Lectionary Readings — Proper 23 — October 11, 2026
Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6,19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
Call to Worship (based on Matthew 22:1-14)
Leader: The King has prepared a feast, and everything is ready.
People: Come, for the table has been set at great cost, and the invitation is for us.
Leader: We confess that we have often made light of this invitation, distracted by our own farms and our own business.
People: Forgive us, Lord, for letting the ordinary crowd out the eternal.
Leader: Yet the King’s mercy does not close the doors — it sends us further still, into every street, gathering all who will come.
People: No one is too far off, too broken, or too unlikely for this grace.
Leader: But the King who invites us also clothes us, for presence alone was never the goal.
People: Clothe us, Lord, in the righteousness that is not our own.
All: We come this day not merely to occupy a seat, but to be transformed by the One who set the table. Let us be found ready, clothed, and rejoicing in the feast you have prepared. Amen.
Opening Prayer (based on Psalm 106:1-6,19-23)
Let us pray:
Lord,
You are good, and your steadfast love has no end. We come this morning not because we have earned a place before you, but because your mercy has always outrun our failures. Who can recount all you have done, Lord? Who can fully declare your praise? And yet we try, because you are worthy of every word we have and more than we could ever say.
We confess, Lord, that we are not so different from your people of old. They stood at the very mountain where you had revealed yourself, and still they fashioned an idol and traded your glory for something they could hold in their hands. We do the same, Father — not with metal and fire, but with the idols of comfort, control, ambition, and self. We forget the God who has saved us, again and again, and we reach instead for lesser things.
And yet, Lord, your mercy intervened then, and it intervenes now. You raised up one to stand in the breach, to turn away the judgment we deserved. We thank you that in Christ, we have one greater than Moses standing in the gap on our behalf — interceding for us, absorbing what we could never survive on our own.
So we ask this morning: remember us, Lord, with the favor you show your people. Help us, that we might see your goodness and rejoice with the heritage that is ours in you. Turn our hearts from every idol, and fix our eyes again on the God who has saved us. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our great intercessor. Amen.
[NOTE to Paid subscribers — scroll down for the full manuscript sermon]
Sermon Outline: "THE KING WHO WOULD NOT CANCEL THE WEDDING"
Based on Matthew 22:1-14
I. The Invitation Given (vv. 1-4)
II. The Invitation Ignored (vv. 5-7)
III. The Invitation Increased (vv. 8-10)
IV. The Invitation Inspected (vv. 11-14)
Full Manuscript Sermon Below for Paid Subscribers
