Bulletin – Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship
One: We have come to worship God, the living God,
All: Who calls prophets and teachers to bear witness.
One: We have come to praise God, the almighty God,
All: We answers the forces of hatred and hurt with the power of grace.
One: We have come to worship God, all-gracious God,
All: Who chooses even you and me, to receive and carry the Word of life and hope. All glory to God!
(adapted from a post on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways Archive)
Hymn – “Jesus Calls Us” (VU #562)
Jesus Calls us, o’er the tumult of our life’s wild restless sea,
Day by day his clear voice sounding, saying, “Christian, follow me.”
Long ago apostles heard it by the Galilean lake,
Turned from home and toil and kindred, leaving all for Jesus’ sake.
Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store,
From each idol that would keep us, saying, “Christian, love me more.”
In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease,
Still he calls, in cares and pleasures, “Christian, love me more than these.
Jesus calls us: by your mercies, Saviour, may we hear your call,
Give our hearts to your obedience, serve and love you best of all.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Your wisdom, Holy Mystery, is an unfathomable as the deep, as alluring as the night sky. When all seems lost, call us from the wreckage of our lives. Grant us the ability and the will to hear your call and bless us with the grace to embrace your promised salvation. Help us face our fears, that we might remain sure-footed on our journey of faith and hear us as we speak our confessions to you.
All: Liberating and reconciling God: You have entrusted us with your good news. Although we experience this wonderful hope, we are often hesitant to trust and love. Forgive our slowness in embracing your people in Christian love. Turn our self-interest into concern for others. Transform our individual responses into a vibrant, faithful community. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our liberator.
(The Abingdon Worship Annual 2025 and Worship for All Seasons II Year C by Laura J. Turnbull, 2000)
Words of Assurance
(Worship for All Seasons II Year C by David Sparkes, 1994)
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.
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Reading: Psalm 138 (Voices United page 860)
One: I praise you, O God, with all my heart; before the gods I will sing your praises.
All: I bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name for your love and faithfulness;
One: for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
All: On the day that I called you answered me, and put new strength in my soul
Sung Refrain: We worship in your holy place and praise you for your truth and grace.
One: All earth’s rulers shall praise you, when they hear the words of your mouth.
All: They shall sing of your ways, O God, sing that your glory is great.
One: For though you are high, you care for the lowly.
All: As for the proud, you humble them from afar.
Sung Refrain: We worship in your holy place and praise you for your truth and grace.
One: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me;
All: you stretch out your hand against my enemies’ rage; your powerful hand delivers me.
One: You will fulfil your purpose for me.
All: Your love, O God, is eternal. Do not leave unfinished the work of your hands.
Sung Refrain: We worship in your holy place and praise you for your truth and grace.
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:1-11
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord: for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “Jesus, You Have Come to the Lakeshore” (VU #563)
Jesus, you have come to the lakeshore
Looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones;
You only asked me to follow humbly.
O Jesus, with your eyes you have searched me,
And while smiling, have spoken my name;
Now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;
By your side I will seek other seas.
You know so well my possessions;
My boat carries no gold and no weapons;
You will find there my nets and labour.
O Jesus, with your eyes you have searched me,
And while smiling, have spoken my name;
Now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;
By your side I will seek other seas.
You need my hands, full of caring
Through my labours to give others rest,
And constant love that keeps on loving.
O Jesus, with your eyes you have searched me,
And while smiling, have spoken my name;
Now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;
By your side I will seek other seas.
You, who have fished other oceans,
Ever longed for by souls who are waiting,
My loving friend, as thus you call me.
O Jesus, with your eyes you have searched me,
And while smiling, have spoken my name;
Now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;
By your side I will seek other seas.
Meditation
Hymn – “As We Meet Beside the Lakeshore”
As we meet beside the lakeshore,
Christ, you beckon, “Come with me.
Cast your net in deeper water,
Venture toward a farther sea.”
Calm my fear and fire my courage
When I hear you call my name.
Guide me as I journey onward,
Growing as I own you claim.
Can I set to sea like Peter,
Trembling, lost, yet rock-to-be?
Can I keep the watch with Mary,
Faithful still wile others flee?
What potential lies within me?
What horizons lie before?
Steady me to trust your Spirit,
Wind who blows my boat from shore.
As I tremble by the lakeshore,
Christ, you counsel, “Do not fear.
You will catch not fish, but people;
Cast your net both far and near.”
Show me where the need is deepest
And where you would have me go.
Give me faith to risk and follow,
Leaving everything I Know.
We Respond to God’s Word
An Invitation to Share
Offering Sung Response – “Grant Us, God, the Grace” (VU #540)
Grant us, God, the grace of giving;
With a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living
We may offer faithfully.
Offering Prayer
Prayers of the People
One: Lord, hear our prayer.
All: And in your love answer.
Prayer Jesus Taught Us
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “Who is a Disciple?”
Who is a disciple? Look and you will see.
Those who follow Jesus learning what to be.
Mary Magdalene was one – she walked close by our Lord.
And was the first to find him ris’n on the Easter morn,
Jesus, Jesus teach me how to be
A disciple of your love for all the world to see.
Who is a disciple? Look and you will see.
Four strong me out fishing the sea of Galilee.
Peter, Andrew, James and John left their nets behind
And followed Jesus just to know God’s love for humankind.
Jesus, Jesus teach me how to be
A disciple of your love for all the world to see.
Who is a disciple? Look and you will see.
A woman with a jar of oil anointing lovingly.
With tender tears she bathed his feet, gave love complete and bold.
And Jesus said, “Forever more your story will be told.”
Jesus, Jesus teach me how to be
A disciple of your love for all the world to see.
Who is a disciple? Look and you will see.
People all around us – they look like you and me.
When we learn to love and share, care for everyone,
We become disciples to, and Jesus’ work is done.
Jesus, Jesus teach me how to be
A disciple of your love for all the world to see.
Benediction
Sung Response – “Lead Me Lord, I Will Follow”
Lead me Lord, I will follow.
Lead me Lord, I will go.
You have called me, I will answer.
Lead me Lord, I will go.
