The Third Sunday in Lent
23 March 2025
Jesus Calls You to Repentance
Ezekiel 33:7–20
1 Corinthians 10:1–13
Luke 13:1–9
Jesus Calls You to Repentance
“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). By this warning, the Lord would turn us away from wickedness and bring us to life in Himself. For He is patient with us, that we would not be cut down in our sin but live and bear fruit in Him. As He lives, the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). So the Scriptures have been “written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11), that we should not desire evil but trust in Christ. He alone is faithful, the Rock who feeds us with His “spiritual food” and pours out His “spiritual drink” (1 Cor. 10:3–4).
Lent Midweek 2
19 March 2025
“AS WE GATHER”
In repentance we are compelled to take sin seriously. All people have inherited sin; it is the cause of our fallen condition. Human nature was created perfect, sinless, and at one with
our Creator. “I’m only human” does not explain or excuse sin. When we seek where this deadly infection originated, we are directed by God’s Word to the reality of the fallen angel Satan and his minions. Satan is real. Temptation is real. Demonic activity is rampant and powerful. True repentance and faith require us first to admit that we are powerless on our own to defeat the devil. His grasp is too much for us. Faith then looks to our Lord, who took sin and Satan seriously for us. By the bloody battle He waged on the cross, He has defeated the old evil foe for us. With His victory at hand, given to us by the hand of His ministers in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion, our hands are empowered now to wield the instrument of prayer. In that victory, we have the sure deliverance and salvation of the Crucified One, now risen and ascended and ruling for us from the right hand of the Father.
“AS WE GATHER”
In repentance we are compelled to take sin seriously. All people have inherited sin; it is the cause of our fallen condition. Human nature was created perfect, sinless, and at one with our Creator. “I’m only human” does not explain or excuse sin. When we seek where this deadly infection originated, we are directed by God’s Word to the reality of the fallen angel Satan and his minions. Satan is real. Temptation is real. Demonic activity is rampant and powerful. True repentance and faith require us first to admit that we are powerless on our own to defeat the devil. His grasp is too much for us. Faith then looks to our LORD, who took sin and Satan seriously for us. By the bloody battle He waged on the cross, He has defeated the old evil foe for us. With His victory at hand, given to us by the hand of His ministers in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion, our hands are empowered now to wield the instrument of prayer. In that victory, we have the sure deliverance and salvation of the Crucified One, now risen and ascended and ruling for us from the right hand of the Father.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 3:1-24
EPISTLE READING 1 Peter 5:6-11
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 9:37-43; 11:14-23
