St Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church

SERMON SNIPPET FOR DISCUSSION For Sunday, November 15, 2020 From Rev. Titus D. Clarke Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30... An essential element in the lessons for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost is time. In the first lesson, the prophet Zephaniah points to the day of the Lord a time that is coming. The psalmist sings of God’s constancy and power over time and calls us to live with the awareness that times are fleeting, therefore we are to focus on what is important. With similar purpose as Zephaniah and the Psalmist, The Apostle Paul summons his listeners to a kind of active waiting in anticipation of the time they know is coming, the day of the Lord. The Gospel lesson then drives the point home by telling a story A man gives his servants different measure of talents and sets off on a journey. After some time, he returns, and his servants must give an account of how they used what he gave them in the time of his absence. To us, individually and collectively as the body of Christ, here is the question, ‘What do you do with what God has given you, in the time he has given you?’ Your response or question will inform my sermon on Sunday.

"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." Psalm 94:19