Last Sunday in the Church Year
25 November 2018
“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps…”
St. Matthew 25.5-7
By Faith We Are Prepared for Christ’s Return
“The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11). The arrival of the bridegroom will be sudden and unexpected. Therefore you are to be watchful and ready like the five wise virgins. “For you know neither the day nor the hour” when the Son of Man is to return. (St. Matthew 25.1–13). The lamps are the Word of Christ. The oil in the lamps is the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word to create and sustain the flame of faith in Christ. The foolish are those who do not give proper attention to the working of the Holy Spirit in baptism, preaching, and the supper, and so their faith does not endure. The wise, however, are those who diligently attend to these gifts of the Spirit, and who therefore have an abundance of oil. The flame of faith endures to the end. By God’s grace they are received into the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, the new heavens and the new earth created by the Lord for the joy of His people (Isaiah 65.17–25).
Parish News
Altar Flowers are given to the glory of God by Mr. & Mrs. Larry Hayne in honor of their fifty-second wedding anniversary.
Congregational Assembly Annual Meeting is next Sunday, December 2, following Divine Service. The agenda for the meeting includes approving the annual budget for 2019, presentation of end-of-year reports from the Council of Deacons and congregational boards. Nominees for the Council of Deacons will be approved and elected to serve. A light lunch will be provided prior to the meeting. Please plan to attend!
The “8 Habits of a Highly Successful Christian” Our class on Christian piety is Tuesdays at 6:30pm. Contact Pastor Sutton if you need a book. You may join the class whenever you are able. Class on November 27: The Fifth Godly Habit: Sacrificial Giving. Our Lord gave His own life to bring in a bumper crop of new lives. In God’s Kingdom, one follows Jesus and gains more by giving away rather than by holding on, trusting that everything we have comes from God and His promised provision for us.
Adult Bible Class on Sunday at 9am currently is studying Hebrews in the Lutheran Confessions. Next on November 25 is Hebrews 9.1-14. “Service with a Clean Conscience” The imperfect service in the earthly sanctuary of the old covenant. The Hebrews author appeals to our imagination to show that our present involvement in the Divine Service resembles and yet surpasses all that.
Prepare for Next Sunday
Jeremiah 23.5–8; Romans 13.11–14; St. Matthew 21.1–9
Hymns: 334 – 332 – 331 – 350 – 351 – TLH 69
Order of Daily Prayer
L Make haste, O + God, to deliver me.
R Make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
Psalm 45
Scripture Readings:
[S] from Divine Service
[M] 2 Peter 3.1-18; Isaiah 65.17-25
[T] Jude 1-25; Ezekiel 37.15-28
[W] 1 John 2.18-29; Habakkuk 3.1-19
[Th] 1 John 3.1-18; Isaiah 40.27-31
[F] 1 John 3.19-24; Jeremiah 14.1-9
[S] 1 John 4.1-8; Malachi 3.7-18
Hymn of the Day or Month Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying (516)
Catechism (bulletin)
Apostles’ Creed
Kyrie: L Lord, have mercy upon us; R Christ, have mercy upon us; Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father
Collect of the Day (bulletin)
Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer
L Bless we the Lord. R Thanks be to God.
