5/3/2026 - Easter 5 (John 16:5-15)

7/12/2026 - Trinity 6 (Matthew 5:17-26)

Our Only Hope Is in Christ’s Righteousness. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). God demands nothing less than perfection from you regarding His commandments (Exodus 20:1–17). Your only hope, then, is not in your own goodness but in the goodness of Christ, who did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them for you. In Christ, your righteousness does indeed exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. For you have been baptized into Christ’s death and your sinful nature crucified. Therefore, he who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:3–11). You are now raised with Christ to walk in newness of life and to share in His resurrection on the Last Day. Christ has brought you through the baptismal sea “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). Therefore, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).

6/28/2026 - Trinity 4 (Luke 6:36-42)

Christ’s Mercy Is Ours to Show to Others. “Be merciful, even as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36–42). The old Adam in us wants to condemn and seek vengeance. But to condemn, to avenge yourself, is to put yourself in the place of God. It is to fail to trust that He is just. Ultimately, it is to disbelieve that Jesus suffered the full vengeance for all wrongs. Only Christ is merciful as the Father is merciful. He is the one who overcame all evil with the good of His cross, forgiving even His executioners. Jesus is the One who does not condemn but gives life that runs over. Only through faith in Christ are we sons of the Father—being merciful, forgiving, doing good to our enemies. For in Christ we know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:8–13).

6/21/2026 - Trinity 3 (Luke 15:1-10)

Jesus Receives Sinners. “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The Pharisees’ statement of judgment against Jesus is in fact a proclamation of Gospel truth. For our God is one who delights in mercy, who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea through the cross (Micah 7:18–20). Those who refuse to be counted as sinners also refuse Jesus who came only for sinners. Those who think they are righteous of themselves, will not join in the heavenly celebration over the sinner who repents and so remain outside of the Father’s house. Let us therefore be on guard against self–righteously trusting in our own merits. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you”  (1 Peter 5:6). Rejoice that Jesus receives sinners like us and that He still sits at table with us in the Holy Supper, bestowing His forgiveness and life.

6/14/2026 - Trinity 2 (Luke 14:15-24)

The Gospel Call Goes Out to All. Wisdom has issued an invitation to the divine feast: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:5–6). This is the call of the Spirit of Christ to believe the Gospel and to receive His saving gifts in the Holy Supper. Many make excuses and reject this invitation, even as the Jews did in the days of Jesus, yet the Master’s house will be filled. The Gospel call therefore goes out to the lowly and despised, into the highways, even to all the Gentiles (Luke 14:15–24). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellow members of the household of God. The enmity of class and race is put to death through the cross. Having been reconciled in the one Body of Christ, we are enabled to love one another (1 John 3:13–18) as we await the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which will have no end.

6/7/2026 - Trinity 1 (Luke 16:19-31)

Faith Trusts in Christ for Life Eternal. When the beggar Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. For he was truly a man of faith. The name Lazarus means “God is my help.” The unnamed rich man, on the other hand, did not love and trust in God. For he evidently cared little for the beggar at his gate, forgetting that it is “the Lord your God [who] brings you into the land…to give you…houses full of good things” (Deuteronomy 6:10-11). Because all good that we have comes from the Lord, “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). He who loved and trusted in possessions and prestige died and was in torments in Hades (Luke 16:19–31). Repentance and faith are worked only through Moses and the prophets—that is, the Word of God, for it points us to Christ. Only through His death and resurrection are we brought the comfort of life everlasting—this cannot be achieved on our own.