Bulletin – January 23, 2022 (Third Sunday after Epiphany)
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Approach
Lighting the Christ Candle
As we come together this day, may we declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We light this candle to remind us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that even during this time of winter darkness, his light shines out into the world through our work and praise.
Response
Many are the lightbeams from the one light.
Our one light is Jesus.
Many are the lightbeams from the one light,
We are one in Christ.
Call to Worship
One: Jesus embraced his friends with love.
All: Let us witness to God with our arms.
One: Jesus wept when his friends experienced grief.
All: Let us witness to God with our hearts.
One: Jesus healed people with his touch.
All: Let us witness to God with our hands.
One: Jesus taught in the synagogues.
All: Let us witness to God with our ears.
One: Jesus walked alongside the oppressed.
All: Let us witness to God with our feet.
One: Jesus taught us that to experience life to its fullest requires our entire selves.
All: Let us worship God with all of our selves: mind, body, soul, and spirit.
Hymn – “We are Members of Christ’s Body”
We are members of Christ’s body, joined by faith in unity:
One in calling, joy, and suffering, wholesome in diversity.
We will work with gifts that differ towards the Kingdom’s destiny.
Ear and eye to one another, we have need of every part;
Hands and feet belong together, guided by a loyal heart;
Tendons, bones, and flesh embody what the Spirit’s breath imparts.
When one member suffers hardship, we will shoulder all the pain;
When another part is honored, joys throughout the body reign;
For our common love is pulsing towards the growths of Christ’s domain.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Creator of all, you call us into community, to work together as one body.
Be with us today as we join our hearts and voices to bring praise to you who have perfectly created each of us. Help us to see past our perceived imperfections to see the beauty you created in us and in the world. Accept the praise of your family as we reach out to you, and each other, in worship and adoration.
Loving God, you have asked us to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and to let the oppressed go free. Yet there are times that we have been unable to unwilling to see those among us who didn’t have enough, who felt trapped, and who were treated as “lesser than.” For the times that our own thoughts and actions have caused us or others to stumble, we ask for your forgiveness.
Words of Assurance
Time for All Ages
The Word
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1 all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-21
14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “The Spirit of the Lord”
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me
To preach good news to the poor,
God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
And recovering of sight to the blind
To set at liberty those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Meditation – “The Lord’s Favour”
Anthem – “We are Called”
The Response
Prayers of the People
One: Loving Creator, you have called us into relationship with each other. You have commissioned our lives to be peacemakers to seek justice to share your love and grace in the world.
One: And yet the world builds up walls against us and becomes an empire where oppression reigns where violence dictates and compassion seems distant.
One: Give us the strength needed to build Heaven on Earth to do your will, not our own to love each other fiercely to proclaim a new way of life immersed in loving kindness.
One: Help us to recognize the stranger in our midst and to open our doors to them.
One: Help us to open our hearts so we are receptive to your spirit. Enable us to hear your stirrings in our hearts and respond without fear or anxiety. And be with us as we do your work in the world.
One: You have engraved us on the palms of your hands. You know every one of our struggles. You feel our pain and sorrow and you rejoice when our hearts are joyful, when our burdens have been released.
One: Help us to be mindful of our brothers and sisters in our own communities, as well as in the world, whose struggles may be different from our own or similar to ones we have faced: those facing deportation, those in the midst of war, those who have been offended, those who seek peace, those living in poverty, those suffering loss, those in pain, those who are overwhelmed, those who feel unloved. And let us give thanks because you have called us children of God, the body of Christ.
One: You have offered us unending love. You have assured us that even in our darkest times you are there beside us, guiding us, loving us. With you we have nothing to fear.
One: Wrap your loving arms around us and guide us into new and right relationships. Let your blessings pour out on our lives transforming and shaping us into all we can be and even more than we could ever imagine for ourselves. We ask for your blessing for those who lift up to you in prayer this day…May our prayers and your love reach them and everyone in this world. We ask all this together, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Hymn – “Christ Has No Body Now But Yours”
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth, yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
No hands but yours to heal the wounded world,
No hands but your to soothe all its suffering,
No touch but yours to bind the broken hope of the people of God.
No eyes but yours to see as Christ would see,
To find the lost, to gaze with compassion;
No eyes but yours to glimpse the holy joy of the city of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth, yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
No feet but yours to journey with the poor,
To walk in this world with mercy and justice.
Yours are the steps to build a lasting peace for the children of God.
Through ev’ry gift, give back to those in need;
As Christ has blessed, so now be his blessing,
With ev’ry gift a benediction be to the people of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth, yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
Benediction
God has given each of us a part in the body of Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are an arm, or a leg, or a hand; God has a use and a purpose for you.
Go into the world knowing that you were perfectly created. Go into the world and generously share the abundance of what God have given to you. And whatever you do, do it in love, knowing that you have been called to be the church, to celebrate God’s presence, Crucified and Risen, our Judge and our Hope.
May the perfect love of God, and the unending grace of Jesus and the presence of our comforter, the Holy Spirit, be with you, and with everyone you meet. Amen.
Response
O Light of Nations, fill the earth;
Our faith and hope and love renew.
Come, lead the peoples to your peace,
As stars once led the way to you.
