Please click on the link below to view the service bulletin for Sunday, August 23, 2026.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U1buyGK5c8XK72EekD_cCDYbWooAz58LXEuJYbs2ByA/edit?usp=sharing

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 51:1-6 “My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will never be dismayed.”

Psalm 138 “Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.”

Romans 11:33:12-8 The wisdom and knowledge of God.

Matthew 16:13-20 “Who do you say I am?”

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life that we may boldly confess Him to be the Christ and steadfastly walk in the way that leads to life eternal; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme

Pet dogs know the right place to be at mealtime: under the table. They know you don’t need a special seat; these dogs are happy to get crumbs of “people food.” And we rejoice to receive what we don’t deserve: whatever blessings God bestows on us, disobedient sinners that we are. In the Old Testament Reading, God promises that He would call us foreigners to His table, and here we are. Even the disobedience of God’s Old Testament people has proven good for us, as we see everyone receiving mercy from a gracious God. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel saw herself in the position of a dog, trusting she would receive crumbs from the family table. But the bread crumb falling to earth she and we have received is none other than the Son of God, the Bread of Life. The crumb each of us receives is priceless! As we gather around Word and Sacrament, we get no stale food, but the nourishment we need for abundant life each day until we join saints and angels at the eternal feast in heaven.


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Martin Luther’s Morning Prayer

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Martin Luther’s Evening Prayer

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.