St. Peters Lutheran Church Weekly Bible Page

March 7, 2010

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

O God, eagerly I seek you; my soul
thirsts for you.
Ps. 63:1

FIRST READING
Isaiah 55:1–9

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. ²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

³Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. ⁴See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. ⁵See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

⁶Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; ⁷let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

PSALM 63: 1-8

O God, you are my God; eager- ^| ly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there ^| is no water. ²Therefore I have gazed upon you in your ^| holy place, that I might behold your power ^| and your glory.

³For your steadfast love is better than ^| life itself; my lips shall ^| give you praise. ⁴So will I bless you as long ^| as I live and lift up my hands ^| in your name.

⁵My spirit is content, as with the rich- ^| est of foods, and my mouth praises you with ^| joyful lips, ⁶when I remember you up- ^| on my bed, and meditate on you in ^| the night watches.

⁷For you have ^| been my helper, and under the shadow of your wings I ^| will rejoice. ⁸My whole being ^| clings to you; your right hand ^| holds me fast.

SECOND READING
1 Corinthians 10:1–13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

⁶Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play." ⁸We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

¹¹These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

GOSPEL
Luke:13:1–9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' ⁸He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Knowing God Personally^{^®©}
Author Believe To Be Unknown
What does it take to begin a relationship

Waiting for lightning to strike?
Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds?
Become a better person so that God will accept you?
NONE of these!

God has made it very clear in the Bible
how we can know Him.
This will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God
Right now!

God loves you and offers you
a wonderful plan for your life.

Did you know God created you! Not only that, he loves you so much that he wants you to know him now and spend eternity with him. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.¹" Jesus came so that each one us could know and understand God in a personal way. Jesus alone can bring meaning and purpose to life.

What keeps us from knowing God? ..

(1) John 3:16

Coming Service

March 14, 2010

FORTH SUNDAY IN LENT

^{Be
glad, you righteous, and rejoice

in the LORD.} Ps. 32:11

FIRST READING
Joshua 5: 9-12

The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the Passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. ¹¹On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹²The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

PSALM 32

Happy are they whose transgressions ^| are forgiven, and whose sin is ^| put away! ²Happy are they to whom the LORD im- ^| putes no guilt, and in whose spirit there ^| is no guile!

³While I held my tongue, my bones with- ^| ered away, because of my groaning ^| all day long. ⁴For your hand was heavy upon me ^| day and night; my moisture was dried up as in the ^| heat of summer.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not con- ^| ceal my guilt. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." Then you forgave me the guilt ^| of my sin. ⁶Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in ^| time of trouble; when the great waters overflow, they ^| shall not reach them.

⁷You are my hiding-place; you preserve ^| me from trouble; you surround me with shouts ^| of deliverance. ⁸"I will instruct you and teach you in the way that ^| you should go; I will guide you ^| with my eye.

⁹Do not be like horse or mule, which have no ^| understanding; who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will ^| not stay near you." ¹⁰Great are the tribulations ^| of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust ^| in the LORD.

¹¹Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice ^| in the LORD; shout for joy, all who are ^| true of heart.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not con- ^| ceal my guilt. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." Then you forgave me the guilt ^| of my sin. ⁶Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in ^| time of trouble; when the great waters overflow, they ^| shall not reach them.

⁷You are my hiding-place; you preserve ^| me from trouble; you surround me with shouts ^| of deliverance. ⁸"I will instruct you and teach you in the way that ^| you should go; I will guide you ^| with my eye.

⁹Do not be like horse or mule, which have no ^| understanding; who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will ^| not stay near you." ¹⁰Great are the tribulations ^| of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust ^| in the LORD.

¹¹Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice ^| in the LORD; shout for joy, all who are ^| true of heart.

SECOND READING
2 Corinthians 5:16–21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

GOSPEL
Luke:15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus]. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

³So he told them this parable: ^11b"There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." ' ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²²But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' ³¹Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"