AUDIO: Readings & Sermon for Wednesday August 7, 2024

View the Bulletin for Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Worship Service: 2:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 2:30 p.m. — The Book of Hebrews
All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relative

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1 Samuel 20:24-42 
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 

Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 

In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. 

1 Corinthians 1:1-25 
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, 

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 

The Ten Commandments 
What is the first commandment? 
You shall have no other gods. 
What does this mean?
We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. 

Bulletin: Wednesday August 7, 2024

View the Bulletin for Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Worship Service: 2:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 2:30 p.m. — The Book of Hebrews
All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relative

Visit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.

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Iowa Floods Strike Three LCMS Congregations

On June 22, heavy rainfall led to catastrophic flooding in northwestern Iowa. What residents described as a “wall of water” hit several towns near the Little Sioux River. Water completely covered the landscape.

Three congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) were severely affected by the flood: Christ the King Lutheran Church in Spencer, Iowa; First English Lutheran Church in Spencer, Iowa; and Trinity Lutheran Church in Hawarden, Iowa. Both Christ the King and Trinity suffered significant damage to their church properties, and the flooding damaged the homes of dozens of families in these congregations.

“The flood touched places that we never dreamed it would touch, even places that were not in the floodplain,” said the Rev. Paul Kaldahl, pastor of First English.

 You can support the relief and recovery efforts of our fellow Lutherans through LCMS Disaster Response:

• Make checks payable to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, noting “Disaster Relief” on the memo line. Mail to: The LCMS, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861.

• Visit lcms.org/givenow/disaster, or text the keyword LCMSDISASTERS to the number 41-444 on their text-enabled phone or tablet.

Food Bank Sunday: August 11th

The August collection for the Food Bank is Sunday, August 11h.
The “item for the month” is CRACKERS. 

Items may be placed in the wicker bin in the narthex near the coat rack.
Thank you for supporting this vital community service! 
At the June distribution, 99 families were assisted which included 26 children, 75 adults and 61 of the elderly. 

VIDEO: Sunday August 4, 2024 - Complete Service

Please note that because of technical trouble with our regular computer, we could not place this service into our YouTube channels “LIVE” playlist. Rather, it can be found in our “VIDEO” playlist. Or, you can just click on the graphic above to play the video from Sunday, August 4, 2024.

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Pastor’s Corner

Evening Prayer . . . A Great Way to End the Day! 
Last month, I mentioned how praying Luther’s Morning Prayer is a great way to start the day. Well, Luther also wrote an Evening Prayer that could be a great way to end the day! If you are unfamiliar with Luther’s Evening prayer, it reads as follows: 

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. (Small Catechism, pg. 31) 

As Christians, we never know what a day is going to have in store for us when we wake up. However, when we are going to bed at night, we can think back on the day and know exactly how that day went. It could have been a good day, or the opposite could have been true. We sinned against God, we commit errors against each other, even our health may have taken an unexpected turn. We could have had a very bad day! 

So, there we are going to bed at night with a bad day in our rear view mirror. What do we do with that? Are we lying in bed stewing over what we did, and what we didn’t do? Are we laying there staring at the ceiling with regret thinking, “If only I had said that just a little bit differently.” As we are unable to sleep, are we thinking about what tomorrow is going to bring, afraid it might be worse than today? 

What I love most about the Evening Prayer is not only do we ask God to forgive us of any sins we committed that day, but even more so, we pray this, “For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things.” As we are preparing to close our eyes and rest for the night, we are resting not just into a bed, but even more so, we are resting in the loving embrace of our Savior Jesus Christ who will always order our days and our deeds with His peace. In this prayer, we are literally saying to Jesus, “Forgive me of my sins, turn the troubles of this life from woes into blessings, and allow me to receive a rest that you and you alone can give.” 

There is truly no greater way to rest at night, than to do so knowing we are always resting in the arms of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. 

AUDIO: Announcements, Readings & Sermon for Sunday August 4, 2024

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The Installation of Deaconess Joanna Lee is included in the VIDEO version of the service.

Old Testament Reading -- Exodus 16:2–15 
The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” 

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” 

Epistle Reading -- Ephesians 4:1–16 
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, 

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 

(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixth chapter
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”