Lessons for August 26, 2007 – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The first lesson

Isaiah 58:9b-14 
    
    "Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors! [10] Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day. [11] The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. [12] Your children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as the people who rebuild their walls and cities.  [13] "Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord's holy day. Honor the Lord in everything you do, and don't follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, [14] the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the Lord, have spoken!"  (NLT)

Psalm 103:1-8 

L.  Praise the Lord, I tell myself; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 
C.  Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me. 
L.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 
C.  He ransoms me from death and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. 
L.  He fills my life with good things.
C.  My youth is renewed like the eagle's! 
L.  The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 
C.  He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 
L.  The Lord is merciful and gracious;
C.  he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love.   (NLT)

The second lesson

Hebrews 12:18-29
 
    You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws. [19] For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice with a message so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. [20] They staggered back under God's command: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death." [21] Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, "I am terrified and trembling."  [22] No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels in joyful assembly. [23] You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven who have now been made perfect. [24] You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did. [25] See to it that you obey God, the one who is speaking to you. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, how terrible our danger if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! [26] When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: "Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also." [27] This means that the things on earth will be shaken, so that only eternal things will be left.  [28] Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. [29] For our God is a consuming fire.  (NLT)

The Gospel Lesson

Luke 13:10-17
 
    One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, [11] he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. [12] When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are healed of your sickness!" [13] Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!  [14] But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. "Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath."  [15] But the Lord replied, "You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? [16] Wasn't it necessary for me, even on the Sabbath day, to free this dear woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?" [17] This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.  (NLT)