Saint Timothy Lutheran Church

       The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes.

Psalm 19:8

     Is there any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

     Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens produced its crops.

      My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this:Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:13-20

      They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

      They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

      Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

      He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Mark 9:30-37

      Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition there you find disorder and every evil practice.

      But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

       What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

      Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 3:13-4:3,7-8

      Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.

      Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

      Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life — men without regard for God.

     Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

     Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.

     I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.

     For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Psalm 54

      Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying,

      “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.”

     But, O Lord Almighty, you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

Mark 9:35

     Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

      They replied, “Some say “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

      “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

       Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

       Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 

 

     He then began to teach them that the Son of  Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

      But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

      “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross andfollow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:27-38

      Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is neverat fauly in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

      When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a smaill part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

     All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

     With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James 3:1-12

      I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.

      Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

      The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

      Then I called on the name of the Lord:

      “O Lord, save me!”

      The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

      The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.

      Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

      For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling

      that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 116:1-9