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October 4, 2026
See TodayEighteenth Sunday after Trinity
One-Year Lectionary
- First Reading
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Deut. 10:12–21 (read in NIV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)
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- Psalm
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Psalm 34:8–22 (read in NIV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)
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- Epistle
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1 Cor. 1:(1–3) 4–9 (read in NIV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)
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- Gospel
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Matt. 22:34–46 (read in NIV on Bible Gateway, opens in a new tab)
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34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’a 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’b 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”“The son of David,” they replied.43He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:“Sit at my right handuntil I put your enemiesunder your feet.” ’c45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.Select KJV to load this Scripture text.
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Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
One-Year Lectionary
About this service
In Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God
The Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to “test” them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matt. 22:34–46). The Law requires you to “fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” and to “love the sojouner” (Deut. 10:12–21). Failure to keep the Law perfectly brings judgment. On the other hand, the Gospel brings the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, that you may be blameless in the day of His return (1 Cor. 1:1–9). Jesus is David’s Son yet David’s Lord, true God and true man. He is Love incarnate who fulfilled all the demands of God’s Law on our behalf, that we might be saved from the Law’s condemnation and sanctified in the Gospel’s forgiveness. Thereby we see that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).
Source: LCMS Worship, Lectionary Summaries — One-Year Lectionary (opens in a new tab). Used by permission. These pages may be reproduced for congregational use only. Commercial reproduction, or reproduction for sale of this work or any portion of this work, without the written permission of the copyright holder, is prohibited. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Scripture quoted in the summary is from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Introit, Gradual and Verse
- Antiphon
- Ecclesiasticus 36:16–17a
Source: LCMS One-Year Series Propers Chart (opens in a new tab). Citations only; no liturgical or Scripture text is reproduced.
Collect
Historical Collect — Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
O GOD, forasmuch as without Thee we are not able to please Thee; Mercifully grant, that Thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Source: Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (Baltimore, 1893), Introits and Collects for the Church Year (opens in a new tab). Public-domain text (published 1893), transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy.
Prayers of the Church
Prayers of the Church for October 8, 2023 — Responsive Form
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Lord God, fix our faith on Your love shown to us in Christ. Give us Your Holy Spirit. Increase our love for You and for our neighbors. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Give peace, O Lord, to those who wait for You, and let Your preachers be proven faithful. Preserve Your Church, and let all Christians be glad to enter into the house of the Lord. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, Your Son is Bridegroom and Lord, faithful over Your house, the Church. Raise up the sons of our congregation to follow Your Word, and bless their families with godly lives. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord of lords, by the reign of Your Son You govern all things in heaven and earth. Raise up true Davids among us to govern our land in faithfulness and, in humble strength, to do Your will. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Eternal Father, our Lord Jesus Christ is seated at Your right hand, even now subjecting every enemy under His feet. Give this certain confidence to us and to all Your saints in this vale of tears, to the needy, the troubled, the joyful and the expectant [and especially to _____________]. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Father in heaven, You call us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Your Holy Christian Church. As we come to receive the peace of the Lord in this Sacrament, let this true peace be with us always. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord of hosts, You have shared Your own glory with Your saints, seating them on the thrones of Your heavenly reign. Draw us also to Your house to sit among them as David of old and so receive Your heavenly benediction. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again and now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.
Source: LCMS Worship, Prayers of the Church — One-Year 2022–2023 (opens in a new tab). Prepared by LCMS Worship for congregational use. Used by permission. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Prayers of the Church for October 8, 2023 — Ektene Form
In peace, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For an increase of love toward God, that in the confidence of His love toward us in Christ, we may love our neighbors, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the Church, that her preachers may be proven faithful, and that all Christians would be glad to enter into the house of the Lord, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the sons of our congregation, that they would follow the way of the Son of God, the faithful Bridegroom in His Father’s house who blessed the world by His sacrifice, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That new Davids may arise among us to govern our land faithfully under Christ, the Lord of lords, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the needy, the troubled, the joyful and the expectant, [especially _____________,] that they may look confidently to Christ, seated at the Father’s right hand and subjecting every enemy under His feet, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the peace of the Lord would be with us always, that it may remain with His Church and be given to His world, and that we may receive it here in the blessed Sacrament, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the saints enthroned with Christ in heaven, let us give thanks to the Lord; and for the joy of entering the Lord’s house and joining with the whole company of heaven, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again and now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.
Source: LCMS Worship, Prayers of the Church — One-Year 2022–2023 (opens in a new tab). Prepared by LCMS Worship for congregational use. Used by permission. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Hymn of the Day
LSB 694 Thee Will I Love, My Strength, My Tower
The LCMS Hymn of the Day list appoints this hymn as the Hymn of the Day for Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (One-Year) and Proper 23 (Series B).
Source: LCMS Worship, Hymn of the Day — Arranged by Church Year, pp. 169, 170 (opens in a new tab). Appointment identity only. Lutheran Service Book text and LCMS study content are not reproduced.
Suggested hymns
- Entrance LSB 533 Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure
- Distribution LSB 568 If Your Beloved Son, O God
- Distribution LSB 554 O Jesus, King Most Wonderful
- Distribution LSB 913 O Holy Spirit, Enter In
- Closing LSB 398 Hail to the Lord’s Annointed
Source: LCMS Worship, Hymn Suggestions — One-Year Lectionary Series 2025–26 (opens in a new tab). Hymn numbers and titles only; hymn texts are not reproduced. Reproduction for individual, church or school use does not require permission. © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.