The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, At-Home Service for September 19th

This sermon is about welcoming or receiving. When asked what they liked most about Good Shepherd, many have said it was the sense of welcome they felt here. Jesus used that word, welcome, four times in the passage read today from the Gospel according to Mark.

That sense of welcome was something the disciples were probably thinking about too. We heard that they had been discussing who among them was the greatest. Of course, there are benefits to being the greatest. Being the greatest means receiving a lot of attention. Being the greatest means many people will do things for you. Being the greatest means receiving a ready welcome almost anywhere you go. The disciples were focused on which one of them would receive the greatest welcome.

Click here to view the at-home version of the service.

Pastor Rike’s Sermon

The irony in the passage we have heard was that while the disciples argued about their greatness, they were failing to welcome the truly great One in their midst, Christ Jesus. Last Sunday we heard how Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” That teaching was not well received by the disciples. We heard that after Jesus began to teach such things, Peter rebuked Jesus. Now, for a second time, the disciples had heard Jesus present the same teaching. In the passage of Mark read today Jesus said, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” The disciples were not any more receptive the second time than they were the first. We heard that the disciples “did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” Instead of welcoming Jesus and being receptive to his teaching, the disciples were focused on themselves.

Click here to read Pastor Rike’s sermon.


Video Options

Follow along with the service on video led by Pastor Rike, with music performed by Randy Broker.

The Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost Service for September 19th includes: 
Intro 
Hymn- God Is Here! performed by the Randy Broker 
First Reading- Jeremiah 11:18-20
Holy Gospel- Mark 9:30-37
Sermon by Pastor David Rike 
Hymn- Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service performed by Randy Broker 
Prayers 
Blessing