Pr. DFD

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Thursday prior to Christ the King

Revelation 1:4b-8 –Christ, the King of Kings returns to reign

The King of Kings return will be seen by all. Christ the King of kings will return to the earth. This passage contains a greeting similar to Paul’s, a doxology, an announcement of Jesus’ return, and God’s declaration of His being the Alpha and the Omega; the first and last. Grace and peace come from the Trinity: (God-the Father; Christ-God the Son; Holy Spirit – “seven spirits,” the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit.)

The beginning and the end of the passage deal with the Father, but Christ is the subject of the central section. Jesus is a witness, the firstborn of the dead, the King of kings (death, resurrection and ascension.) Because of His love, Jesus redeemed us, made us a kingdom, and will come to judge the earth.

A prayer of supplication – Almighty God, our heavenly Father, because You desire not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his evil way and live, graciously turn away from us the punishments which we by our sins have deserved and which have been borne for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and grant us ever to serve You in holiness and pureness of living; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

A prayer for Christ’s return – O Lord, absolve Your people from their offenses that from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our weakness we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever-[2]

18 November 2027

[1] The New Heaven, Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use

Friday, June 26, 2026

June 27 – Saturday prior to Proper 8

John 11:16 – This passage is the inspiration for the hymn “Let us ever walk with Jesus” LSB 685. Thomas is ready to suffer all, even death, for the sake of Christ. Such commitment is necessary yet impossible without faith in Christ. Our prayer: Lord, increase my faith!

“Sigismund von Birken was the son of an Evangelical pastor in Bohemia. His family was forced to flee to Nürnberg when he was three. Birken was an established poet and was appointed a tutor at the age of 16 to the Princes of Brunswick-Lünesburg. His poetic skills led to publication of 52 hymns. However, only three of them have been translated into English. The most prominent of these hymns is Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus and Jesus I will Ponder Now which was the focus of our mid-week Lenten series this spring.

Meditate on this much loved hymn

1 Let us ever walk with Jesus,
Follow His example pure,
Flee the world, which would deceive us
And to sin our souls allure.
Ever in His footsteps treading,
Body here, yet soul above,
Full of faith and hope and love,
Let us do the Father's bidding.
Faithful Lord, abide with me;
Savior, lead, I follow Thee

A Prayer of thanksgiving– Heavenly Father, God of all grace, govern our hearts that we may never forget Your blessings but steadfastly thank and praise You for all Your goodness in this life until, with all Your saints, we praise You eternally in Your heavenly kingdom.

Friday prior to Pentecost 22 - Proper 24

[1]

Mark 10:23–31—Sunday’s Gospel is a continuation of last week’s. After the rich young man went away sorrowful, Jesus takes the opportunity to educate His disciples in the barrier that great wealth poses to one’s salvation. The temptation is to trust in the riches, rather than the rest. In fact, it is impossible, not only for the wealthy, but for anyone to earn His salvation by any means, even good works. Who can be saved? they ask. Who, indeed? No can, if he relies on himself. It is only by God’s grace that anyone can be saved, for all things are possible with God.

Jesus predicts His trial, execution, and resurrection for the third time, while walking boldly to His death. Jesus goes to die the sinners' death, accepting the Law's penalty in our place. Faith looks to Christ crucified and risen and says, "for me!" Luther - "Who is this "me?" It is I, an accursed and damned sinner, who was so beloved by the Son of God that He gave Himself for me." (AE 26:176)

By the Voluntary Poverty of Christ, We Enter the Kingdom of God

It is difficult “for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 20:23). Indeed, it is impossible for man, and yet, “All things are possible with God” (Mark 20:27). Thus, the Rich Man, Jesus Christ, has made Himself poor and has gone through “the eye of a needle,” through death and the grave, “to enter the kingdom of God” on our behalf (Mark 20:24–25).[2]

Prayer for the proper use of wealth: Almighty God, all that we possess is from Your loving hand. Give us grace that we may honor You with all we own, always remembering the account we must one day give to Jesus Christ, our Lord [3]

-15 October 2027

[2] Lectionary summary from LCMS Commission on Worship

Thursday, June 25, 2026

June 26 –Friday prior to Proper 8

Psalm 119:153-160 – This Psalm is suggested for this coming Sunday. It falls under the Hebrew letter “Resh” the twentieth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It is a psalm and prayer of deliverance. “See how I love your precepts; preserve my life.”

