Woodlake Lutheran Church

Readings
Isaiah 35:4-7a4Say to those who are of a fearful heart,“Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense.He will come and save you.”
 5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then the lame shall leap like a deer,and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,and streams in the desert; 7athe burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water.

Psalm 1461Hallelujah!Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2I will praise the Lord as long as I live;I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3Put not your trust in rulers,in mortals in whom there is no help. 4When they breathe their last, they return to earth,and in that day their thoughts perish.  5Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help,whose hope is in the Lord their God; 6who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;who keeps promises forever; 7who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger.The Lord sets the captive free. 8The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;the Lord loves the righteous.  9The Lord cares for the stranger;the Lord sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked. 10The Lord shall reign forever,your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah! 
 James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-171My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? 8You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 9But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.] 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24-3724[Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Pray
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bless
Almighty God bless us, and direct our days and our deeds in peace. Amen.