Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Caught in the Trap, Set Free by the Cross”

Text: Matthew 18:1-20; Romans 13:1-10

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Why would you ask such a question? The answer, I think, is obvious. They wanted Jesus to say: you are. You are the ones I have chosen. You are the ones who have followed me. You are. Because maybe some of them were struggling. Or having doubts. Or just wanted a pat on the back; an “Atta boy!” A little recognition. Some praise. Following Jesus wasn’t easy, after all.

Which you understand. We all like that, want that. The promotion at work, a little recognition for all our hard work, some praise. And that’s okay. That’s the way the world works. Or is supposed to. That’s what Paul was talking about in the Epistle from Romans today. The authorities set-up by God are to praise the good and punish the evil. To maintain order in the world so there is not chaos. That’s what the Law is for. So it isn’t right when the slacker gets the promotion, when our hard work is ignored, and when it seems that all we get is criticism. 

That’s how it is in the world, or as theology calls it, the kingdom of the left, or God’s left hand kingdom. But that’s not the question asked by the disciples today. They asked, Who is the greatest - not in the kingdom of the left, the world, but in the kingdom of heaven? In what theology calls the kingdom of the right, or God’s right hand kingdom? Both kingdoms are God’s. Both are ruled by Him. Just in very different ways . . .

God’s left hand kingdom is ruled by the Law. It is about punishments and rewards. About getting what you earn and deserve. But God’s right hand kingdom is ruled by the Gospel. It is about grace. About getting what you do not deserve: God’s mercy and love. Two very different kingdoms. Which we need to keep straight! You cannot keep order in the world with grace and forgiveness, and the church in not about punishments and rewards. Both are necessary, and both are good, when kept in their proper place. 

So when the disciples ask Jesus Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He gives them a very Gospel answer. He puts a child in their midst. For the greatest in the kingdom of heaven isn't the one who does the most (like in the world), it’s not the one who stands before you in an alb and stole - it's the one who needs the most and receives it. The Canaanite woman who begs for her daughter’s life. The tax collector who says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The leper who cries out for cleansing. The ones who can do nothing, but for whom Jesus does everything. 

So take a look around. Not out there, but in here. What do you see? People who are maybe successful in the world, but in here? In here are Canaanite women, tax collectors, and lepers. In here are sinners, one and all. People struggling. People failing. Failing to love God as we ought. Failing to love our neighbor as ourselves. Ones who on the basis of the Law (frankly) deserve not a promotion to heaven, but a demotion to hell. 

But now take another look around . . . there’s someone else here. Someone who has come not to condemn, but to save. Who knows your struggles, who knows your weaknesses, who knows all your failures. And is here to forgive. The one who really is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven was standing right in front of the disciples that day in human flesh! And He is here for you the same. To seek and to save the lost. To serve you. For you are His child. He wants to give you not what you deserve, but what you don’t - His gifts. His mercy and love. And He wants for you to receive them, as His child, with joy. 

So now take another look around again . . . past the obvious, past the appearances, past the surface . . . do you see now a church full of children? A church full of greatness? That is seeing with the eyes of faith. Seeing as Jesus sees, not as the world sees. 

That’s why Jesus then talks the way He does, as we heard today, about the seriousness of sin. About causing someone else to sin, and being caught in sin. Because to Him, it’s not just about rules, about right and wrong - it’s about His children! Don’t mess with His children! If you do, drowning by millstone and cutting off your body parts is better! And that’s not hyperbole - Jesus means it! 

But while that may be better, best is to not try to save yourself by self-mutilation, penance, or trying to pay the price yourself - but to be the Canaanite woman, the tax collector, the leper, and receive the mercy and forgiveness won for you by the one who came and took the millstone for you and had His body parts not cut off, but almost! The one who had them nailed to the cross for you. Who laid down His life for you. The one who allowed the trap of sin and death to snap shut on Him so that you be set free.

For that’s really the picture Jesus is painting for us today - that of a trap snapping shut. The traps that satan is setting and leaving for you all around, luring you into the captivity sin and then ultimately eternal death. For when we heard today Jesus talking about temptations to sin or causing to sin, the word there is skandalon. And a skandalon is a trap or a snare for catching prey. Think of it like one of those old animal traps that would lure its prey into the midst of it with food and then snap shut - trapping the animal in its grip. And once caught, what then? Either cut off or gnaw off a hand or foot, or die in its grip. So better, Jesus is saying, to cut off a hand or foot than to die in your sin. Which is true.