We must rely on God to justify us and to defend us in the final day. This life is full of grief, pain and affliction. Yet, we serve a heavenly Father, and His tender mercies are greater by far than any persecution of the enemy. We feel secure when we listen to His words and trust in His loving-kindness.

The psalmist cries, "Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word."

Christ is the advocate of his people, their Redeemer. Who is mighty, and thoroughly pleads their cause against the accusations of Satan. He defends their innocence from the calumnies of wicked men, and rights their wrongs, and redresses their grievances.

Christians are promised that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. God will plead on the side of David. David knows that he is helpless unless God takes his side. This is like an attorney who pleads your case for you. Christ your Savior works on your behalf, pleading to the Father for pardon, mercy and grace.

These words of comfort and hope mirror the last five words that He spoke to humans before He ascended into heaven. "I am with you always..." Jesus your Savior gives you His guarantee that He will not walk out on you. Never!

Jesus understands your station in life and He promises to do something about this sorry lot.

He promises us the Counselor. For your aid and comfort.

Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come and appears on your behalf to be a mediator, an intercessor, and a genuine helper for you.

Who is this counselor? He is the Spirit of truth, the One who can be known and revealed only by faith. He is the One who dwells and lives within you.

While so many live with the mistaken notion that perception is reality, the Savior confirms to you that He is your reality. Christ alone is the solution to any feelings of abandonment. So go ahead. Plead your cause to Him. He has promised to listen. And He will take action according to His gracious will.

Lord, you are just and your commandments are eternal. Teach us to love you with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves, for the sake of Jesus our Lord.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

June 25 – Thursday prior to Proper 8

Matthew 10:34-42 –Jesus calls upon his disciples to love him above all others. Matthew continues in this lesson with the price of discipleship. In verses 34-36, Jesus declares that His coming will cause dissension in families because disciples will love Him more than any member of the family. In verses 37-39, Jesus calls upon His disciples to take up the cross and to lose themselves in His cause. To those who do this, Jesus promises rewards (verses 40-42). In this passage, we have the cost and reward of discipleship.

There are many rewards — reward of a prophet, or a righteous man, of a spokesperson and ambassador of Christ. “He who receives you receives me.” To accept a follower of Christ is to accept Jesus; to help a disciple is to help Christ. To reject a disciple is to reject Christ. What a high honor to be a surrogate of Christ!

The pattern of Christ’s suffering is the outline of ministry. Found in the words of John the Baptizer who said, “He must increase while I must decrease.”- John 3:30

In her book “Generation Me” author Jean Twenge put it this way, “In many ways, there’s no better time to be alive than right now. Think of all the advantages we have that earlier generations did not: television, cell phones, better medical care, computers, more education, less physical labor, the freedom to make our own choices, the ability to move to a more desirable city. These last two, however, begin to hint at the underlying problem. Our growing tendency to put the self-first leads to unparalleled freedom, but it also creates an enormous amount of pressure on us to stand alone.”

It really isn’t about you. It’s always about Jesus. All too often, we forget that the invisible God is working things out according to His purpose. Not yours. God is free to do as He pleases. He owes no one anything. And yet… And yet, He chose to redeem you. He chose to send Jesus into your world. Into time and space. To become your substitute. To live a perfect life for you. To bear your sin. To die your death. To rise again. To make you His own. And place His Spirit inside of you. To endow you with gifts. So you can be a sermon in shoes. So you can be His witness in this generation.

This tells us that grace alone will make and keep you with Jesus. Your status in this life is not dependent on what you do. It is decided by whose you are. You are in Christ. Therefore, you can choose to do anything you want in this life. You are free. You are free to be anything you want. You can be a butcher, a baker, a candle maker. You are free to be cop a teacher or a farmer. You are free to be a line cook at a greasy spoon or a garbage man. You are free to be a truck driver, a plastic surgeon or stay at home mom. “Whatever your hand finds it to do…do it with all your might.” - Ecclesiastes 9:10

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord.” - Colossians 3:17

Remember the Service Master cleaning service. In all you do - you are rendering service to the Master. What you do is a reflection of who you are.

