His Time - Laundry Love, Witness Wednesday, "The Cost of Following Jesus"

1. Engaging your neighbors – at the laundromat

Rev. David Murillo, Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas, speaks about his recent article “Laundry Love” in the Texas District News. The article centers around engaging the community at the laundromat to share Jesus’s love with our neighbors. The non-profit organization “Laundry Love” provides assistance to low-income populations to help them not only have clean clothes but also use their resources for things like food or gas. Learn more about Laundry Love at laundrylove.org. Read Rev. Murillo’s article at txlcms.org/laundry-love.

2. Witness Wednesday

With Rev. Mark Wood, Director of Witness and Outreach in the LCMS Office of National Mission.

3. Daily Lectionary

Rev. Michael Merker from Jordan Lutheran Church in Apex, North Carolina, studies Matthew 8:18-34.

4. Morning Prayer Sermonette

Today’s sermonette is given by Rev. Michael Merker from Jordan Lutheran Church in Apex, North Carolina.

"The Bible is cradle wherein Christ is laid." - Martin Luther — “The Bible is cradle wherein Christ is laid.” – Martin Luther

Matthew 8:18-34

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²²And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

²³And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶And he said to them,“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

²⁸And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[a] two demon-possessed^[b] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Footnotes:

Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gerasenes
Matthew 8:28 Greek daimonizomai (demonized); also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons

Andy Bates, DCE

If you haven’t had Associate Executive Director's Andy Bates’s smoked mac and cheese from scratch (yes, including the noodles), you’re missing out on a magical food experience. Although he’ll gladly go venturing through the woods in his Vivobarefoot Trail Freaks (those are shoes), he’ll also stay happily busy automating every possible thing in his home while eating cherry cheesecake brownies made by his wife, Lauren. As a Theatre major, don’t ask him to pick a favorite play, but you may find him hanging out with his adorable son watching Trolls or listening to bluegrass or the latest audiobook on biomechanics.