But there’s something else the Bible calls a skandalon . . . and that is the cross of Jesus. So the cross of Jesus, it is often said, is a scandal, an offense. But this, too: it is the place where our foolishness, sin, and death snapped shut on Jesus and caused His death. Or maybe to say it this way: where He took your place to set you free. Which is the word used in the Bible for forgiveness - to let go, to set free. 

So Jesus came to seek those caught in the traps of sin and death and to save us from them. To pry them open and set us free. For Jesus doesn’t want anyone to perish in them. And Jesus then tells us who have been set free to do the same. That if your brother sins against you, if you see him caught in the trap of sin, go and try to set him free! Tell him his fault and be ready to forgive. But do so in humility and gentleness. For if you’ve ever see a nature show and seen an animal caught in one of those traps, you know that even when the person approaches to set it free, the animal growls and lunges at the person trying to help because it is afraid. And people caught in sin may do the same. They’re afraid. They’re ashamed. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it! Just know it won’t be easy.

But that forgiveness isn’t the end. Once an animal is released from a trap like that, it has been wounded; it needs healing. And sin wounds us. Maybe we don’t realize it at first, like the animal once in the trap but now set free is filled with adrenaline runs away. But later the hurt and pain comes. So we continue to care for one another. And Jesus is here to continue to heal us with His comforting words and balm of forgiveness, His cleansing bath of baptism, and the nourishing food of His Body and Blood. That set free and healed and strengthened by Him, we can then care for one another.

But remember: that isn’t what makes you great - Jesus makes you great! It’s just how His children live. What Jesus and His Spirit are working in us. For the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is here for us,  in His risen from the dead, freed from the traps of sin and death, flesh and blood. We know that because Jesus said - or better to say, promised! - where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. So it isn’t because of the greatness or size or beauty of the church that Jesus is here, but because His children are here, and He is here for us. And because He is, who’s the greatest isn’t the question. It is enough to be His children. To receive all that He has done for us. 

And when the one who is here for us now comes again - no longer hidden in water, words, and bread and wine - but when He comes visibly, in His glory . . . if you think the disciples were surprised at the answer Jesus gave them that day to who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven . . . imagine how surprised we will be on that day! What we will see! Who we will see! And that the greatest is not the one who did the most or rose the highest in the church, but the one who received the most. A child in the arms of His Father and Saviour. 

So on this Labor Day weekend, when we honor our work and the value of work, we get a good reminder from Jesus today . . . that greatness in the kingdom of God’s right hand, in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of His Son, seated at His right hand, doesn’t come by what you do but because of who you are - a baptized child of God. Dearly loved. And that as His child, you have a place in His home, forever. And you just can’t get any greater than that!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 15 (September 7-12, 2026)

Invocation: In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 

Verse: Psalm 103:2 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #602 “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives”

Hymns for Sunday: 589, 602, 622, 843 (tune: 526), 729, 895

Readings for the Week: [The readings for Thursday-Saturday are the Scriptures for this coming Sunday.]

Monday: Psalm 103:1-12

Why should we bless the Lord? What has He done for us? What is He still (and always!) doing for us? Why?

Tuesday: 1 Kings 17:8-16

How did God use the widow to provide for Elijah and Elijah to provide for the widow? How is God using you today?

Wednesday: Matthew 6:24-34

How can saying “don’t be anxious” lead to more anxiety? What do we need? What can take away our worry and anxiety?

Thursday: Genesis 50:15–21

Why do we forgive – because others deserve it, because we’re told to, or because we trust in God? How does this help us forgive?

Friday: Romans 14:1-12

How does pride lead to judgment and humility to honor? How should our life before God be reflected in our life before others?

Saturday: Matthew 18:21-35

Where was the joy of the servant who was forgiven? What does this tell us about him? How does joy in forgiveness received lead to joy in forgiveness given?

The Catechism - The Lord’s Prayer: The Fifth Petition: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. What does this mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, not have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

Collect for the Week: O God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, hear the devout prayers of Your Church, especially in times of persecution, and grant that what we ask in faith we may obtain; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Prayers:  Please pray for . . .

+ yourself and for all in need (remembering especially those on our prayer list).

+ God’s blessing, wisdom, and guidance for our congregation’s Investment Committee

+ the Lutheran Church of Uruguay, for God’s wisdom, blessing, guidance, and provision.

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and provision for the Lutheran Braille Workers.

Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer from the Catechism.

Now joyfully go about your day (or to bed) in good cheer, child of God!

Collect for the Week © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Service Book Hymn License: 110019268

Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Jesus’ Life Preserver”

Text: Matthew 16:21-28; Romans 12:9-21; Jeremiah 15:15-21

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Three weeks ago, we heard the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. He boldly stepped out of the boat and was actually doing it, until he got frightened by the storm and started sinking.

