.
First Reading: 1 Kings 3:5-12
After King David’s death, a young Solomon ascends to the throne. In a dream, God invites Solomon to ask for whatever he desires, and Solomon responds with humility. Recognizing God’s steadfast love for David and acknowledging his own need for guidance, Solomon asks for wisdom to govern God’s people with justice and discernment. God is pleased that Solomon seeks the ability to serve the people rather than asking for personal wealth, long life, or victory over his enemies. This passage highlights the importance God places on leaders who seek wisdom, justice, and the wellbeing of those entrusted to their care. Solomon’s request becomes a model of faithful, servant-oriented leadership.
Psalm 119:129-136
The dating and authorship of Psalm 119 are difficult to determine. The psalm presents a person deeply devoted to God’s decrees, commandments, teachings, and word, living among people who disregard God’s instruction. The writer expresses grief over this rejection of God’s ways and remains committed to keeping God’s commands. In response, he prays for God’s guidance, asking for understanding and illumination so that he may continue to walk faithfully in God’s truth.
Second Reading: Romans 8:26-39
As Paul explains his gospel, he acknowledges the reality of suffering while pointing believers to the hope of God’s redemptive purpose. In their weakness, the Spirit helps them by interceding according to God’s will, expressing the deepest needs that cannot be put into words. Paul understands the believer’s life in Christ as held within God’s eternal purpose: before believers knew God, he foreknew them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of his Son. In history, this purpose becomes their lived experience as they are called and justified through Christ, and it will finally be completed in their glorification. This confidence rests on the truth that God is for his people, demonstrated by the death, resurrection, and intercession of his Son on their behalf. Therefore, nothing in all creation can separate believers from the love of God in Christ Jesus, because God’s love has a beginning they did not create and an ending they cannot lose.
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Through a series of five parables, Jesus reveals different aspects of the kingdom of God. The key to understanding them comes at the end: the disciple who has become a scribe of the kingdom knows how to distinguish and bring together both the "old" and the "new" in God's unfolding work, a theme that reflects Matthew's concern to show how Jesus fulfills Israel's Scriptures. First, the kingdom begins in small and seemingly insignificant ways but grows into something unexpectedly great and transformative, as illustrated by the mustard seed and the yeast. Second, the kingdom is of such surpassing value that it is worth giving up everything to possess, as shown in the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. Finally, like the parable of the weeds, the parable of the net reminds us that the kingdom moves toward a final judgment when the righteous and the wicked will be separated. While these parables do not exhaust the meaning of the kingdom, they reveal both continuity and fulfillment: the "old" expectation of God's final judgment remains, while the "new" reality is that in Jesus the kingdom comes with the gift of forgiveness and redemption—a gift whose full cost will only become clear at the cross.
Gathering Hymn – ELW No. 775: "Jesus, Priceless Treasure"
This hymn is sung to the tune JESU, MEINE FREUDE by Johann Crüger (1598–1663), has long been a favorite in the Lutheran tradition. Its enduring popularity is reflected in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, who incorporated the tune into four of his cantatas as well as several organ preludes.
Hymn of the Day – LW No. 793 – "Be Thou My Vision"
The words of this hymn are based on an anonymous Old Irish poem, traditionally attributed to St. Dallán Forgaill(c. 530–598), though the authorship is uncertain. The tune, SLANE, is also of Irish origin and takes its name from the Hill of Slane near Tara in County Meath, Ireland. According to tradition, St. Patrick lit the Paschal (Easter) fire on the hill in defiance of the High King's decree. Legend further tells that, to escape the king's soldiers, Patrick and his companions were miraculously transformed into deer, allowing them to evade capture.
Sending Hymn -- ELW No. 705 – God of Grace and God of Glory
This hymn is sung to the stirring Welsh tune CWM RHONDDA. The text was written by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969), the renowned preacher and first pastor of New York City's Riverside Church. In 1926, John D. Rockefeller Jr. invited Fosdick to lead Park Avenue Baptist Church, and Fosdick accepted on the condition that the congregation welcome Christians of all traditions, not require baptism by immersion for membership, and relocate to a less exclusive neighborhood. Rockefeller agreed, financing the construction of the magnificent neo-Gothic Riverside Church, where the hymn was first sung at its dedication in 1930.
Organ Voluntaries will include three Chorale Preludes based on SLANE by Paul Manz, Robert Lau and Dennis Janzer, respectively. The fourth piece will be the ever popular Chorale Improvisation on CWM RHONDDA by Paul Manz.
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