20th Sunday After Pentecost, October 10, 2021
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Livestream at 8:25am
Bulletin for the service
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us your gift of faith, that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to what lies ahead, we may follow the way of your commandments and receive the crown of everlasting joy, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.Amen.
Scripture
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Psalm 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31
Sermon
“Possession Possession”
Mark 10:17-31; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
What must we do to inherit eternal life? Jesus takes this man’s earnest question and turns it into a trap. What must you do? What could you possibly do to earn your way into the Kingdom? Jesus, knowing of the man’s wealth, asks him to give his wealth away. The man just cannot do it. He is possessed by his possessions, in thrall to his things. But what is impossible for us is possible for God. We cannot be saved except by Christ who comes to save us. Being forgiven, however, does not mean that we are off the hook. We are called to renounce our idolatry and enact the coming Kingdom in the here and now. We have all we need through Christ, and most of us have way more than we need in terms of earthly goods. There are those around us who go without. Christ has exorcised the demon of greed from us; let us live as signs of the Kingdom, working for the well-being of the last who will one day be first.
Hymns
Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices, LBW 560
Jesus, Priceless Treasure, ELW 775
God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending, LBW 408
God of Grace and God of Glory, LBW 415
ELW Evangelical Lutheran Worship
LBW, Lutheran Book of Worship
In our prayers we remember the Lawndale Christian Legal Center.