Greetings in Christ,

The author of Hebrews gives us some beautiful words of Gospel this weekend, as well as a warning. All of chapter 1 lays out who Christ is and that He has saved us from our sins, and now he says that since we know this, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

Hebrews is an amazing book with how it connects all of Scripture together pointing us to Christ at the center of it all. This weekend I’ll be preaching on the fact that we too often disregard the deliverance won for us by Christ. We begin to drift away from this beautiful news with all of the winds of doctrine that blow us around in the world. But Christ is faithful. As a husband cares for and provides for his wife, so Christ faithfully protects and provides for His church bringing us back to Himself when we begin to drift away.

As you prepare for the Divine Service this weekend, you can take a look at the Service Folder to find the readings, prayers, and other parts of the service that will help to guide your reflection and prayer.

You can dig deeper into the parts of this weekend’s service with this segment from Issues, Etc.

Here’s the Lectionary Summary for the upcoming weekend that ties the themes of the weekend together:

Marriage Is a Sign that Manifests the Gospel of Christ and His Church

Humanity is created in the image and likeness of God. “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). For the Lord Himself is a perfect communion of three Persons — the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — in one God. Therefore, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs,” which “he made into a woman” and brought “to the man” (Gen. 2:21–22). It is for this reason that “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:7). This great mystery of holy marriage signifies Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, and His Bride, the Church. Divorce and all manner of adultery contradict and undermine this sign, and in doing so, they confess a false Christ and a false gospel. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9). In truth, Christ Jesus has atoned for all such sins, and He has perfected marriage in Himself “through suffering,” that He might bring “many sons to glory” in His resurrection (Heb. 2:8–10).

If you weren’t able to join us for service last week, you can catch up now.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Blessings on your day!

In Christ,
Pastor Demski

Published by pastordemski