Saturday of the Twentieth Week After Pentecost

October 17, 2026

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments!” ( Psalm 48:9-11)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What does your routine look like as you get prepared to go to church on Sunday? Your week might be extremely busy, and you might be lucky to even make it to church. Blessed are you, the Lord is still there in all his mercy for you. But if you have a few minutes, especially before you go to sleep on Saturday, just take a couple of breaths and think about the steadfast love of God. And that can be, quite simply, a lot to think about. 

You can go through the steadfast love by thinking about what goes on in your typical Divine service. After the opening hymn, the first thing that happens in a Divine Service is Confession. Confession is where we come before the Lord of Angel Armies, the Creator of Space and Time, the One who Made You, and admit that we are poor, miserable sinners, who deserve nothing but hell and condemnation for our sin. We have failed to love God, we have failed to love our neighbor. If you walked into an earthly courtroom and just flat out admitted to a laundry list of heinous crimes, you would be arrested and charged. But in the presence of the very Lord of the Universe, you are declared innocent for the sake of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has paid for all your sins for you. 

And that’s not all! The grace absolutely overflows in the divine service. You hear the readings, where God tells us of his love for his creation, ultimately point forward to the gospel reading (that’s why we stand for it) and shows his love chiefly in the person and work of his son. 

After that is the Eucharist, where Jesus comes to dwell bodily with his people, to be with them and to confer the forgiveness of sins once again. All for you. Steadfast love of the Lord? Indeed.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.