Now, it’s happening again. Only worse.

Last week, Peter was bold - boldly confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. But in the words of the Holy Gospel we heard today, he is sinking. Because once again, he is frightened. This time, frightened not by a storm, but filled with fear when confronted with the cross.

For Jesus explains to his disciples what it means that He is the Christ: that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. There is no option for Him. If this does not happen, He is not, cannot be, the Christ.

Now perhaps Peter had seen crucifixions before. The Romans were famous for them, after all. The most horrid death devised by men. The perfect deterrence and disincentive to rebel against Rome. The pain and suffering and shame. It was so bad even the Roman people didn’t want to look at it! 

So Peter is frightened. Understandably so! To see his friend, his rabbi, his master, his Lord, the Christ, the Son of the living God, hung up there, like that? Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.

When he was sinking in the water, Jesus’ rebuke of Peter was gentle: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? Now it is far worse, far stronger: Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. Or in other words: You’re not protecting me, Peter, even if you think you are. You’re being anti-Christ! You’re getting in the way. And nothing is going to get in My way. This must be, and it will be. This is the mind of God, that Jesus is talking about - to use the greatest evil for the greatest good. To use sin to defeat sin and death to defeat death. 

And then to this frightened, sinking, drowning, gasping-for-breath disciple, as well as the others, Jesus doesn’t toss a life preserver, but a rock! He says: And this is true for you as well! That if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 

The cross is what it means for Me to be the Christ.

The cross is what it means for you to be My disciples.

Then what hope do we have? Only one: stop trying to save yourself and your life and rely on Jesus. He’s the only one. He’s the only way.

But then Jesus gives them some hope at the end . . . Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And then, Matthew tells us in the very next verse of his Gospel, right after the reading we heard today, that six days later, some of them, three of them, Peter, James, and John, witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration. They saw the Son of Man in His glory with Moses and Elijah, who just maybe was John the Baptist, since Scripture calls him the Elijah who was to come, who had just been beheaded. If it was, there He is, with his head, in glory, with Jesus. John, who fulfilled the words of Jesus we heard today, that whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 

And now it’s our turn to be frightened. Because we don’t want to lose our life! It’s the only one we got! So make the most of it. You only live once. Seize the day. Life is short.

But all those bumper sticker sayings about life are how we do not set our minds on the things of God, but on the things of man. Because God doesn’t say any of that. God says not that your life is short, but your life is eternal. Not that you have to make the most of it, but that God is. That though you die, you will live. And instead of seizing the day, take hold of Christ. 

When we don’t, that’s when we don’t live as Paul described in the Epistle today. That was a pretty good description of the Christian life. I won’t read through the whole thing again here . . . but you should later. But when we don’t live that way, as Paul described, why not? Simple. Because I’m frightened. I’m frightened that if I do, I’ll lose my life. I won’t get what I want. I won’t get ahead. I’ll lose out. I’ll be taken advantage of. But that is setting our minds on the things of man, as if this life and my brief happiness here and what I get and what I have is all there is. So I must do this, I must do that, I can’t do what Paul says . . . if I am to survive and not sink and drown.

But that’s not Jesus’ must. His must is the cross. His bearing the cross for us, and our bearing the cross for others. 

And that’s why Jesus tossed Peter a rock and doubled down on the cross when Peter was frightened and sinking again. Because that’s what Jesus’ life preserver look like! It looks like a rock. Because, as Jesus said, only when we lose our life will we find it. And how do we lose our life? By drowning. By Baptism. For there [the Font] is Jesus’ cross for us. I can’t go back some two thousand years and halfway around the world to a cross that isn’t even there anymore, or to a so-called tiny splinter-relic of the cross which may or may not really be it anyway! And so Jesus brings His cross to us. In Baptism is where Jesus grabs you, and where you die and rise with Him. In Baptism is where Jesus grabs you, and first He pulls you under the water to drown you and your old sinful nature, and then He pulls you up - raises you up - to a new life. A new life with sins forgiven. A new life with a new heart and a new mind. A new life . . . for Baptism “christs” you. For the word “christ” means anointed one. And in Baptism, you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit to live a new life, a Christ life, a life that will not end.

And then risen from those waters, you begin to live that new life. Not easily, to be sure. And not perfectly - not even close! Which is why we take up our cross here, and daily, in repentance, returning to our Baptism, drowning that old sinful man again, and rising anew again in our Lord’s abundant and lavish forgiveness. Forgiveness for our fear, forgiveness for our stubbornness, forgiveness for our rebellion, for our weakness, for our wrong thinking, for all our failures. To live no longer according to the mind of man, but as we really are, as children of God with the mind of God.

