Living the Lectionary is a weekly devotional tool intended to give you ideas for living out the Word of God that we encounter on Sundays in worship.
About this Season and Series: About this coming Sunday:19th Sunday After Pentecost – Family of the Lamb – God created family as a blessing for humanity, and recreates family for us through the work of Jesus Christ which makes us family to Him and to each other. Law: God created family so that we would not be alone, but have community – but we break community with one another through our sins, which come from the hardness of our hearts. Gospel: In sending Jesus Christ, God gave humanity a new helpmate.
Sundays After Pentecost/”The Gift of the Lamb” – The long season of the Sundays after Pentecost are split up into series here at University Lutheran, in the last weeks of this long season, we turn to a sermon series based on the Book of Hebrews called “The Gift of the Lamb”.
Reflecting on the Readings (readings are linked to text on ESVbible.com)
Genesis 2:18-25– A Helpmate – When God provides for Adam a helper (more literally translated, “helpmate”) in Eve, we have the first picture of marriage. This picture of marriage should lead us, according to Ephesians 5, to think of our relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus. How is Jesus your “helpmate”?
Psalm 128– A Picture of Blessings – In the time of the Psalmist, family was considered a much greater blessing that perhaps what it is today. Picture what it is to be blessed in the ways that this Psalm mentions. What does this look like? What does it lead you to pray for?
Hebrews 2:1-18 – Family of the Lamb – The writer of Hebrews writes at length about the way in which Jesus’ person and work makes us family with Him, and through being family with Him, family with the entirety of the Triune God. This is a hard passage to understand at first glance. Read or listen to it several times through. What comes to mind as you do each time? What words do you focus on?
Mark 10:2-16– Connection and Disconnection – Jesus makes it plain that what God wants is connection, not disconnection. He rejects divorce and separation in this reading, and in so doing, challenges us to be committed and connected in our relationships. What relationships might you be able to salvage, perhaps showing the commitment of Christ to you?
Living the Lectionary Ideas
Learn: This is the first week of our sermon series on the Book of Hebrews. What books or other resources can you find that might help you to understand this important but oftentimes difficult to access book of the Bible?
Do: Create a genogram. A genogram is like a family tree that focuses on the relationships we have with people. Make a special note to designate who in your genogram is a Christian. You can find more about genograms here.
Live: God recreates family for us in His Church. Use this week to foster a way of living that includes your fellow church goers (your brothers and sisters in Christ) into your personal concept of “family”.