[VIDEO] Second Sunday after Epiphany Worship Service

We will gather together for worship service on Zoom using the following information:
MEETING ID: 5977365682
MEETING PASSWORD: 204934

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St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church         

Second Sunday after Epiphany     Coronavirus

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

01-17-2021      10:00AM Worship

 

THE GREETING, CONFESSION, AND FORGIVENESS:              

L   The grace of (+) Jesus Christ, the mercy of the Holy One, and the Spirit of the living God be with you all.

Let us come before God, confessing our sin.   Holy, merciful, and loving God…

C    In baptism you anoint us to be your holy people in and for the world. 

             We confess that, too often, we have neither heard your word nor followed your will.

Too often we bring harm to our brothers and sisters, and we fail to reach out to those in great need.  

Too often we cherish the values of this world, and we are self-destructive, doubtful, and depressed. 

Lord, can anything good come from us?

Only if you will hear our plea, forgive us again, and let your light shine upon us.  

L   God is familiar with all your ways; God knows you to the very depths of your being.

My people, you cannot hide from God… but, then again, you don’t need to.

And this is why – you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God… and God loves you dearly.

If you are ready to be forgiven, God forgives you!

If you are ready to be changed for the better, then God is already on the case!

Today God is claiming and calling you in Christ, forgiving and empowering you with the Spirit, leading and

guiding you to walk in the light! Hallelujah!

OPENING SONG:    “COME AND GO WITH ME”   

THE PRAYER OF THE DAY  (together):       

Father in heaven, Jesus Christ is the BEST and the MOST for real living on this earth.

We pray that we may always see, hear, believe, and hold on to him.

We also pray that we may not keep silent or rest easy until the Good News is passed on to others.

Lord, keep me thirsty in my heart and busy in my witness. So be it, Amen! 

FIRST READING: 1 Samuel 3:1-20    [A new way to hear. The Lord God comes to Samuel, calls him to be a prophet.]

3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

3:2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room;

3:3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

3:4 Then the LORD called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!”

3:5 and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

3:6 The LORD called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

3:8 The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy.

3:9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

3:10 Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

3:11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.

3:12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.

3:13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.

3:14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

3:15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

3:16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.”

3:17 Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”

3:18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”

3:19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

3:20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD.

THE PSALM:     Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24      

1    O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

2    You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3         You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

4         Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. 

5    You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

6    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7         Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

8         If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths of hell, you are there.

9     If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10   even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

11       If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

12       even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like day, for darkness is as light to you.

13    For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14    I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15       My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

16       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

           All the days ordained for me were written in the book before one of them came to be.

17    How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

18    Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake, I am still with you.

23        Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24        See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

SECOND READING:  1 Corinthians 6:12-20  [A new way to be. Our human relationships and conduct, even our sexuality, is to reflect the reality that we belong to Christ.]

6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

6:13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

6:14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!

6:16 Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”

6:17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

6:18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself.

6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

6:20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

GOSPEL VERSE:    “Always remember Jesus, Jesus.           

       Always remember Jesus, Jesus.

                  Always keep Him on your mind.” 

THE GOSPEL:     JOHN 1:43-51    [A new way to see. Jesus calls Philip, who invites his friend Nathanael, who is skeptical until he also meets Jesus.]

1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

1:47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

1:49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

1:50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”

1:51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

SONG SELECTION

THE SERMON:        Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.          

L   This is the time of the year when we again remember the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sample

his speeches, hear about his passion, and declare his dream. Now what? Dr. King fought for righteousness

and justice for all people. He believed that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. He turned a

spotlight on America’s conscience, a spotlight that shines on us today. Listen! Don’t you hear it? The

spotlight is asking us a question. Do you love God enough to live faithfully and to love fervently? Is Martin’s

dream your dream?

C       God created all the races and nations of the world and willed that we live together in peace and harmony. We were made to be family.  We can’t just dream it. We must make it a part of our daily life. Only love can overcome hatred, bitterness, and fear.  

L   There is strife in the human family. Injustice abounds in the form of racism, classism, sexism, cultural

imperialism, and other isms. We are a divided people, a fractured global community. And the

consequences are painful, destructive, and ungodly.

C    We have been called to let justice roll down like waters. 

We cannot be innocent bystanders. We cannot become apathetic or discouraged.

We must speak up and act out. Injustice will not stop unless we stop it. 

L   We must work passionately to bridge the gulf that is between us, overcome the injustices that oppress us,

and restore true community among us.

C    We must be determined enough to change what we can. 

We must have the courage to accept what we cannot change.  

Above all, we must have the guidance of God’s Spirit to know the difference.   Amen.

OFFERING   [Jesus promised in today’s Gospel that you and I will come to see heaven opened and angels

descending in splendor. Our offerings of time and talent and treasure are given in thanksgiving for all of

God’s gifts and all of God’s promises, and in generosity in order to reach and touch others with the saving

love that we have experienced through Jesus Christ.]

THE OFFERTORY SONG:     “THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE”                               

• This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…  (3X)

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

• Ev’rywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine…  (3X)

1. Jesus gave it to me, I’m gonna let it shine…  (3X)

OFFERING PRAYER:           

     O Lord our God, You have anointed us to bring good news and to proclaim liberty, to bind up the

     brokenhearted and to liberate the oppressed. Help us to shine forth always and in all ways with the

     bright glory of Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

MUSIC SELECTION     

THE PRAYERS…  We pray that the joy and light of JESUS CHRIST will touch all lives!      

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION: “AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY”                         

THE BENEDICTION

Tags: Epiphany