October 5, 2025
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 17:10 – “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
We can never put God in our debt. Even if we lived in perfect compliance with the Law, we would still only be unworthy servants.
Our giving to the Lord’s work in the church is a sign that we recognize our role as servants. Furthermore, we give because we recognize our own need for that work of the Lord in the church.
And what a blessing it is to give to the church so that the ministry of His Word and Sacraments may reach all in our community.
LCMS Stewardship Bulletin Sentences
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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4; 2 Timothy 1:1–14; Luke 17:1–10
We Walk by Faith, and Not by Sight, in the Peace of Christ’s Forgiveness
We are surrounded by “destruction and violence” (Habakkuk 1:3) because the Law “is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth” (Habakkuk 1:4).
In fact, the Law cannot rescue us from our enemies; it is our fiercest enemy of all. Therefore, not by sight, experience or feeling, nor by works, “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). “Temptations to sin are sure to come” (Luke 17:1), but as often as we sin, the Lord rebukes us, turns us to repentance and forgives us. We pray that He would thus “increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
And indeed, He does! Though we are His “unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10), He prepares His Supper for us, dresses us properly and gives us His body and blood to eat and drink. He appoints pastors for us, “by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:1). For the Gospel brings “life and immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10).
This we believe. Therefore, “follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard,” by which He guards you “in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).
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Life Thoughts for the Week
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost - “We shouldn’t expect to know or understand the ways of God. We simply live in trust and ask God’s blessing on our lives of sanctification, lived in love and thanksgiving to Christ.”
Marie MacPherson, author – A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life • lutheransforlife.org
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