Second Sunday after Epiphany Worship Bulletin

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church                

Second Sunday after Epiphany     Coronavirus

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

01-16-20212     10:00AM Worship

OPENING SONG:    “BLESSED ASSURANCE”                                        Brown #119

THE OPENING RITE:

L   Sometimes our days are so dry and dusty…
and our lives feel as empty and barren as a desert…
and our spiritual throats seem so parched and cracked.
Sometimes it hasn’t turned out like we expected…
and now joy is missing…
and hope has all but disappeared.

C    But someone comes to tell us that God’s love is an overflowing fountain!

L   And there are people who are crying,
people who are dying,
people who are too desperate to hold on anymore.
And there is so much depression…
so much despair…
and so much pain here, there, and all over the world.

C    But someone comes to tell us that Jesus’ love is a-bubbling over!

L   God’s WORD is alive and dwells among us!

C    God’s LIGHT is real and shines among us!

L   At Cana’s wedding feast, Jesus changed water into wine and extended the joy.

C    He is the BEST and the MOST for real living on earth!

L   Brothers and sisters, open your hearts and lives to the WORD-MADE-FLESH,
the LIGHT OF THE WORLD,
the SON OF GOD!

C    Let us meet Him in worship,
proclaim Him in service,
and love Him forever,
JESUS THE CHRIST,
our SAVIOR and LORD! 

THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:   

Father in heaven, pour out the Spirit of your Son Jesus Christ upon us and fill us, so that our flat, stale, watered-down old lives might bubble up with the joy of your love and overflow with faithful, serving discipleship.

Lord, keep us thirsty in our hearts and busy in our witness. So be it, Amen!

FIRST READING: ISAIAH 62:1-5     [A “battered bride” – the people of Judah – is embraced by her ever-faithful God!]

62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.

62:2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.

62:3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

62:4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.

62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11     [A fractured congregation can be glued by the Holy Spirit.]

12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.

12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

12:5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;

12:6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

12:8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

12:10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

12:11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

GOSPEL VERSE:   

“Always remember Jesus, Jesus.
Always remember Jesus, Jesus.
Always keep Him on your mind.”

THE GOSPEL: JOHN 2:1-11     [Jesus, the “Life of the Party”, makes it happen!]

2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

2:2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

2:3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

2:4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

2:6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

2:7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

2:8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it.

2:9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom

2:10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

2:11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

THE SERMON:        Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen

SONG SELECTION

OFFERING  [God is a generous giver of gifts that flow like a river from the fountain of life. Our giving of self, time, and resources helps change the lives of those who feel forsaken and are thirsty for some GOOD news!]

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)           

• 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:     “WE ALL ARE ONE IN MISSION”     Dennis Fortune                      [Tune Green #369]

• We all are one in mission; we all are one in call,

our varied gifts united by Christ, the Lord of all.

A single great commission compels us from above

to plan and work together that all may know Christ’s love.

• We all are called to service, to witness in God’s name.

Our ministries are diff’rent; our purpose is the same –

to touch the lives of others with God’s surprising grace,

so ev’ry folk and nation may feel God’s warm embrace.

• Now let us be united, and let our song be heard!

Now let us be a vessel for God’s redeeming Word.

We all are one in mission, we all are one in call,

our varied gifts united by Christ, the Lord of all.    

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

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION:                                                       

THE BENEDICTION