I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”

Psalm 122:1

Scripture Readings For the Week:

“Gather up the fragments so that nothing is lost” Jesus said. He had just fed more than 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish. He is so generous and yet He loses nothing of what the Father gives Him, be it bread for the day or the lost that He is sent to seek and save. God prepared His people for their Savior by caring for them in the wilderness after He brought them out of Egypt. They ate Manna, but now we eat of the Bread of Life. My His Word nourish us as we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. May His Body and Blood strengthen and preserve us in body and soul unto life everlasting.

Prayer of the Day:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymns

Bach Cantata for the Week

Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21 Translation

In today’s Gospel Christ gives us another lesson in faith, that we should not be overanxious about our daily bread and our temporal existence, and stirs us up by means of a miracle; as though to say by his act what he says by his words in Matthew 6,33: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” For here we see, since the people followed Christ for the sake of God’s Word and the signs, and thus sought the Kingdom of God, he did not forsake them but richly fed them. He hereby also shows that, rather than those who seek the Kingdom of God should suffer need, the grass in the desert would become wheat, or a crumb of bread would be turned into a thousand loaves; or a morsel of bread would feed as many people and just as satisfactorily as a thousand loaves; in order that the words in Matthew 4,4 might stand firm, that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” And to confirm these words Christ is the first to be concerned about the people, as to what they should eat, and asks Philip, before they complain or ask him; so that we may indeed let him care for us, remembering that he cares more and sooner for us than we do for ourselves

Martin Luther