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Opening Versicles

L This is the day which the Lord has made;C let us rejoice and be glad in it.L From the rising of the sun to its setting,C the name of the Lord is to be praised.L Return to the Lord, your God, for He is

gracious and merciful,C slow to anger, and abounding in

steadfast love, and repents of evil.L Jesus said: If any man would come after Me,

C let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

L Christ was wounded for our transgressions.C He was bruised for our iniquities.L From the rising of the sun to its setting,C the name of the Lord is to be praised.C 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.

The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. With joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.And you will say in that day:"Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name,make known His deeds among the people,proclaim that His name is exalted."

Old Testament Canticle

The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously;let this be made known in all the earth.Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitants of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.


The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. Glory be to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.


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Readings From Holy Scripture

L A reading from Psalm, the one hundred thirty-ninth chapter.

1O LORD, you have searched me and known me!2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.5You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Reading

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;it is high; I cannot attain it.

7Where shall I go from your Spirit?Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,”

12even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.13For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well.

15My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,when as yet there were none of them.

17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!How vast is the sum of them!

18If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

L This is the Word of the Lord.C Thanks be to God.

Reading

P The Old Testament Reading is from Deuteronomy, the twenty-sixth chapter.

1“When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose,

Old Testament Reading

to make his name to dwell there. 3And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.5“And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt

and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9And he

brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.P This is the Word of the Lord.C Thanks be to God.

P The Epistle is from Romans, the tenth chapter.

8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one

Epistle

confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”P This is the Word of the Lord.C Thanks be to God.

Epistle

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Responsory

L We have an advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

C He was delivered up to death; He was delivered for the sins of the people.

L Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.


L We have an advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.


P The Holy Gospel according to Luke, the fourth chapter.

C Glory to You, O Lord.1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

Holy Gospel

5And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8And Jesus answered him, “It is written,“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’”

Holy Gospel

9And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written,“‘He will command his angels concerning you,to guard you,’ 11and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Holy Gospel

13And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.P This is the Gospel of the Lord.C Praise to You, O Christ.

Holy Gospel

Catechism

C You shall have no other gods.You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.Honor your father and your mother.You shall not murder.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.

Ten Commandments

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Ten Commandments

CreedFirst Article

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

Second Article And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of

God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to

judge the living and the dead.

Third Article I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,and the life T everlasting.

Amen.

L Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives on reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

Collect for the Word

C Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive

those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the

glory forever and ever. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

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The Crosses of Childhood

We often think fondly of childhoodCarefreeFunEnjoyment

We forget what childhood was really likeConfusionFearsHumiliationsNo controlBulliesSnubbingsPeer pressureShameCrying

All vocations involve loving and serving your neighbor which means bearing a cross of self-denial.Wives submitHusbands give themselves upParents sacrificeChildren have a long process of learning to deny

themselvesSaying no to themselves – controlling impulses

Eating, playing fair, obeying, controlling passionsDiscipline involves subjecting and training the will – the goal

of discipline is developing the virtue of self-control (voluntarily rejecting the will)

Cross-bearing though, is not simply suffering, but rather it is suffering for someone. Not simply self-denial, but self-denial for one’s neighbor

Discipline is practice in self-denial; but to put self-denial into action and to turn it into a cross, it must serve neighbor

The calling of the parents is to sacrifice themselves for their children….they have NO calling and NO authority to sacrifice their children for themselves.

OT talks about a literal sacrifice for idols, but our idols today are rarely statues…our idols now are work, money, status, leisure, etc…. A father might sacrifice his children for his job, or

mother might turn a child into a fashion accessory. Parents might see their children as a status symbol, trophy or servant.

Abraham demonstrated obedience by taking his son up the mountain

He demonstrated faith in what he said – so even while laboring under the harshness of the law (obedience) he believed the gospel (Heb. 11:9)

On that same location, a place called “the Lord will provide,” Solomon built the temple – there sacrifices were made, a substitution for their sins as they laid their hands on the animal and offered up its life in place of theirs.

The ram in the thicket, Solomon’s temple…these signify Christ “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

Sin in vocation often involves wanting to BE served rather than TO serve.

Even when the neighbor owes us service, we are to receive that as a response to our own service.

The most futile way to get someone to serve is by demanding it, “respect me!” “Do what I say!” “Did you hear me?!” 1-sided demands hardly achieve anything – in fact the impulse often becomes to strike out at the one demanding.

Proverbs 13:24 – discipline in the Bible is always associated with love.

A frustrated parent can respond with rage, lapse in self-control, lose temper and lash out at the child – the child is hurt (emotionally/physically/spiritually – no love)

When this lapse occurs, children are abused, the love between parent and child dies.It is usually still there down deep, but manifests

itself in the parents guilt and the child’s yearning.God calls no one to sin, nor does he authorize

anyone to sin in vocation.Your office may call for respect and obedience, but

you remain subject to God and have no authority to harm those whom God has placed under your care.

God does avenge the abuse of a childWhether it be in hellOr in the case of those who turn to Christ, in

pouring out His wrath for their depravity onto His own Son as their substitute

Psalm 68:5 – God is Father of the Fatherless also

How can a child obey an abusive parent?“honor” requires a personal feelingCan honor the officeFeel gratitude for existenceAt some point the child might receive from God the grace

to honor the abusing parents despite themselves. This is the unmerited honor that God gives to sinners through His Son

Sometimes, the cross the child must bear is the child’s own parents.Earthly children must also carry the sins of their parents

and like Christ, they suffer for those sins.It may be that the abused child can see themselves in

Jesus, forsaken by his Father. If so, the abused child may experience how his cross is taken up into the cross of Jesus, who bears not just our transgressions and iniquities, but also our griefs and sorrows (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Malachi 4:6Luke 1:16-17Children have great faith – they are the strong

ones in the hospital, the calm ones in the face of tragedy. To them, as the Bible says, belongs the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:14; Mark 10:15). Jesus pronounces himself the advocate and avenger of children.

Matt. 18 – Christ is hidden in children so that the way we treat a child is the way we treat Christ, and their crosses are His cross.

Offering

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L In peace let us pray to the Lord:C Lord, have mercy.L For the gift of divine peace and of pardon,

with all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.L For the holy Christian Church, here and

scattered throughout the world, and for the proclamation of the Gospel and the calling of all to faith, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

Prayer

L For this nation, for our cities and communities, and for the common welfare of us all, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.L For seasonable weather and for the fruitfulness

of the earth, let us pray to the Lord:C Lord, have mercy.L For those who labor, for those whose work is

difficult or dangerous, and for all who travel, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

Prayer

L For all those in need, for the hungry and homeless, for the widowed and orphaned, and for all those in prison, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.L For the sick and dying and for all those who

care for them, let us pray to the Lord:C Lord, have mercy.L Finally, for these and for all our needs of body

and soul, let us pray to the Lord:C Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Prayer

Prayer

L O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

Collect of the Day

C 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.

Evening Prayer

Blessing

L Let us bless the Lord.C Thanks be to God.P The almighty and merciful Lord, the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

C Amen.

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