15 Jan BULLETIN – SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023

WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES

Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor

Greta Wright, Music Director

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Second Sunday After Epiphany

 

GREETING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRELUDE

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS   Page 56

ENTRANCE HYMN     Arise, Your Light Has Come     WOV #652

KYRIE and HYMN OF PRAISE     Pages 57-60

PRAYER of the DAY

Holy God, our strength and redeemer, by your Spirit hold us forever, that through your grace we may worship and faithfully serve you, follow and joyfully find you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen

FIRST READING     ISAIAH 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for no-thing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.” And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says,

PSALM     40:1-11

I waited patiently upon the Lord, who stooped to me and heard my cry.

 The Lord lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the  miry lay, and set my feet upon a high cliff, making my footing sure. 

The Lord put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the Lord. 

Happy are they who trust in the Lord! They do not turn to enemies or to those who follow lies. I love to do your will, O my God. 

Great are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God! In your plans for us, none can be compared with you! Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! But they are more than I can count. 

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire; you have opened my ears: burnt-offering and sin-offering you have  required. I love to do your will, O my God. 

And so I said, “Here I a; I come. In the scroll of the book it is written of me: 

‘I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep within me.’ ” 

I proclaimed righteousness in the great assembly; I have not re-strained my lips, O Lord, you know. 

I have not hidden your righteousness in my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; I have not concealed your steadfast love and truth from the great assembly. 

You are the Lord; do not withhold your compassion from me; may your steadfast love and your truth continually keep me safe. 

I love to do your will, O my God.

SECOND READING     1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia.

 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Alleluia.

GOSPEL     JOHN 1:29-42

[John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

SERMON 

HYMN of the DAY     O Jesus, I Have Promised     #503

PROFESSION of FAITH and APOSTLE’S CREED      Page 65

PRAYERS of INTERCESSION

Called together to follow Jesus, we pray for the church, the world, and all in need. A brief silence.

Holy One, many churches operate at low occupancy, are understaffed or unfunded. Build upon the history of small church communities. Help them attract new members through common values, especially belief in you and love for others. Inspire more folks to worship together. Strengthen our testimony so more believe and follow Christ. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Faithful One, water and air supports most life as you created it. Preserve, protect and cleanse both so people, plants and animals thrive. Restore ice; expose land hidden by rising water; bring rain to dry fields, lake and river beds. May profit not discourage conservation. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Jesus, Lamb of God, all nations and people struggle to do God’s will. Give wisdom to leaders. Straighten out lopsided business practices, warped systems and poorly managed institutions. Fill governing bodies with reason and righteousness; equip judges with discernment and compassion. Thwart fraud, corruption and greed. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

You hear all who cry, and reveal yourself to all who seek. Let your nearness be perceived by individuals and population groups suffering violence, injustice, illness, or poverty, especially those on our prayer list. Hide them in the shadow of your hand. Help us to comfort and empower all in need. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

You are glorified in the servants you call. As you did with Martin Luther King Jr., give us bold trust in you to act non-violently with determination to reveal and extend truth and equity among all people. When advocacy seems risky, give us courage to repent of fear and seek justice for all. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

In every place and time, you sanctify and care for people. We praise you for the testimony of those who live and die trusting and believing, especially Lawrence Foieri.  Strengthen us as we wait to meet our Lord Jesus Christ face-to-face. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Holy, faithful, Lamb of God, we identify with John the Baptist, feeling called to divine purpose while having hopes and needs of our own. As you approach and are revealed, like John, we hope to demonstrate our trust in your plan, our trust in your wisdom and to also testify of Jesus, your baptized Son of human flesh, born to save the world from sin.   Amen.

OFFERTORY  

THE LORD’S PRAYER                                                             

BENEDICTION     Page 74

CLOSING HYMN    Jesus Calls Us; O’er the Tumult     #494

BLESSING

DISMISSAL

POSTLUDE

 

Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission. Prayers adapted from Sundays and Seasons, copyright © 2019, Augsburg Fortress. Used with permission. Psalm readings from Lutheran Book of Worship, copyright © 1978. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual Subscription #SB160715 Other quotations from Scripture from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of Churches in Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

 

Altar flowers at St Peter have been presented by Bruce and Diane Keister in memory of George and Estelle Geise.

Altar flowers at Messiah have been presented by Roy and Joyce Wright To the Glory of God!