Lectio Concordia

Signs of the Savior – Thursday

Epiphany 2

Series: Lectio Concordia

January 16, 2025 By Rev. Mark Ryman

• Online jigsaw puzzle of today's reading • Index

• Collect: Give us, Father God, hearing hearts and clear eyes, that we may receive your Word with faith and thus, see the signs of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, eternally one God. Amen.

• Psalm 40:1–17

• Matthew 2:1–12

• The gospel does not bring a mere shadow of eternal things but the eternal things themselves—the Holy Spirit and righteousness, by which we are righteous before God. Those who receive this promise of the Spirit do so only according to the gospel. Besides, the church is the kingdom of Christ, distinguished from the kingdom of the devil. It is certain, however, that the wicked are in the power of the devil, and are members of the devil’s kingdom. Paul teaches this in Ephesians 2:2, where he says that the devil is the “spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Further, Christ says to the Pharisees, who certainly had outward fellowship with the church, that is, with the saints among the people of the Law (as they held office, sacrificed, and taught), “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44). Therefore, the church, which is truly Christ’s kingdom, is properly the congregation of saints. [The Defense of the Augsburg Confession, The Church]

• Hymn: “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies,” Charles Wesley Tune

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true and only Light,
Sun of righteousness, arise,
triumph o’er the shade of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Daystar, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
unaccompanied by Thee;
joyless is the day’s return,
till Thy mercy’s beams I see,
till they inward light impart,
glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
fill me, radiancy divine,
scatter all my unbelief;
more and more thyself display,
shining to the perfect day.

• Benediction: May the Spirit of Christ pierce any gloom of sin, grief, and doubt, and fill you with the radiant glory of his peace. Amen.

• Memory Verse: ... so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:7–8)

• Memory Verse Aid: ...STYANLIAG, AYWFTROOLJC, WWSYTTE, GITDOOLJC. (1C 1:7-8)