Bulletin – Sunday, February 4, 2024 – 5th Sunday after Epiphany / Communion
Sunday, February 4, 2024
5th Sunday after Epiphany / Communion
We Gather as People of Faith
Lighting the Christ Candle
One: To light the candle is to bring light into the world.
All: To light the candle is to bring light into our souls.
One: We light the candle with every expectation of light.
All: We light the candle and light is revealed.
One: Welcome the light of the world.
All: We welcome Christ in our midst.
Announcements
Call to Worship
One: People of God, rejoice!
All: We rejoice in the name of God almighty!
One: People of God, give thanks!
All: We thank our generous God!
One: People of God, listen!
All: We listen to the voice of God’s Spirit.
One: People of God, sing praises!
All: We sing our praises to God with all we are!
One: People of God, join in worship.
All: We join together to worship God.
Hymn – “We Cannot Measure How You Heal” (VU #613)
We cannot measure how you heal
Or answer every sufferer’s prayer,
Yet we believe your grace responds
Where faith and doubt unite to care.
The pain that will not be away,
The guilt that clings from things long past,
The fear of what the future holds
Are present as if meant to last.
So some have come who need your help,
And some have come to make amends;
Your hands which shaped and saved the world
Are present in the touch of friends.
Lord, let your Spirit meet us here
To mend the body, mind, and soul,
To disentangle peace from pain
And make your broken people whole.
Introduction to Prayer – “And When You Call for Me” (MV #96)
And when you call for me,
I have already answered.
And when you call for me,
I am already there.
And when you call for me,
I have already answered.
And when you call for me,
I am already there.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: We pray for you, dear God, to bless this service as we come before you today. Sometimes we find it difficult to say the right words, but thankfully, you know our heart. Help keep us open to your voice as we continue with this service. May we find in the music, the scripture, the prayers, and the meditation something that will speak of your guidance for us on our journeys. Help us to be willing to heed your call for us as we continue to serve you.
All: It is sometimes difficult for us to have faith, loving God. We sometimes dismiss things that happen as mere coincidence, rather than seeing that it is your hand that has intervened. We seem to have lost our faith in healing. We look to the Bible stories as something that may have happened then but doesn’t happen now. Forgive us for our doubts. Help us to be less skeptical and realize that you give us reasons everyday to trust that you have the power to heal, restore and make new. In your miraculous name we pray. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Sung Response – “Behold, Behold, I make All Things New” (MV #115)
Behold, behold I make all things new,
Beginning with you and starting from today.
Behold, behold I make all things new,
My promise is true for I am Christ the way.
Behold, behold I make all things new,
Beginning with you and starting from today.
Behold, behold I make all things new,
My promise is true for I am Christ the way.
We Hear God’s Word
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Reading: Psalm 147
One: How good it is to sing praises to God, how pleasant to laud the Most High.
All: You are building Jerusalem, O God, and gathering the scattered exiles of Israel.
One: You are healing the broken-hearted, and binding up their wounds.
All: You count the number of the stars, and call them all by their names.
One: Great are you, O God, and mighty your power, yes, and your wisdom is infinite.
All: You raise up the lowly, and bring down the wicked to dust.
One: Sing to God in thanksgiving, make music on the harp to our God, who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes the hills green with grass.
All: You give the cattle their food, and the young ravens when they cry.
One: You set no store by the power of a horse, nor by the strength of a warrior’s thighs.
All: But your delight is in those who revere you, in those who rely on your mercy.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I came out to do.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church
Thanks be to God!
Meditation – “The Healing Power of Faith”
Anthem – “The Power of Your Love”
Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I have found in You
And Lord I have come to know
The weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love.
Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side
And as I wait
I will rise up like the eagle
and I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love
Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me
And Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
By the power of Your love.
Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side
And as I wait
I will rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love.
We Respond to God’s Word
An Invitation to Share
As we come to know God we are called to shine God’s light upon others. We do so by sharing from our blessings that others may have their needs fulfilled. We present our gifts as we sing our offering song and we pray:
Offering Response – “I Praise You, O God” (MV #61)
I praise you, O God, with all of my heart.
With all the earth I will sing your praises.
I praise you, O God, with all of my heart.
With all the earth I will sing your praises.
Offering Prayer
Hymn – “As We Gather at Your Table” (VU #457)
As we gather at your table, as we listen to your word,
Help us know, O God, your presence; let our hearts and minds be stirred.
