Introit

Listen, O Lord. Answer me. For I am oppressed and needy. Protect me, for I am loyal. You are my God; deliver your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry out to you all day long. Make your servant glad, for to you, O Lord, I pray. Certainly, O Lord, you are kind and forgiving, and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you. O Lord, hear my prayer. Pay attention to my plea for mercy. In my time of trouble I cry out to you, for you will answer me. None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord. Your exploits are incomparable. All the nations, whom you created, will come and worship you, O Lord. They will honor your name. For you are great and do amazing things. You alone are God. O Lord, teach me how you want me to live. Then I will obey your commands. Make me wholeheartedly committed to you. O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart. I will honor your name continually. For you will extend your great loyal love to me, and will deliver my life from the depths of Sheol. O God, arrogant men attack me; a gang of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. Turn toward me and have mercy on me. Give your servant your strength. Deliver this son of your female servant. Show me evidence of your favor. Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me.

Psalm 86

Collect of the Day

O Lord, we pray that Your grace may always go before and follow after us, that we may continually be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book, Pg. 927

Old Testament

The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant!“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord… For the Lord will not reject us forever. Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people.

Lamentations 3,22-26.31f

Gradual

Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory. For the Lord builds up Zion; he appears in his glory.

Psalm 102,15-16

Epistle

For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by God’s power accept your share of suffering for the gospel. He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!

2. Timothy 1,7-10

Alleluia Verse

Alleluia. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Alleluia.

Gospel

Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived… So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” … When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. (Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them[al] over the loss of their brother.) So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you.” Jesus replied, “Your brother will come back to life again.”Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”… Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.” Then many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him.

John 11,1.3.17-27.38b-45

Christian Creed 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. 

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Nicene Creed

Hymn of the week

The will of God is always best and shall be done forever;
And they who trust in Him are blest; He will forsake them never.
He helps indeed in time of need; He chastens with forbearing,
They who depend on God, their friend, shall not be left despairing.

God is my comfort and my trust, my hope and life abiding;
And to His counsel, wise and just, I yield, in Him confiding.
The very hairs,  His Word declares, upon my head He numbers.
By night and day  God is my stay; He never sleeps nor slumbers.

Lord, this I ask, O hear my plea, deny me not this favor: When Satan sorely troubles me,
Then do not let me waver. O guard me well,  My fear dispel, fulfill Your faithful saying:
All who believe by grace receive an answer to their praying.

When life’s brief course on earth is run and I this world am leaving,
Grant me to say, “Your will be done,” Your faithful Word believing. My dearest Friend, I now commend my soul into Your keeping; From sin and hell, and death as well, by You the vict’ry reaping.

Albrecht von Preussen (1490-1568) tr The Lutheran Hymnal 1941 (LSB 758)

Sermon on Psalm 16, 5-11

Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure. It is as if I have been given fertile field or received a beautiful tract of land. I will praise the Lord who guides me: yes, during the night I reflect and learn. I constantly trust in the Lord; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. So my heart rejoices and I am happy; my life is safe. You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit. You lead me in the path of life. I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.

Dr. Martin Luther preaches on the gospel for the 16th Sunday after Trinity

My sermon on Psalm 16,5-11

Prayer of the church

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Almighty God, You sent Your Son into the world to put an end to death. Keep us from losing heart in the face of sorrow, strengthen us with power through Your Holy Spirit, and help us to know the love of Christ, that through Him we may no longer weep. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Great Physician, lend Your own power to the works of mercy done in the name of Your Son, that they may increase faith in the words Your servants speak. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Faithful Father, when loss and heartache invade our homes and tempt us to doubt Your divine care, hear our cries and renew our faith and life in You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of life and death, You have given all things into the hands of Your Son. Inspire those who bear the sword in His stead to do so in faithfulness and love for their fellow man. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy Comforter, You gave aid to the widows of Zarephath and Nain so they would not be left alone. Provide faithful friends and companions to our shut-ins and those who live alone, that they may be encouraged in faith toward You and in love toward one another. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Great Physician, You lead us, as St. Paul before us, through many tribulations to know the fullness of Your love. Strengthen Karin, Ingrid, Christoph, Anette, Paulina, Sylvia, Walter, Matt, Hilary, Detlev und Biljana, Friederike und Olli, Isabel, Eli, Max und Louis, and all who suffer, that they may praise You for Your faithfulness. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Ever-present God, as You once visited Your people in the person of Your Son, so Christ continues to visit Your people now with His body and blood in the Holy Supper. Grant that those who receive the Sacrament this day would receive these gifts in true faith, trusting Your Word that, in this meal, the forgiveness of all sins is delivered to them by the Savior’s own divine promise. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Into Your hands, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

+ Dominum vobiscum +

The Lord bless You, and keep You; The Lord make His face shine upon You, and be gracious unto You; The Lord lift up His countenance upon You + give You peace.

Numbers 6,24-26

If you are called to preach this weekend, may the holy, triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the one true and only God give You His rich measure of faith, hope, love, joy and strength, wisdom, knowledge and insight, clarity of speech, that You preach His holy Will faithfully and His gracious Promises invitingly and faithfully according to His biblical Word recorded by apostles and prophets. His most precious Gospel grants saving grace. It is His “power to save.” (Rom 1:16 cf. 2.Corinthians 12,9). 

God´s Word and Luther´s teaching remain forever just as His holy Christian Church does. Alleluia +