Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
Lukas 18,31 (Watchword)
Hymns of the Lutheran Church
- Let us ever walk with Jesus (685,1-4)
- My song is love unknown (430,1-7)
- On my heart imprint Your image 422
“Heiligenkreuz” von Wilhelm Bernatzik (1800)
God´s Holy Word for this Sunday
The Introit teaches us to pray with God´s holy Word:
In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
Vindicate me by rescuing me.
Listen to me.
Quickly deliver me.
Be my protector and refuge, a stronghold where I can be safe.
For you are my high ridge and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation you lead me and guide me.
You will free me from the net they hid for me, for you are my place of refuge.
Into your hand I entrust my life; you will rescue me, O Lord, the faithful God.
I hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness, because you notice my pain and you are aware of how distressed I am. You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy; you enable me to stand in a wide open place.
You determine my destiny. Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me. Smile on your servant. Deliver me because of your faithfulness.
Psalm 31, 2-8.15f
Inspired by the triune God the holy prophet Amos proclaims in God´s name:
I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies. Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. Take away from me your noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.
Amos 5,21-24
The holy Apostle St. Paul illustrates God´s more excellent way:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1. Corinthians 13 (Sermon Text)
Our holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ announces his suffering:
Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke openly about this. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”
Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and because of the gospel will save it. For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? What can a person give in exchange for his life? For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8,31-38
Sermon outline
- God´s love for us in IX is forever (never ends): It started before all time and will continue in eternity, when he will be all in all.
- Our love is but short and imperfect (St. Peter): They fell asleep, denied him and fled into the darkness leaving him alone on his way to the cross – the holy sacrifice once for all – perfect and sufficient.
- God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son IX to die for us, so that all, who believe in him, shall not perish, but have eternal life. Nobody has more love than he, who gives his life for his brethren. God showed his love to us, that Jesus died for us, whilst we were still sinners.
Prayer of the Church—Responsive Form: Estomihi 19th February 2023
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Gracious Father, You dwell in unapproachable light and shining glory. Illumine Your Church and heal our spiritual blindness. Open our eyes to see the salvation You have prepared for us through Your Son. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Preserve Your Church and her ministers. Give pastors courage to embrace gladly the crosses of their office, that following their example, all Christians may also bear the reproach of the world, the attacks of Satan and the temptations of the flesh in the confidence of Christ’s redemption. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Preserve the family and all godly Christian homes. Give parents diligence and persistence in their duties to teach the faith in word and example. Keep all children in the promise You made to them in their Baptism. Let the patience, kindness and endurance of Christian love have no end among us. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Bless those You have placed in authority over us, that they would keep that good order among us for the benefit of all. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Look with compassion on all who are suffering, especially June, Christoph, Kyrill, Nico. Assure them of Your presence, deliver them from the temptations of the evil one and heal them according to Your will. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
You summon Your children to enter Your presence through faithful reception of Christ’s true body and blood. Fill all who commune today with Your everlasting joy and the peace of forgiveness, that they would be strengthened to follow Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, heavenly Father, what You foretold through the holy prophets has been fulfilled and accomplished in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Your Son. You have set forth His Passion and resurrection as the firm foundation and content for our faith. Have mercy on us, and always fix our eyes on the Son of David. Give us courage to follow Him through all adversity and every assault of the devil and to view His Passion with repentant hearts and delight, for by it You have redeemed us from all sin and evil. Comfort us with the certainty of Christ’s resurrection, by which we have the confidence of eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
https://www.lcms.org/worship/one-year-series-prayers
Numbers 6,24-26 (4th Book of Moses)The Lord bless Thee, and keep Thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon Thee, and be gracious unto Thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon Thee and give Thee peace.
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