Home Worship for the week of January 18
Morning Prayer: Guide our feet, Lord. Show us the light of grace when we would judge others too harshly. Warm our hearts with the glow of Your love when we would spew icy words of spite. Illumine our souls with joyful delight when sadness tries to take over the day. Shine brightly on us today, Lord, until we reflect Your glory as a witness to this world. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn: #103 Immortal, Invisible, God, Only Wise
- Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. - Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. - To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small; in all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee. - Thou reignest in glory; Thou dwellest in light;
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render: O help us to see 'tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 49:1-7
49 Listen to me, coastlands;
pay attention, peoples far away.
The Lord called me before my birth,
called my name when I was in my mother’s womb.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of God’s own hand.
He made me a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in God’s quiver,
3 saying to me, “You are My servant,
Israel, in whom I show My glory.”
4 But I said, “I have wearied myself in vain.
I have used up my strength for nothing.”
Nevertheless, the Lord will grant me justice;
my reward is with my God.
5 And now the Lord has decided—
the one who formed me from the womb as His servant—
to restore Jacob to God,
so that Israel might return to Him.
Moreover, I’m honored in the Lord’s eyes;
my God has become my strength.
6 He said: It is not enough, since you are My servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the survivors of Israel.
Hence, I will also appoint you as light to the nations
so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
7 The Lord, redeemer of Israel and its holy one,
says to one despised,
rejected by nations,
to the slave of rulers:
Kings will see and stand up;
commanders will bow down
on account of the Lord, who is faithful,
the holy one of Israel,
who has chosen you.
Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
4 I thank my God always for you, because of God’s grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 That is, you were made rich through Him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge, 6 in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you. 7 The result is that you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, and you were called by Him to partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayers of Intercession: (Lectionary prayers, adapted) Sisters and brothers, let us lift our hearts in faith to the one who hears all prayers and holds close all those in need. Let us pray that the light of Christ may shine upon the Church, the world, and all people according to their need.
Make disciples of everyone in this congregation. Give us willing and trust-filled hearts. Help us to use our spiritual gifts to glorify You and build up our community. Make us bold to tell others, “This is the Lamb of God.” Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, and hear the cry of all who are suffering and in need of Your healing. Lift those who are mourning close to You for comfort and companionship. In all places of brokenness, bring restoration and renewal. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Let Your wisdom and discernment flow in and through those leading our world. Prepare all our hearts and minds to accept Your peace and to be bearers of Your peace. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy God, You gather the whole universe into Your radiant presence and continually reveal Your Son as our Savior. Bring healing to all wounds, make whole all that is broken, speak truth to all illusion, and shed light in every darkness, that all creation will see Your glory and know Jesus and as He taught us, let us pray …
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Your Loving Choices. See bulletin insert.
Offering prayer: Ever-Present and Calling God, knowing us from the beginning, naming us as Your own, You have entrusted us with the holy work of bearing Your light to the world. Though we often feel unworthy or uncertain, You remind us that Your grace goes before us, and Your strength works through us. Receive these gifts, offered with gratitude and hope. Use them—and us—to proclaim Your justice, to shine Your love to the ends of the earth, and to glorify Your name. In the name of Christ, Your Servant and our Savior, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Preparation Hymn: #349 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.
Gospel Lesson: John 1:35-42
35 The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus walking along he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, He asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are You staying?”
39 He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and they remained with Him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40 One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ[a] ). 42 He led him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
Message: Pastor Becky
In the 1st chapter of the Gospel of John, we have the disciple John reporting on the going-ons of John the Baptist and his ministry. The disciple is outlining what John the Baptist has been going through. John had to defend himself from the priests and Levites that were sent from Jerusalem. John the Baptist has been preaching and baptizing, waiting for the Messiah to show up.
John has been faithful. He says he doesn't know what Jesus looks like. He just knows, the Spirit said that John will know when he encounters the One sent from God, because the Spirit will descend upon Him. I think we can empathize here with John the Baptist. We've had those experiences in our lives where we've met someone as a child or even been related to someone and we get separated from them. We know that John the Baptist and Jesus are cousins, but we don't know when their lives were divided when they were children.
I think back to my best friend from high school. When we were in junior high, his parents decided to have a baby. So in my mind Erin is perpetually 4 years old. When I close my eyes and I picture her, she's in a pink leotard and tutu because she's headed off to her dance recital. Erin is now 40 years old. I'm surprised every time I see her because my mind and my heart anticipates a jovial 4 year old yet before me stands a fully grown woman. A mother in her own right with a career and a family. But once I see her eyes and her smile, I know this is Erin.