And as you do, a funny thing happens. As you do those things Paul listed out today, that good description of the Christian life, you really do find your life! And not just after you die, in the resurrection, but now, in the resurrection that is your Baptism. That those things you don’t do because you thought that by doing them you would lose your life . . . the opposite actually happens! Loving, serving, giving . . . these things give you life, fulfill your life, give meaning to your life. You realize there’s more to life than me, myself, and I, and that that kind of life is actually rather lonely and empty. And if your life is eternal (and it is!), then why not start living that way, that life, now? In fact, you must! Not because you have to, but because that’s who you are. Someone who has been “christed.” Anointed to a new life. A Christian.

Now you might struggle with that. No, not might - you will! As Luther said, that old sinful man in you is a really good swimmer! But don’t think you’re the only one who struggles - even a quick read through the Bible shows ALL the saints of old struggling with this! We heard about Jeremiah today in the Old Testament reading. When he was struggling and pouring out his heart to God, God made him a promise: those who are against you are not going to win. I will save you and deliver you. You repent, remain faithful to My Word and who you are, and I will do the rest. The Gradual we’ve been singing this season says the same thing.

And He did. God saved Jeremiah. He did the rest . . . finally, ultimately, when Jesus ascended the cross and died for Jeremiah, and died for you, and died for all. As Jesus said, there is nothing you can give in return for your life, but Jesus can - and gave His life to give you life. And now He gives you that same Body and Blood to feed that life. To strengthen you with His forgiveness and life so that you live a new life - His life in you. A life not of fear but of confidence. A life that not even death can now end.

So if you feel like you’re drowning, going under, struggling to keep your head above water, because life it too much, and you can’t do it . . . good! Here’s a rock! Drown! In Christ. Look to Him. Don’t try to save yourself. You’ll fail. Look to Him. Rejoice in Him. Rely on Him. And you will find your life. You will find your life in Him. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“The Depths of the Sea”

Text: Romans 11:33-12:8; Matthew 16:13-20; Isaiah 51:1-6

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

One of the more amazing things science has done lately is send unmanned vehicles down into the depths of the sea. Deeper than we’ve ever been before and maybe deeper than we even knew the sea to be! And those probes have sent back pictures of things never before seen - weird and unusual creatures. Things no one could imagine or even think real, had we not seen the images.

But there is something even deeper and more amazing, unsearchable, and inscrutable than that. We heard it from St. Paul today. He said, Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! So if we could plunge the depths of God’s mind, the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge, what we would discover? Things unimaginable, I’m sure! Things beyond our wildest imagination. Things perhaps, to us, weird and unusual. 

Things like . . . using the horrific death of the cross to save. Using suffering to help us. Using the devil and evil for good. Using water to wash our hearts and bread and wine to feed our souls. Things no one could imagine and even think real - not because we have seen these things (Iike with the ocean), but because we have been told them. Because they have been revealed to us by God Himself.

A device that lets you see underwater and reveals that world is called a bathyscope. What reveals to us the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God and reveals to us His mind is His Word. 

So when Jesus asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? and Peter responded for them all, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus called Peter blessed - not blessed because of the answer he gave, but blessed in order to give the answer he gave. Because this had been revealed to him and the others. Revealed by the Father in the Scriptures that Jesus was teaching and fulfilling. Otherwise, making the connection of this guy Jesus from Nazareth and the very Son of God would never have entered their minds. Just like those weird and unusual creatures in the depth of the sea we could never have imagined, were they not revealed to us.

This is the rock, the rock of God’s Word, of God revealing this truth to us and our confessing this truth, the rock of the forgiveness of sins -  the forgiveness that Peter and the others are then told to go give just as they have received - this is the rock upon which the Church is built. The rock on which it can never be moved. Not even by the gates of hell - no matter how close, dark, and fearsomely looming they may be. 

And sometimes they seem pretty close, don’t they! And fearsome. And seem to be winning. We see the evil in the world and the evil in our lives and the sin and wickedness that sometimes spews from us, and that rock on which the Church is built can seem like a little pebble that ain’t much! 

So this is where we need the bathyscope of God’s Word - so that we can see below the surface, below just what we can see happening in the world to the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge and work. Because there’s stuff going on beneath the surface that we could never imagine and would never think true were it not revealed to us. 

