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| This Week's Readings |
This Weeks Readings
God
speaks to us in Scripture read and proclaimed.
Readings for
November 23, 2008
First
Reading
Ezekiel 34:11–16,
20–24
Since Israel's kings
proved to be bad shepherds, Ezekiel declares that the Lord will assume
the role of shepherd in Israel. The Lord will also set over them a
shepherd-messiah, "my servant David," who will feed and care for the
people.
Thus says the Lord
GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12As
shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered
sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the
places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick
darkness. 13I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from
the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed
them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the
inhabited parts of the land. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and
the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall
lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on
the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,
and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16I will seek the
lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the
injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I
will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
20Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge
between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you pushed with
flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns
until you scattered them far and wide, 22I will save my flock, and they
shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall
feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24And I, the LORD,
will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I,
the LORD, have spoken.
The Psalm
Psalm
95:1–7a
We are the people of
God's pasture and the sheep of God's hand. (Ps. 95:7)
R: Come, let us sing
to the LORD;
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before
God's presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to the LORD with psalms.
R: 3For you, LORD,
are a great God,
and a great ruler above all gods.
4In your hand are the
caverns of the earth;
the heights of the hills are also yours.
R: 5The sea is yours,
for you made it,
and your hands have molded the dry land.
6Come, let us worship
and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
R: 7aFor the LORD is
our God,
and we are the people of God's pasture and the sheep of God's
hand.
Second Reading
Ephesians
1:15–23
In
this passage, God is praised for revealing ultimate divine power in
raising Jesus from the dead. The resurrected, exalted Christ is Lord
both of the church and the entire universe, now and in the age to come.
I
have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the
saints, and for this reason 16I do not cease to give thanks for you as
I remember you in my prayers. 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and
revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your
heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called
you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who
believe, according to the working of his great power.
20God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above
all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name
that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And
he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all
things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills all in all
Gospel
Matthew 25:31–46
Jesus compares
himself to a king who moves among his subjects to see how he is
treated: what is done for the least of those who belong to his family
is truly done for him.
[Jesus said to the
disciples:] "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the
nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one
from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he
will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
34"Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that
are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you
took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37Then the
righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry
and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And
when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and
gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison
and visited you?' 40And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my
family, you did it to me.'
41"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed,
depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and
you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not
welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison
and you did not visit me.' 44Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when
was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick
or in prison, and did not take care of you?' 45Then he will answer
them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least
of these, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
"Sheep, Goats, and
Jesus"
Pastor Paul Oman
106 years of service to the Congregation and Community
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Phone: 715-354-3790
501 E. Chetac Ave/ P.O. Box 8
Birchwood, WI 54817
Parsonage: 715-354-3224
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