TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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October 17, 2021

By the Voluntary Poverty of Christ, We Enter the Kingdom of God

To love and trust in earthly wealth is vanity. For nothing of this earth will last forever, nor can any of it grant eternal life (Eccl. 5:10). But the one who trusts in God is “occupied with joy in his heart” and is able to sleep in peace, “whether he eats little or much,” because he knows that the “days of his life” are “the gift of God” (Eccl. 5:12, 18–20). The person who trusts in riches cannot sleep, because he “shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand” (Eccl. 5:15). Therefore, it is difficult “for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 20:23). Indeed, it is impossible for man, yet “all things are possible with God” (Mark 20:27). Thus, the Rich Man, Jesus Christ, has made Himself poor and has gone through “the eye of a needle,” through death and the grave, “to enter the kingdom of God” on our behalf (Mark 20:24–25). He is the “great high priest who has passed through the heavens” (Heb. 4:14), so that we may now enter His Sabbath rest by faith in His forgiveness (Heb. 4:3–9).

+ PREPARATION +

OPENING HYMN: #904 –Blessed Jesus, at Your Word

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 92:1–4; 93:5

Pastor: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

People: to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

Pastor: For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work;

People: at the works of Your hands I sing for joy.

Pastor: Your decrees are very trustworthy;

People: holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Pastor: It is good and right that we should make confession of our sins. The section on “Confession” in the Small Catechism informs and directs us with these words, which summarizes it well.

People: Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

Pastor: Humble yourselves then before God, confess your sins to Him, and implore His forgiveness.

People: O almighty God, merciful Father, I, a troubled and penitent sinner, confess to You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your present and eternal punishment. By nature, I am a sinful creature. By thought, word, and deed, I have continually transgressed Your law. For the sake of the sufferings and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, be gracious and merciful to me, a penitent and contrite being. Forgive me all my sins, and grant me the power of Your Holy Spirit that I may amend my sinful life.

Pastor: God be gracious to you and strengthen your faith.

People: Amen.

Pastor: As you believe, so let it be. As a called and ordained servant Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

+ WORD +

INTROIT Psalm 34:1–4, 17; antiphon: v. 18

Pastor: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.

People: I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Pastor: My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.

People: Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt His name together!

Pastor: I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

People: When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.

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.

Pastor: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

KYRIE

Pastor: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For peace from God and peace among our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For peace among all who seek to serve Christ and support His Church, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For this holy house and for all who gather here to be strengthened in faith and encouraged in service, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

People: Amen.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray.
Gracious Lord of all, let nothing interfere with our commitment to You. Give us that sense of priority that values all things properly and treasures nothing above Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and rules with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Ecclesiastes 5:10–20

(Enjoyment of life is a gift of God.)

¹⁰He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. ¹¹When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? ¹²Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

¹³There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, ¹⁴and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. ¹⁵As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? ¹⁷Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. ¹⁹Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. ²⁰For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL Psalm 91:11; 103:1

He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

EPISTLE Hebrews 4:1–13 (14–16)

(A Sabbath rest remains for God’s people.)

¹Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ²For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. ³For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

⁶Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹²For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

VERSE Mark 10:27b

Alleluia. With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Mark 10:23–31

(With God all things are possible.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the tenth chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

**HYMN OF THE DAY: #730 – *What Is the World to Me***

SERMON: We Have True Prosperity in Christ

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

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.

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 + everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:

Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:

People: hear our prayer.

At conclusion:

Pastor: … for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

People: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13

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.

CLOSING PRAYER

Pastor: Let us pray.
O God, Your divine wisdom sets in order all things in heaven and on earth. Put away from us all things hurtful and give us those things that are beneficial for us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

People: Amen.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!

People: Thanks be to God.

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – Online Church at Home Service Bulletin