John is waiting and then Jesus does show up. John baptizes Him and now there is recognition. John knows Jesus to see Him because the Spirit descends upon Him. I imagine the relief. Wading and waiting in the Jordan River and now the wait is over. John can now point to the One who's been sent. The One that's been sent is just walking around town. There's no fanfare. There are no sentries announcing His arrival. There's just a man. Walking around, taking in the scenery, preparing to call His own disciples.
John starts excitedly calling out. He wants people to know this is the Lamb of God. Here is the one who will take away the sin of the world. But nobody really moves. No one goes and attaches themselves to Jesus on this first day. The next day, John does what he's been doing. He's on the banks of the River Jordan and there's a crowd around him and Jesus just comes walking along. John begins yelling again. But this time, two of John's disciples follow Jesus.
Next, what we have is for me the most confusing exchange. Once Jesus notices the disciples are following Him, Jesus asks them this question, “What are you looking for?” Now the disciples could have answered this question in a gazillion different ways. I mean after all, they have The One who has been sent in their midst. They have Jesus undivided attention. They have been at John's side as he has been preaching repentance, a change in their hearts, a change in their lives. We could come up with a healthy list right now of questions to ask Jesus:
How are you going to take away the sin of the world?
Explain to us this baptism that John continues to preach.
Tell us about this Spirit.
Maybe even just wanting confirmation that John is right OR are they following one who is misguided.
In that exact moment, everything pivots from Jesus is coming to Jesus is here. At this moment, the best question they can ask is where are You staying? Seriously? Where are You staying? In some ways, it seems like they've missed an opportunity. They have foolishly not considered the weight of this encounter. But Jesus looks at them. He doesn't give them an address or a point of reference. He doesn't say that He's staying at His cousin's, or at His aunt's, or a local inn, or even that He is just staying in a grove of olive trees further upstream. What Jesus says to them is, come and see.
After spending some time with Jesus, Andrew goes to get his brother and witnesses to his brother Simon and brings him to Jesus. When Simon comes to Jesus, Jesus renames him Peter. Two brothers connected, yet called to very different styles of discipleship. Andrew brings one person at a time to Jesus. Peter will bring a crowd to Jesus.
Some of us are Andrew and others are Peter. Each disciple has a different approach to sharing Jesus. Andrew relies on relationships. He goes to someone he already knows and tells that person about Jesus. Peter preaches out in the open at Pentecost and 3000 come to belief. Peter relies on the Spirit and the other disciples to do the work of faith foundation. But whether it's one or whether it's 3000, it all begins with the invitation to come and see.
Yet what do we, as disciples of Jesus, do with this story? We are disciples. We believe that Jesus lives and that the recorded word is alive in the manifestation of Jesus as the Word of God. We have to look for Jesus just walking around. We have the benefit of “knowing” Him. But like John, we have trouble recognizing Him until the Spirit nudges us and gives us the sign that we're encountering Jesus.
This would require us to go and look, to see Jesus out and about, interacting in normal lives. I think we need to look where Jesus told us that He would be. He told us that where two or three are gathered together in His name, that He would be there. Jesus also told us He's with the hungry and the thirsty and the naked, the sick and the imprisoned and those in need of shelter. Jesus also shows us, He is with the grieving.
We look at the story of Lazarus in John 11 and we see Jesus with Mary and Martha. He is with them in their sorrow at Lazarus’ death. Jesus weeps because God has promised to be near the broken hearted.
When the 1st disciple asked Jesus where are you staying, the invitation to come and see is for us. It is for us to go and witness suffering and despair to offer what we have. There will be times that we will be able to give physical items to ease suffering: clothing, food, shelter. But in the suffering and in the despair, the come and see, is an invitation into that changed life, that changed heart. Because once we see Jesus in that suffering – in the hungry person, in the thirsty person, in the naked, in the homeless – once we see Jesus in their eyes, we move deeper into our discipleship because we want to remedy whatever it is that causes our Savior to suffer. We would want to see Jesus cared for, and we have the responsibility to care for Jesus in our presence.
Part of care is to invite them into fellowship, into connection, into faith. It will transform their lives. It will transform us. It will transform the world. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #357 Just As I Am Without One Plea
- Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me,
and that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. - Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. - Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. - Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; sight, riches, healing of the mind,
yea, all I need in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. - Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. - Just as I am, Thy love unknown hath broken every barrier down;
now, to be Thine, yea Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
Go Now in Peace: Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of ev’ry day. Go now in faith, steadfast strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love and show you believe. Reach out to others, so all the world can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