Nourish Us with sacred story till we claim it as our own;
Teach us through this holy banquet how to make Love’s victory known.
Turn our worship into witness in the sacrament of life;
Send us forth to love and serve you, bringing peace where there is strife.
Give us, Christ, your great compassion to forgive as you forgave;
May we still behold your image in the world you died to save.
Gracious Spirit, help us summon other guests to share that feast
Where triumphant Love will welcome those who had been last and least.
There no more will envy blind us nor will pride our peace destroy,
As we join with saints and angels to repeat the sounding joy.
Sacrament of Communion
One: May God be with you
All: and also with you.
One: Lift your hearts.
All: We lift them up to God.
One: Let us give thanks to the God we love.
All: We freely give God thanks and praise.
One: It is right and meet, beautiful and holy that we should, in ceaseless joy. Give our thanks and praise to you, holy and merciful God.
One: You who accompanies our people, who lives within our struggles of all the earth and heaven the one and only God. Blessed those who in our God’s name announced the holy Gospel, proclaiming for the good news: our liberation comes.
One: Holy are you, Eternal One. You sit above, through, within the circle of the earth setting light into being casting the stars in the sky founding the evolving earth and all that dwell within it.
One: Limitless is your power, and great is your wisdom. You look upon the lowly as your most cherished creatures. You visit upon the downtrodden with presence, grace, and the promise of eternal justice.
One: You sent your prophets, poets, misfits, and minstrels to proclaim your kingdom of justice and shalom. Yet, we continued to wander away from the light of your love.
One: You sent to us your own child, Jesus, who reached into unexpected places, calling women beyond the limits of their times equipping men from nurturing love welcoming children into your holy embrace.
One: In his coming we found the light of your presence with us we continue to look for your presence with us today, so we lift up to you those in this community who are in need of your presence in their lives this day…Loving God we are blessed that you continue to reach out to us even in our wandering.
One: And so we recall that on the night of betrayal and desertion, the light of the world took bread, broke, and gave it to the disciples, saying;
One: “This is the bread of life, given for you. Each time you eat this bread, do this for the remembrance of me.”
One: And, in like manner, after supper, Jesus took the cup and after giving thanks give it to them saying,
One: “This is the cup of the new covenant poured out for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink of it, for the remembrance of me.”
One: Life’s greatest feast before us, we excitedly proclaim.
All: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
One: Dear God, you transform. You transform all that is before you so that at the touch of your grace we are never the same.
One: Dear God, you illumine. You bring light to all peoples light to the nations, light into our hearts, light on your Way.
One: Dear God, we pray for your Spirit. Transform, illumine, bless. Make these ordinary gifts of bread and cup into the extraordinary presence for Christ with us. In so doing, hold us as your own renew us as your people for the sake of the world you love.
One: For all honour and glory are yours, O God, through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit in your glorious creation both now and forever. Amen.
One: The Bread of Life.
One: The Cup of the New Covenant.
Prayer after Communion
We have been fed, Holy One, by your presence. We have been led, Eternal One, by your light. May we bask in this glow now and forevermore. Amen.
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” (VU #481)
Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing,
The people of God from this dwelling take leave.
The supper is ended, O, now be extended
The fruits of this service in all who believe…
The seed of Christ’s teaching, receptive souls reaching,
Shall blossom in action for God and for all.
God’s grace did invite us, God’s love shall unite us
To work for the kingdom and answer its call.
With praise and thanksgiving to God every-living,
The tasks of our ev’ryday life we will face,
Our faith ever sharing, in love ever caring,
Embracing God’s children of each tribe and race.
With your feast you feed us, with your light now lead us;
Unite us as one in this life that we share.
Then may all the living with praise and thanksgiving
Give honour to Christ and the name that we bear.
Benediction
One: With advancements in technology and the medical field, it is sometimes easy to forget God’s part in our world. We tend to put our faith in the self-made person. May we be reminded that with all the inventions and artificial intelligence, that we have the same God who healed Simon’s mother-in-law. We have the same God about which the Psalmist wrote.
All: We have a God of love who gives us the talent to create such amazing things. We know that God’s Spirit dwells among us. We are comforted to have Christ live within each one to show us the way. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Response – “Go Now in Peace, Guided by the Light” (MV #211)
Go now in peace, guided by the light of Christ,
So you may be nourished by the Word of Life.
Go now in peace, guided by the light of Christ,
So you may be nourished by the Word of Life.
