Readings and Psalm for July 9, 2023, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The mystery of God’s ways is sometimes hidden from the wise and intelligent. Jesus associates with those often excluded from the religious community. Like Paul, we struggle with our own selfish desires and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. We gather to be refreshed by Christ’s invitation: “Come to me, all you that are weary.” Gathered around word, water, and meal, we find rest for our souls.

Prayer of the Day

You are great, O God, and greatly to be praised. You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Grant that we may believe in you, call upon you, know you, and serve you, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings and Psalm

Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-14
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

First Reading: Zechariah 9:9-12

9Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
  Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
 Lo, your king comes to you;
  triumphant and victorious is he,
 humble and riding on a donkey,
  on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
  and the war-horse from Jerusalem;
 and the battle bow shall be cut off,
  and he shall command peace to the nations;
 his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
  and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
  I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
  today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Psalm: Psalm 145:8-14

8The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
  slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9Lord, you are good to all,
  and your compassion is over all your works. 
10All your works shall praise you, O Lord,
  and your faithful ones shall bless you.
11They shall tell of the glory of your kingdom
  and speak of your power,
12that all people may know of your power
  and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages.
  You, Lord, are faithful in all your words, and loving in all your works.
14The Lord upholds all those who fall
  and lifts up those who are bowed down. 

Second Reading: Romans 7:15-25a

15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25aThanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] 16“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
17‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
  we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
25At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS022632. New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Revised Common Lectionary, Copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts, admin Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.

Readings and Psalm for July 2, 2023, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

The welcome of baptism is for all God’s children. This baptismal gift sets us free from the power of sin and death. In today’s gospel, Christ promises that the disciple who gives a cup of cold water to the little ones serves Christ himself. From worship we are sent on our baptismal mission: to serve the little ones of this world and to be a sign of God’s merciful welcome.

Prayer of the Day

O God, you direct our lives by your grace, and your words of justice and mercy reshape the world. Mold us into a people who welcome your word and serve one another, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings and Psalm

Jeremiah 28:5-9
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42

First Reading: Jeremiah 28:5-9

5The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. 7But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

Psalm: Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

1Your love, O Lord, forever will I sing;
  from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
2For I am persuaded that your steadfast love is established forever;
  you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
3“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
  I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
4‘I will establish your line forever,
  and preserve your throne for all generations.’ 
15Happy are the people who know the festal shout!
  They walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.
16They rejoice daily in your name;
  they are jubilant in your righteousness.
17For you are the glory of their strength,
  and by your favor our might is exalted.
18Truly, our shield belongs to the Lord;
  our king to the Holy One of Israel. 

Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23

12Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

15What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
20When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42

[Jesus said to the twelve:] 40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS022632. New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Revised Common Lectionary, Copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts, admin Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.

Readings and Psalm for June 25, 2023, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

God does not promise that the path of the disciple will be easy. Jeremiah feels the pain of rejection from those who do not want to hear what he has to say. Jesus declares that his words may bring stark division. Even so, we need not be afraid for God accounts for each hair on our heads. Though we may experience rejection, frustration, division, and death, God’s grace and love make us a new creation each day. Marked with the cross and filled with holy food, we are sent from worship to witness to Christ in the world.

Prayer of the Day

Teach us, good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings and Psalm

Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39

First Reading: Jeremiah 20:7-13

7O Lord, you have enticed me,
 and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
 and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
 everyone mocks me.
8For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
 I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
 a reproach and derision all day long.
9If I say, “I will not mention him,
 or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
 shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
 and I cannot.
10For I hear many whispering:
  “Terror is all around!
 Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
  All my close friends
  are watching for me to stumble.
 “Perhaps he can be enticed,
  and we can prevail against him,
  and take our revenge on him.”
11But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
  therefore my persecutors will stumble,
  and they will not prevail.
 They will be greatly shamed,
  for they will not succeed.
 Their eternal dishonor
  will never be forgotten.
12O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
  you see the heart and the mind;
 let me see your retribution upon them,
  for to you I have committed my cause.

13Sing to the Lord;
  praise the Lord!
 For he has delivered the life of the needy
  from the hands of evildoers.

Psalm: Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18

7Surely, for your sake I have suffered reproach,
  and shame has covered my face.
8I have become a stranger to my own kindred,
  an alien to my mother’s children.
9Zeal for your house has eaten me up;
  the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
10I humbled myself with fasting,
  but that was turned to my reproach. 
  16Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind;
  
in your great compassion, turn to me.
17Hide not your face from your servant;
  be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
18Draw near to me and redeem me;
  
because of my enemies deliver me. 

Second Reading: Romans 6:1b-11

1bShould we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39

[Jesus said to the twelve:] 24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35For I have come to set a man against his father,
 and a daughter against her mother,
 and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Reflections from June 9-10, 2023, New England Synod Assembly

Jerry Webster and Bob Wohlfort attended the New England Synod Assembly held June 9-10, 2023. Video recordings from Friday, June 9, 2023, and Saturday, June 10, 2023 are provided. Below are reflections from Jerry and Bob.

