The Celebration of the Gospel
January 26 , 2020 — Third Sunday after the Epiphany
“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
—Mt. 4.19
______We Are Received as Children of God____
GREETING
PRELUDE – Allegretto Tranquillo – Alexandre Guilmant
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies, listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
*CALL TO WORSHIP – Isaiah 9.2-4
[The great theme of the Epiphany season is the church’s calling to bear the light of Christ into the world. Here the prophet celebrates the light of God’s liberating grace, which overwhelms the darkness of war, injustice and oppression.]
Leader: The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
All: those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
All the weapons of war and the wounds of war
are done away with, burned as fuel for the fire.
* SONG – More Precious than Silver – Black hymnal # 206
_____We Are Transformed by the Love of Christ____
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG
How Great Thou Art / Majesty – arr by Joel Raney (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
PRAYER
God of truth, you speak your Word, and we barely hear it beneath the rumble and clatter of our world. Tune the ears of our heart to your voice. Clear our minds to listen. Let us hear Jesus calling us, and answer, and follow, by the powerful grace of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT – Ephesians 2.1-10 (paraphrased)
[God has rescued us from the old life, captive to our fears and desires, and led us to freedom in Christ, with the new life God gives us.]
You used to be dead.
You were trapped in life-stealing ways:
under the sway of this world
you thought you could force your way,
write your own cosmic laws.
We all do it.
We act like little self-contained body-pods,
slaves to our ego’s fearful desires,
children of fear and despair. All of us.
But God, rich with mercy,
loves us with this huge, heartbreaking love—
even when we drive our life into a fatal crash—
and God makes us alive,
raising us up out of the grave
arm in arm with Christ.
You’ve been saved, kid: pulled right out
of the wreckage of your life.
God raises us up and sets us gently
right next to Christ,
at the center of Life, in Christ’s heart.
Only afterwards will we begin to see
just how immensely deep God’s grace is,
in showing us such kindness in Christ Jesus.
You have been saved by God’s grace.
Just trust this.
This is not your own doing;
it’s totally a gift from God.
It’s not anything you can even influence.
Nobody can claim that.
There’s no such thing as a self-made person:
we are what God made us,
which is God’s Beloved,
created for the purpose of goodness.
This is your destiny, your identity,
your whole life.
Get used to it.
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(10:30) PSALTER – Psalm 27
[If God is my light, then I have nothing to fear. I seek to live close to God (“in the house of the Lord”), to pay attention to God’s presence (“to seek God’s face”) and to live according to God’s leading (“Teach me your way”).]
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh,
they shall stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in God’s temple.
For you hide me in your shelter in the day of trouble;
you conceal me under the cover of your tent;
you set me high on a rock.
Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in your tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek God’s face!”
Your face, Lord, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will take me up.
Teach me your way,
O Lord, and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
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GOSPEL – Matthew 4.18-23
[Jesus proclaims God’s power and presence in the world (the “realm of heaven”). He calls fishermen to be disciples who follow him in proclaiming the good news and healing people.]
Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the realm of heaven has come near.” As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
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SERMON – Follow me
* SONG – The Summons – Black hymnal #2130
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe in God, creator of all, who has fashioned each in God’s image, with God’s gifts, God’s love, God’s glory.
We follow Jesus, God’s love made flesh, who fed and healed, who taught and forgave, who called forth a community of freedom and justice. For his challenge to systems of injustice he was crucified; but he was raised from the dead, and still goes before us in life.
We live by the power and the grace of the Holy Spirit, God’s loving presence leading, guiding, empowering us. We are called and gifted by the Spirit to live lives of compassion, forgiveness, beauty, joy and justice. We commit ourselves to trust in God, to follow Jesus, and to listen to the Holy Spirit in all our lives, and to help one another to do so, as the Body of Christ. These things we profess with our words and our lives, with the help of the Spirit, in the name of Christ. Amen.
SONG – Calling Me – Steve G-H
Dear God, Creator eternally, you call everything to be.
How are you calling me, even now?
Who do you call me to be? Where is your image in me, calling me?
Jesus, lord of the fishermen, calling your children,
you call to me once again, even now.
What will you lead me to do? How can I witness to you, calling me, calling me?
Spirit, power of love in me, how do you set me free,
what gifts are you giving me, even now?
I am a vessel for you. Humbly I listen to you, calling me, calling me.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
____We Are Sent in the Power of the Holy Spirit__
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
8:15: This is My Fathers World – Arr. Tammy Waldrop (Ringtones)
10:30: Carol of the Birds – Arr. Deborah Carr (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
* OFFERING SONG – Breathe on Me, Breath of God – Blue hymnal #420
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Jesus goes before us and beckons us to follow; by your Spirit help us live lives of love and courage, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus – Black hymnal #2129
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE – Postlude in G Minor – Lani Smith