The Celebration of the Gospel
3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
January25, 2015
8:15 – 9:00 am
10:30 – 11:45 am
He Qi, Calling the Disciples
“Follow me and I will have you fishing for people.”
_____ We Gather as The Body of Christ_____
GREETING
PRELUDE A Mighty Fortress Johann Pachelbel
[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
Leader: For God alone my soul waits in silence.
All: My hope is from God.
God alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.
Trust in God, and pour out your heart.
Power is God’s alone.
And to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
We worship you in joy and faith.
SONG Open My Eyes, That I May See Blue hymnal #454
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Show Me the Way, O Lord JJay Althouse
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of mercy, you create us in love and for love;
but we make our own lives by our own will.
Now we release our lives to your making:
transform in us what is not of your Spirit
and lift up what is,
that we may be true to your will in us, by your grace.
SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE Bless the Lord Black hymnal #2013
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Creator God, you called your prophets to speak on your behalf. Your Christ called disciples to follow him. You call to us now, deep in our hearts. We listen for your voice. We wait for your will. We want to follow. Call us, and we will follow, in the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Jonah 3.1-5, 10
[God sends Jonah to speak to the city of Nineveh (which he has tried to avoid). Surprisingly, he does—and, even more unexpected, they listen to his message and repent!
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth for mourning.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. People and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change God’s mind, and not treat us with such fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God reconsidered the calamity God had threatened to bring upon them; and God did not do it.
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PSALTER Psalm 62 Blue hymnal, page 787
[God alone has real power in this world, and so it is in God alone that we put our trust. Human efforts, and all that we cling to, provide nothing.]
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from God.
God alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in God at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before God;
God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all according to their work.
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NEW TESTAMENT 1 Corinthians 7.17-20
[Paul counsels us to pay attention to the “state” we are in when we are called. The gifts we need to fulfill our calling are not foreign to us, or something we need to attain, but already in us when we are called.]
Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of their call already circumcised? Let them not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of their call uncircumcised? Let them not seek circumcision. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything. Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.
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GOSPEL Mark 1.14-20
[Jesus calls fishermen beside the lake to follow him as his disciples. Leaving everything, they go with him. ]
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Empire of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
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SERMON
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?
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.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASSING THE PEACE
_____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Surrender arr: Lois Riley Summers
OFFERING SONG Lead Me, Lord Blue hymnal #473
PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Help us to hear your voice, to know our calling, and to follow with courage and grace for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
SONG Send Me, Lord Blue hymnal #497
* 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
8:15: Praise To The Lord, The Almighty, arr: Alice Jordan
10:30 Resounding Faith, Jason Krug (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the back corners.]