Collect for Proper 8 –O Almighty God, by the working of Your Holy Spirit grant that we may gladly hear Your Word proclaimed among us and follow it’s directing; through Jesus Christ Your Son, our Lord who lives and rules with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Heavenly Father, grant Your mercy and grace to Your people in their many and various callings. Give them patience, and strengthen them in their Christian vocation of witness to the world and of service to their neighbor in Christ’s name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

June 24 - Wednesday prior to Proper 8

Romans 7:1-13 – Paul warns Christians not to back into our former way of living. As far as Christians are concerned, a life “controlled by the sinful nature” belongs to our past. The law not only reveals sin, it also stimulates it. The natural tendency in man is to desire the forbidden thing – death. Physical death and beyond that, eternal death - final separation from God – are the fruit of our “union” with the law.

Paul tells us what exactly happened to us. "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God" (Romans 7:4). Remember, "we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." (6:5–8)

This truth is so crucial to the believer's daily walk with Christ that Paul reminds us to "consider (reckon, count upon the fact) yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). God's solution to our sin problem was to crucify us with Christ. As far as the Father is concerned we were there in the grave with Christ and we rose into newness of life with Him. This happened in Baptism. Now we are joined in an intimate union with our Lord and Savior.

Remember, in Baptism you died to sin. Christ bore the penalty of the law on our behalf and rose from the dead. The moment you were born again in Baptism you were identified with Christ's death and resurrection. You are no longer under the law, but under grace.

Luther observed, "It is impossible for a man to be a Christian without having Christ; and if he has Christ, he has at the same time all that is in Christ. What gives peace to the conscience is, that by faith our sins are no more ours, but Christ's, upon whom God has laid them all; and that, on the other hand, all Christ's righteousness is ours, to whom God has given it. Christ lays His hand upon us, and we are healed. He lays His mantle upon us, and we are clothed; for He is the glorious Savior, blessed forever."

Merciful Father, through Holy Baptism You called us to be Your own possession. Grant that our lives may evidence the working of Your Holy Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, according to the image of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior.

History of the Great Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Germany by Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné

Monday, June 22, 2026

June 23 – Tuesday prior to Proper 8

Jeremiah 28:5-9 – A true prophet is one whose message is fulfilled. One day two preachers were speaking in the temple. They contradicted each other and yet both claimed to be prophets. Whom were the people to believe? One says God will send peace; the other promises trouble. Jeremiah gives the acid test: the true prophet is one whose preaching comes true. So, we have to wait and see who is right.

Here we find God’s bad news (verses 5-8). Most think God has only good news for us. According to this lesson, God has both good and bad news. For the rebellious and disobedient there is bad news – judgment, war, famine, and death. King Ahab referred to Elijah as “you troubler of Israel,” and “my enemy.”

Jeremiah’s response was marked by restraint. Nothing would have please him more than to affirm the prediction of an immediate deliverance of the people he loved so dearly.

Micah had bad news of defeat for the kings about to go to war. To say peace because people want to hear it is to be faithless to God who brings judgment upon a sinful people.

Which do you prefer, to be liked or respected?

The false prophets of Jeremiah's day prophesied by other gods such as Baal, the god of sex and success (Jeremiah 23:13). These prophets keep saying "Don't worry! Everything's going to be fine! (Jeremiah 23:17) But they have drummed up their own "prosperity preaching" and none of them has ever been in on the LORD's own council. (Jeremiah 23:18, 21-22) Their words are smooth, sweet, comforting. "But my word," says the prophet speaking in the name of the LORD, "is like fire, like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces!" (Jeremiah 23:29)

These are difficult words. They were difficult for Jeremiah. They challenge us today. May the Lord give us the strength to speak the truth of God’s word when the message is welcomed and courage even if it is not received.

Almighty and everlasting God, You would have all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. By Your almighty power and unsearchable wisdom break and hinder all the counsels of those who hate Your Word and who, by corrupt teaching, would destroy it. Enlighten them with the knowledge of Your glory that they may know the riches of Your heavenly grace and, in peace and righteousness, serve You the only true God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.