REFLECTIONS FROM JERRY WEBSTER:
Although the assembly was titled “Death and Resurrection,” there were actually two themes that wove them through all of the 2023 New England Synod Assembly. The first, “Death and Resurrection,” focused on the challenges facing shrinking churches and changing demographics. The second was the report of the antiracism team, the results of their work on identifying what needed to happen to create a more inclusive Lutheran church.

The theme of “Death and Resurrection” focused not only on the theological concepts, but also on our lived experience as individuals, and families, and as communities of faith. A special focus was on the death of congregations as they experience either closure or merger, an experience that is becoming increasingly relevant across not only ELCA congregations in our synod, but across the United States.

The Friday session was given to the antiracism team to both present their report and the issues they believe need to be addressed. The team members each shared an experience of racism they had in both the institutional ELCA settings and in congregations. As part of the reflection on racism, they also had assembly members share their experiencing, either as being the subject of the racism, ways they had seen expressions of racism, or others experiencing racism. For me, it was a reminder of an undercurrent of racism that we often ignore and fail to address.

REFLECTIONS FROM BOB WOHLFORT:
Some information for review: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), of which we are a part, is made up of 9 geographical districts; 65 synods (smaller geographical areas); each synod elects a bishop; New England Synod (NES) is Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. There are 156 congregations in the NES. In our ELCA 31 of the 65 bishops are women. It was no accident that the worship leaders and spokespersons were women…predominantly nonwhite women.

The mood and the energy in the ballroom of the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, was mostly upbeat, joyful, attentive and at times deeply reflective as we gathered around the theme of Death and Resurrection.

Continue reading Reflections from June 9-10, 2023, New England Synod Assembly

Readings and Psalm for June 18, 2023, Third Sunday after Pentecost

Moses tells the Israelites that they are called to be a priestly kingdom and a holy people. Jesus sends out the disciples as laborers into the harvest. In baptism we too are anointed for ministry, sharing God’s compassion with our needy world. From the Lord’s table we go forth to proclaim the good news, to heal the sick, and to share our bread with the hungry.

Prayer of the Day

God of compassion, you have opened the way for us and brought us to yourself. Pour your love into our hearts, that, overflowing with joy, we may freely share the blessings of your realm and faithfully proclaim the good news of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings and Psalm

Exodus 19:2-8a
Psalm 100
Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:8-23

First Reading: Exodus 19:2-8a

2[The Israelites] had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.3Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 4You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
7So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8aThe people all answered as one: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Psalm: Psalm 100

1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
  2Serve the Lord with gladness; come into God’s presence with a song.
3Know that the Lord is God, our maker to whom we belong;
  we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture. 
4Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and the courts with praise;
  give thanks and bless God’s holy name.
5Good indeed is the Lord, whose steadfast love is everlasting,
  whose faithfulness endures from age to age. 

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-8

1Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Gospel: Matthew 9:35—10:8  

35Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10:1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.  


From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS022632. New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Revised Common Lectionary, Copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts, admin Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.

Readings and Psalm for June 11, 2023, Second Sunday after Pentecost

Though Jesus was a devout Jew who practiced his faith, he was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners—the religiously nonobservant. Jesus criticizes the self-righteous and reminds us that mercy is to be at the heart of our religious practices. God continues to be made known in those on the margins of society, like Matthew the tax collector and the hemorrhaging woman. As we gather each Lord’s day we receive the healing that makes us well and sends us forth to be signs of God’s mercy for the world.

Prayer of the Day

O God, you are the source of life and the ground of our being. By the power of your Spirit bring healing to this wounded world, and raise us to the new life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings and Psalm

Hosea 5:15-6:6
Psalm 50:7-15
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

First Reading: Hosea 5:15-6:6

15I will return again to my place
  until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
  In their distress they will beg my favor:

6:1“Come, let us return to the Lord;
  for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
  he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
2After two days he will revive us;
  on the third day he will raise us up,
  that we may live before him.
3Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
  his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
 he will come to us like the showers,
  like the spring rains that water the earth.”

4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
  What shall I do with you, O Judah?
 Your love is like a morning cloud,
  like the dew that goes away early.
5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
  I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
  and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
  the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Psalm: Psalm 50:7-15

7“Listen, my people, and I will speak: Israel, I will bear witness against you;
  for I am God, your God.
8I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices;
  your burnt offerings are always before me.
9I will not accept a calf from your stalls,
  nor goats from your pens;
10for all the wild animals of the forest are mine,
  the cattle on a thousand hills. 
11I know every bird of the mountains,
  and the creatures of the fields are mine.
12If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
  for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls,
  or drink the blood of goats?
14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
  and make good your vows to the Most High.
15Call upon me in the day of trouble;
  I will deliver you, and you shall honor me. 

Second Reading: Romans 4:13-25

13The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.






From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS022632.  New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Revised Common Lectionary, Copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts, admin Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.