“Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!” Psalm 81.8
Prayer for the week: Almighty God, draw our hearts to you, guide our minds, fill our
imaginations, control our wills, so that we may be wholly yours. Use us as you
will, always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bible reading for the day: Isaiah 65.17-25 (The
Lord has brought his people back from the disciplinary “timeout” that was the
Exile to Babylon, 587-539 BC, and is giving them a fresh start back in the land
of Israel.)
17 “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be
accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their
hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Prayer of the Day: Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: in Christ our salvation is now
already and yet still not yet. While we wait on this earth for your new heavens
and new earth, grant that we may abide in him and he in us… that your vineyard
may yield the fruit of faith rather than wild grapes… that we may bear children
not for calamity but as a blessing from you for their descendants. In Jesus’
name I pray, amen.
Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that
gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr2opLCCVyI
“Thy will be done…”
What does this mean? The good and gracious will of
God is surely done without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may be
done also among us.
When does this happen? God’s will is done when he hinders and
defeats every evil scheme and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful
self, which would prevent us from keeping his name holy and would oppose the
coming of his kingdom.
And his will is done when he strengthens our faith and keeps
us firm in his Word as long as we live. This is his gracious and good will. (from
The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)
Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure
in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation. Psalm 149.4
*This is now
our congregation’s 99th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading
from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.
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