Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you!

In our time of devotion together this week, I’d like for you to open up to the book of Hebrews, the tenth chapter. We’re going to look at a couple of verses beginning in verse 19:

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

We are just a couple of days away from Rally Sunday.

You know, there are certain marked points in time that just feel like a new beginning—a fresh start. And Rally Sunday really is that for us as we enter into a new season of ministry, programs, opportunities for mission and fellowship, Bible study, and music.

And so I really want us to take heed of what we’re told here in Hebrews: “Do not neglect meeting together as some do.”

Think about the beginning of a new year. January 1 comes around, and we are very quick to make resolutions. We want a fresh start. We want to do better. We want to be better.

Well, I want to encourage all of us—myself included—to look at this coming new season as another opportunity to be resolved: to not neglect meeting together.

Could you and I make a plan to be here to worship together every single Sunday? Whether it’s the 8:45 service or the 11:00 service, can we make a commitment to come together and worship our Lord?

Can you and I make a plan to be together here at the 10:00 hour so that we can dive into God’s Word together? Whether it’s Sunday School for our young people or adult education for those 18 and up, there are opportunities for all of us to grow in the Word.

Can we make a commitment to be together as often as possible—to be engaged in small groups, to participate in the music ministry, and to be involved in mission projects like the food-packing event that’s coming up in just about a week and a half?

This is a new season. It’s a new opportunity—with a new sermon series, new small-group studies, a new Wednesday Night Alive, and so many other fresh opportunities for you and me.

Opportunities not to neglect meeting together, but to come together to encourage one another and, as the writer of Hebrews says, to “provoke one another to love and good deeds.”

It’s a new season. A new season of ministry opportunity.

And that means it’s also a new opportunity for us to grow in the faith that God has given us—to grow in the love and fellowship of the community in which He has placed us, and to grow in our knowledge of the Lord through the study of His Word and through the preaching of His Word.

We receive His Word through our studies, but perhaps most importantly, we receive His Word on Sunday mornings as it is preached and proclaimed. We receive the Word of His absolution, and we receive the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

God is so good.

He is good to us to give us His Word.

He is good to us to give us salvation through the cross and the resurrection.

And He is good to us to bring us here together to worship Him.

And I cannot wait to come together to worship Him with you this coming Sunday, September 13th—Rally Sunday—as we gather around Word and Sacrament and rally anew for this new season of life and ministry in this church.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Lord,

We thank You so much for the many opportunities that You give us to fellowship with one another, to worship You, and to receive Your love and Your service for us.

Lord, we ask that as we enter into this new season of ministry, You would draw us closer to Yourself. Give us opportunities to draw closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ as we dive into Your Word together.

We thank You, Lord, for the Word that is being prepared for us to receive this Sunday.

And we ask that, as we go about our daily lives, we would live for Your glory, for Your purposes, and for the good of all those around us.

Bless us, keep us, and watch over us today and always.

This we ask in the holy name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I’m looking forward to worshiping with you this Sunday—Rally Sunday—as we come together to love and serve the Lord.

God bless!

Pastor Malinak