And one of those Scriptures revealing this to us is the Old Testament reading we heard today from Isaiah, who tells us to look to Abraham and Sarah. God says, he was but one when I called him, so that I might bless him and multiply him. And we know how God did that, but don’t forget how He did that through a lot of hardship, pain, difficulties, and ways Abraham could never have imagined! (And frankly, didn’t want!) Like, when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Unimaginable! Inscrutable! Right?And yet, God blessed. And then the stories of what happened to Jacob and Joseph and David . . . the Word of God revealing to us the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. Showing us that, as Paul went on to say, that from him and through him and to him are all things. ALL things. Things that seem to us good and things that seem to us evil. There is nothing that is not from Him, nothing that is not used by Him, and nothing that is not for Him. To His glory forever. AMEN!

Now wait a second, Pastor! ALL things? Even evil things? How can that be? God isn’t evil or cause evil! True. But He can and does use it for good. And imagine how frustrating that must be for the devil! When God turns around his evil and wicked ways for His own good! Like, when the devil tempts us into sin, and then drives us to despair because of that sin, but God then turns that and uses that to drive us to confess our sins and find refuge and hope in Jesus! Or when evil drives us to prayer, confusion drives us to the Word, our hunger and thirst for something better drives us to the altar. And like Abraham, God blesses us through such hardship, pain, and difficulty . . . which we frankly don’t want! But God knows that we need. Not to punish us, but in order to bless us. 

And, of course, the example par excellance of God using evil for good is His own cross. The cross on which He - the Son of God, God Himself - hung. The hatred and evil of men putting Him there, but then every drop of blood from His head, His hands, His feet, His back, and His side, providing life and forgiveness and blessing. And then His resurrection breaking open death and the grave - a depth even greater and more foreboding than the depths of the sea - but conquered by Jesus for you. So that, as one of our hymns says (LSB #883 v.3), we can fear the grave as little as our bed.

Those probes that have revealed to us the depths of the sea - and other discoveries of science - have caused us to rethink what we thought we knew. And so it is also with God’s Word. When the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God are revealed to us, our hearts and minds and lives are transformed. It’s not just that we rethink what we thought we knew (although we do), but that the Spirit of God transforms us. That’s the word Paul used today. And it is the same word used of Jesus in His transfiguration! That’s how God wants to bless and transform us! From this to that. From cross to glory. From the earthly to the eternal. And it is His Word and Sacraments that do that. That both reveal that to us and work that in us.

For, as God said through the prophet Isaiah, my righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. Now it’s hard, perhaps, to wrap your mind around that, because the world we live in doesn’t seem to have righteousness anywhere near! And because righteousness and salvation are abstract things. But God’s Word then plumbs the depths of that for us and reveals to us what He means and makes it concrete for us. That these words of Isaiah are talking about Jesus. That He is the righteous one who drew near us. That He is the saving one who has come down from heaven to us. And that His arms took the judgment of God against the sin of the world on the cross. Bringing a salvation and a righteousness that will be forever because His resurrection is forever.

And when that is yours, when you can fear the grave as little as your bed, when you know your life and future are secure in Jesus, when you are baptized by His hand and fed with His Body and Blood, because Jesus offered His body as a dead sacrifice (though now risen!), you can now, as Paul said, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. You can entrust your life to Him. And not in an abstract way - but just as the righteousness and salvation of God came down in a concrete way in Jesus, so you entrust your life to God in concrete ways as well. Husbands laying down your life for your wife. Wives honoring and respecting your husband. Children honoring, serving, obeying, loving, and cherishing your parents. By forgiving as you have been forgiven. By serving, giving, encouraging. Not that any of that will now be easy! I don’t know if it ever will be! But knowing the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, of all that He has done for you and has promised you, of His Word transforming your heart and mind and life . . . you now can. And you know that though hard, God is using it to bless - both you and those you serve. 

And even though the gates of hell might seem like they are your next door neighbor, or even in your own home, they cannot win. They cannot put Jesus back in the grave or back on the cross or send Him back into heaven. He is here for you. And He’s not leaving. He’s going to keep washing you and feeding you and lifting you up and through His Word revealing to you the depths of His love for you. Love that is beyond what you could imagine or ever think real. Yet there it is. On the cross, in the font, and on the altar for you. Weird and unusual . . . maybe. But life changing and life giving.

So now I’m going to ask our organist to play hymn #611 during the offering after the prayers, and as she does, I want you to read along. It kind of sums up what I’ve said here today. And maybe during those tough times in your life - those Abraham times! - it can remind you of the depth of God love for you that is deeper than the depths of the sea, and lasting to eternity. The love that found you, the love revealed to you, the love that you confess, and the love that saves you. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.