The Lord be with You +

Our Lord Jesus Christ says to His disciples: “The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Luke 10,16

Collect for this first Sunday after Trinity

Almighty, everlasting God, You have given us the promise of Your divine life. Bestow upon us Your Holy Spirit, that, quickened by Your word, we may lay hold on eternal life by strong faith in Your Son, and in him be saved; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and always. Amen.

Dobberstein Pg. 99

We sing with the holy Christian church:

O Splendor of God’s glory bright,
You daily bring forth light from light.
O Light from Light, light’s fountain-spring,
O Day, our days enlightening:

Come, very Sun of truth and love,
Come in your radiance from above,
And shed the Holy Spirit’s ray
On all we think or do today.

Teach us to work with all our pow’r
To conquer in temptation’s hour.
Let faith her eager fires renew
And hate the false and love the true.

Oh, joyful be the livelong day,
Our thoughts as pure as morning ray,
Our faith like noonday’s glowing height,
Our souls undimmed by shades of night.

All praise to God the Father be,
All praise to Christ eternally,
Whom with the Spirit we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Ambrose of Milan (340-397)

God´s Holy Word for the first Sunday after Trinity

The Introit teaches us to pray God´s holy Word:

I will praise the Lord at all times;  my mouth will continually praise him. 
I will boast in the Lord;  let the oppressed hear and rejoice. 
Magnify the Lord with me.  Let us praise his name together. 
I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 
Look to him and be radiant; do not let your faces be ashamed. 
This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard; he saved him from all his troubles. 
The angel of the Lord camps around the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them. 
Taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him. 
Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his, for those who fear him lack nothing.  
Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,  but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come children. Listen to me. I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord. 

Psalm 34

God´s holy Word via the prophet Jeremiah

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the people of Jerusalem: 

“Do not listen to what  those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say. They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said,  ‘Things will go well for you!’ 
They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’ 

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said? 

But just watch! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm!
Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked. 
The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. 

In future days you people will come to understand this clearly. 
I did not send those prophets, yet they were in a hurry to give their message. 
I did not tell them anything, yet they prophesied anyway. 

But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing. 

Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God” the Lord asks. “Do you really think anyone can hide himself  where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. “Do you not know that I am everywhere?” the Lord asks. 

The Lord says, “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! I, the Lord, affirm it! My message is like a fire that purges dross. It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. I, the Lord, so affirm it! 

Jeremiah 23

St. John wrote this holy epistle

Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵ If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. ¹⁶ And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. ¹⁷ By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love because he loved us first.

²⁰ If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.

1. John 4, 11-21 (Sermon)

The holy Gospel according to St. Luke

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

“Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish[ca] in this fire.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said,‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16,19-31

Prayer of this Sunday

Prayer of the Church—Responsive Form: First Sunday after Trinity 11 June 2023

Loving Father, You have kept Your promise to Abraham and brought forth the Offspring in whom all nations are blessed and counted righteous, even Jesus Christ, our Lord. Give to all people saving faith in this promised Savior, and work in them the love that flows from Your love alone. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Give boldness and diligence to all ministers of Your Church, David, Matthew, Hans-Jörg, Mark, Markus, Vadym, Thomas and Stefan etc that they may proclaim the faith once delivered to the saints. Be with all vacant congregations and pastors considering calls. Send forth laborers into Your harvest, and sustain those You have sent. Be with those who work this weekend to prepare for our Synod’s convention. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord God, since we cannot love You whom we have not seen while we hate our brother whom we have seen, drive all prejudice and hatred from our hearts with Your abiding love in Christ, that we may truly show our love for You by loving one another. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord, help our hearts to fear You rightly and to hope in Your steadfast love. Hold Your eye upon us, and deliver us from death. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of love, perfect us in Your love, that we may not fear Your condemnation but have confidence in Christ for the Day of Judgment. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Righteous Lord, keep us mindful of the poor who lie suffering at our gates, that we may use our many rich and sumptuous blessings from Your hand to feed their hunger and ease their burdens in this world. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Dear Father, take care of those troubled by Russian war and terror – especially those flooded out of the homes and lands by the hideous destruction of the megadam Kakhovka. Grant the Ukrainians courage means and measures to repel the aggressors and regain the Crimea and other occupied lands. Restore peace and prosperity to Ukraine. Destroy the terror regime of the Russians and force them back into their hinterland.

Heavenly Father, be gracious to those in need – Karin, Ingrid, Christoph, Friederike & Oli, Detlev & Biljana; Matzi, June, Natalia, Kyril, Milana, Angelika, Tamara, Masaki, James etc and for all those, whom we commend to You in silence. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Merciful God, give repentance and faith to all who come to Your altar this day. Grant that we would not come seeking sumptuous earthly food, but instead discern Your holy body and precious blood for the forgiveness of sins and receive it in the unity of a true confession. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we implore You to rule and govern our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, that we may not, like the rich man, hear Your Word in vain and become so devoted to things temporal that we forget things eternal. Grant that we may serve those who are in need readily and according to our ability, not defiling ourselves with carousing or pride. In trial and misfortune, keep us from despair, and let us trust in Your fatherly help and grace, that in faith and Christian patience we may overcome all things; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

LCMS Prayers

+ Dominum vobiscum +

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.

Numbers 6,24-26 (4th Book of Moses)