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10th Sunday After Trinity.................................................. 13 August 2023
Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem
Our Lord wept over Jerusalem for the destruction that would soon come upon her. For she did not recognize the time of God’s visitation in Christ, who had come to bring her peace (Luke 19:41–48). Through His prophets God had consistently called His people to turn from their deceit and false worship. “But My people do not know the judgments of the Lord” (Jer. 8:4–12). They sought to establish their own righteousness rather than receive Christ’s righteousness through faith (Rom. 9:30–10:4). So it was that God was in His temple to cleanse it, a precursor to the once-for-all cleansing from sin which He would accomplish in the temple of His own body on the cross. God grant us to know the things that make for our peace—His visitation in the Word and Sacraments—that by the Holy Spirit we may penitently confess “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:1–11).
Holy Cross Sunday ....................................................September 18, 2022
The Cry of Faith: Lord, Have Mercy
The ten lepers cried out from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:11–19).
Their condition cut them off from God and others. So also do the works of the flesh cut us off
from God and others. “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal.
5:16–24). Thus we cry out with the lepers, “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have
mercy,” eagerly seeking His good gifts. Jesus said to the lepers, “Go and show yourselves to the
priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. So too, we walk by faith and not by sight, being
confident of Jesus’ help before we see any evidence of it, trusting that Jesus’ cleansing words of
forgiveness will restore us to wholeness in the resurrection. Let us be as the one leper who
returned to the true High Priest to give Him thanks and glory. For Jesus bore our infirmities in
His sacrifice at Calvary. His words are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh
(Prov. 4:10–23).
Contacts
618-283-1133
hclchurch@att.net
726 W Fillmore St
Vandalia, IL, US
Open Hours
Confession-Study
If you would like to review what was taught during the Adult Bible Class sessions about Individual Confession and Absolution, click on the links below to watch the video.
The Lutheran Confessions on Confession
The Practice of Individual Confession and Absolution