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DEVOTION THEME OF THE WEEK : 
THE CONFIDENCE IN GOD 
WROUGHT BY THE SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies
the entire Christian church here on earth.
He also keeps each and every one of us in the one true faith.
Our confidence in God to keep the promises
that He won on the cross begin with the Holy Spirit
bringing us and keeping us in the faith,
which receives these promises.
He doesn’t do this in abstract ways,
but in real and tangible, touchy-feely ways,
that are ours in time and space.
Where is your confidence that your sins are forgiven?
Hear the words of your pastor in absolution.
How do you know you are dead to sin?
Remember your baptism where you died in Christ.
How do you know God is for you?
Receive His very body broken and blood poured out.
In His Spirit, be confident in God!

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​​​BLESS YOURSELF WITH THE HOLY CROSS AND SAY : 
In the name of the Father
and of the Son
​and of the Holy Spirit.

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SAY THE 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.


PRAY THE LORD’S PRAYER : 
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 u s 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.


PRAY THE MORNING OR EVENING PRAYER :​
Morning :
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger;
and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You.
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 :
​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. 


PRAY THE PSALM OF THE WEEK :
PSALM 86 : 1 - 3 , 4 , 6 , 15 - 16
Bow down Your ear, O Lord, / hear me;*                                             
You are my God; save Your servant who / trusts in You!
Be merciful to / me, O Lord,*                                                                
for I cry to You / all day long.                                             
Rejoice the soul of Your / servant,*                                                     
for to You, O Lord, I lift / up my soul.                               
Give ear, O Lord, / to my prayer;*                                                      
and attend to the voice of my suppli- / cations.           
You, O Lord, are a God full of com- / passion,*                              
oh, turn to me, and have mercy up- / on me!               
Give Your strength to Your / servant,*                                             
and save the son of Your / maidservant.                      


SAY TOGETHER THE VERSE OF THE WEEK :
PSALM 119 : 114
“Uphold me according to Your promise,
that I may live,
and let me not be put to shame in my hope.”


SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2022
SCRIPTURE: DO NOT BE ANXIOUS
MATTHEW 6 : 24 - 34
It’s funny how these Words spoken from our Lord
can be heard as God’s accusation.
“Do not be anxious,” is like saying,
“Do not breathe.”
Sadly, I don’t know how to live without worrying
about the food on my plate or the clothing on my back,
let alone all of the other things like medical diagnoses,
losing a job, having your spouse walk out on you.
How am I not supposed to worry
when a million and one things in this world can go wrong?
But then in the midst of my anxious toiling
I hear these Words from my Savior’s lips,
a Savior who has conquered my sin
and the horrible demons,
who has conquered the fullness of this broken world
and even death and the grave.
I need not worry because it is that Jesus
who promises that He will provide me with all that I need
to support this body and life.
Jesus, forgive me when I am anxious.
Amen.


MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
SCRIPTURE: A STRANGE THING INDEED
1 KINGS 17 : 8 - 24
What sort of God would save a child
only to kill him later?
The widow thinks that God is punishing her
and that Elijah is a prophet of condemnation.
The fallenness of this world
certainly is a proclamation of the Law from our God.
Sin breaks the good things of creation
and they all eventually sputter out and die.
And yet, our God is not a God of death,
for all His wrath has been poured out upon another
so that He can pour out His grace upon us.
No, our God is a God of life.
And so the promise for us
is that His preaching does not end with condemnation
and the killing of the Law,
but instead finds its fulfillment in Christ.
Our death ends in the same place that Christ’s death did:
an empty tomb and a resurrected body.
Yes, the Lord gives and takes away,
yet He will not leave us in death,
but promises us eternal life.
Father, raise me like You did Your Son.
Amen.


​TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
SCRIPTURE: LIVE BY THE SPIRIT
GALATIANS 5 : 25 - 6 : 10

Living by the Spirit is an odd way to live,
at least if you are looking at it from the broken and fallen world.
Everything the Spirit moves the “saint” to do in love for his neighbor
is the exact opposite of what the “sinner” within wants to do.
The “sinner” doesn’t wish to restore his brother in gentleness
or bear another’s burden or share with those who teach him the faith.
And yet these backwards things are the things of the Christian
now that the Gospel has had its way with him.
We have no excuse for not bearing burdens
and forgiving as Christ has forgiven us.
We are no longer unbelievers caught dead in our sin,
but we are made-alive and are resurrected saints
who daily drown the old sinful Adam into the watery death
of cross-connected baptisms.
Live by the Spirit is just another way to say:
Be who Christ has made you.
Holy Spirit, guide our lives.
Amen.


​WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
SCRIPTURE: THE SHEMA
DEUTERONOMY 6 : 4 - 7
With these Words,
Moses lays out for us the most important Commandment that there is:
Love the Lord your God.
And the second, loving your neighbors,
flows directly from the first.
“The Shema,” fancy talk for, “Hear,”
is a creedal statement expressing the singularity of God;
YHWH, the Triune God.
Love Him alone with all of your being,
for He is your life and your salvation.
So important is this,
that it must stand as the foundation of our faith.
Know it, intimately.
Teach it to you children, earnestly.
There is nothing more important for them
to know and believe than that there is one God,
Who has made Himself known to us in the person of Jesus,
and that it is in Him that we have the forgiveness of
sins, life, and salvation.
Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Amen.


​THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
SCRIPTURE: ST. MICHAEL
REVELATION 12 : 7 - 12
You might have seen the paintings of an angel
with his foot on the neck of a dragon,
driving a spear through its mouth.
This is where that image is born,
the great war in heaven between the angels and the demons.
The devil desired to devour Jesus
in order to keep Him from His salvific cross.
But the child (Rev. 12:5) was caught up to the heaven.
At His Ascension,
Jesus had all authority placed under His feet.
Which means that the devil no longer had a place
in the heavenly throne room
to run his accusing mouth any longer.
All of his accusations, now fall on deaf ears
because all of the sin of the world has already fallen upon Christ.
The wrath of God has been paid in full.
The guilt for all sin has been rendered
judged fully on the cross.
The devil has no words before the Father concerning you.
He has been cast out.
Heavenly Father,
hear only the voice of Your Son for our sake.
Amen.


​FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
SCRIPTURE: PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH
ACTS 8 : 26 - 39
“What prevents me from being baptized?”
These are the words of a man who has his entire life
been prevented from receiving certain things because of who he is.
A eunuch was a worthless man.
He was always seen as less, as not good enough.
So much so that as this Ethiopian eunuch
made his way to the Temple to worship YHWH
he was turned away because the old Levitical codes
barred him from entrance.
So with Philip he is sure that something prevents him
from receiving the blessing of baptism.
But there is nothing!
Nothing prevents him from the holy waters of Baptism.
Nothing, not his sin, not his selfness, not his eunuchness,
nothing prevents him from the Gospel of Christ crucified,
washed upon him to make him holy and pure and worthy.
And the same is true for you.
Nothing prevents you from the gifts of your Lord.
Jesus, wash me like You did the eunuch.
Amen.


​SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 31, 2022
SCRIPTURE: A PRAYER
PSALM 119, FIFTEENTH PART (SAMEKH V113- 120)
Gracious God, through the working of Your Spirit
I have come to love Your law and teaching.
When my enemies surround me,
my only refuge is Your Word
to shield me from their pursuits.
Cast away those who delight in evil
so that I may delight in Your commandments.
For the sake of Your promise grant me life,
for there is no other place where I may hope.
Secure me in the safety that You provide,
based upon the decrees that You have declared.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
and so You have made me to fear Your judgments.
Therefore, keep from me all who hate Your instruction.
Let not their cunning deceive me.
For the salvation over all things
You have won and for Your sake alone,
You grant that salvation to me.
Teach me to love Your ways and Your testimonies
all the days of my life.
Amen.


PRAY THE PRAYER OF THE WEEK :
O Lord, we implore You,
let Your continual pity cleanse and defend Your Church,
and because she cannot continue in safety without Your help,
preserve her evermore by Your help and goodness;
through Jesus Christ,
Your Son, our Lord who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost,
ever one God,
world without end.
Amen.


PRAYER FOR OURSELVES AND OTHERS

​​
SING OR SAY THE HYMN OF THE WEEK :
IN GOD, MY FAITHFUL GOD