Prayer for the 4th Sunday of Easter – Almighty
God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your
sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we
may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the
same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who loves and reigns with You and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
A Prayer for humility: O God, You resist the proud and
give grace to the humble. Grant us true humility after the likeness of Your
only Son that we may never be arrogant and prideful and thus provoke Your wrath
but in all lowliness be made partakers of the gifts of Your grace; through
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
For blessing on the Word: Lord God, bless
Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to
convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving
faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip,
and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve
the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Time
in the Word
23-28 April, 2018
Preparation for next week, 5th Sunday of Easter
23-28 April, 2018
Preparation for next week, 5th Sunday of Easter
The theme for
the Fifth Sunday of Easter is Life in Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus described Himself as the Vine and the believers as
the branches which bring forth fruit. How one becomes a person in Christ is
demonstrated by the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in the first lesson. To
be in Christ means to obey the commandments of God, to love not only in word
butin deed.
Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Easter – O God, You
make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what
You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of
this world our hearts may be fixed with what true joys are found through Jesus
Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen
Monday, 23 April2018—Psalm 145:1-2, 8, 10, 21; antiphon, John
16:16—The antiphon is taken
from the Lord’s promise to His followers,
“A little while, and you will see
me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Few doubt
that the first phrase refers to the interval before the crucifixion. But
interpretations differ as to whether the second refers to the interval
preceding the resurrection or the coming of the Spirit, or the return of Christ
on the Last Great Day. It seems that the language here best fits the
resurrection.
Tuesday, 24
April 2018—Psalm 150 key verse
v.6 —Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord. Who should praise the Lord? All who come to Him in faith.
We celebrate the Savior’s great and mighty acts.
Wednesday,
25 April 2018—Acts 8:26-40—Philip
is sent to bring an Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Christ. The treasures of an Ethiopian queen were on their
way home after worshiping in Jerusalem. His chariot was on a main road from
Jerusalem to Egypt. The Spirit directed Philip, one of the seven deacons (See
Acts 6:1-5), to meet the chariot at Gaza. The eunuch was probably a proselyte
or God-fearer of Judaism. Philip found him reading Isaiah 53 but not
understanding it. After Philip’s explanation, the Ethiopian asked to be baptized.
He accepted Christ and according to tradition he introduced Christianity into
Ethiopia. It should be noted that verse 37 (“If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.”)is omitted in the older manuscripts and some modern versions will
place the verse only in the margin.
Thursday, 26
April 2018—1 John 4:1-11—The word
“Love” in its various forms is used 43 times in John’s letter. The word is used
32 times from 4:7-5:3 In His essential nature and in all His actions, God is
loving. John similarly affirms that God is spirit (John 4:24) and light (John
1:5), as well as holy, powerful, faithful, true, and just. If we love in deed,
we know we have the truth.
Friday, 27
April2018—John 15:1-8—Jesus is
the vine and we are the branches who are expected to bear fruit. Sunday’s Gospel lesson is a part of Jesus’
final discourse (chapters 13-17) with His disciples in the Upper Room on Maundy
Thursday.
Jesus uses allegory: He is the vine; God is the
vinedresser; the branches are the believers; the fruit constitutes good works.
The vine is the source of life. To be connected with the Source is to have life
and produce fruit. To be separated from the Vine is to die and be destroyed.
People in the Vine have their prayers answered. Bearing fruit glorifies God and
proves discipleship.
John referred to adult Christians as “little
children.” Is this talking down to adults? Is it an insult to even add “little”
to children? Jesus referred to His
disciples as “these little ones.” It is
no insult because if God is our Father, we are His true children. Since when?
We were adopted as His children at Baptism, and we live in Christ as branches
in the vine. And we are “little” too. We are often little in faith, in love and
in our words. How little we are when compared with the fullness of the stature
of Jesus Christ.
In these lessons we hear repeatedly the word “abide.”
A fruitful Christian is one who produces good works because that person abides
in Christ. How do we know we abide in Christ? One answer may be that our fruits
prove it. This verse gives another answer. We are in Christ when we have the
Spirit. If we have the Holy Spirit, it is the same as being in Christ. The Holy
Spirit is at the same time the spirit of Christ.
Saturday, 28
April 2018—Psalm 98:1-3; 2 Timothy
1:9-10; Romans 3:28 -The hymn of the Day, Dear Christians One and All, Rejoice – {LSB 556} When Luther translated the phrase “by faith” in Romans 3:28 he added the
word “alone” which though not in the
Greek, accurately reflect the meaning of the passage. The Hymn is one of
Luther’s classic hymns which explain to us the heart of the gospel found in
Jesus Christ.
Sources:
Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing Lima, OH
Illustration from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, © WELS
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