Ephiphany Sunday

Pastoral Welcome

Welcome

Epiphany Sunday

Much later after Christ came

When the kingdom was fully realized

Call to Worship

Light! Light, light and more light!

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of God has risen upon you.

Nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem,

wise men came from the East, saying:

Where is he who is born king of the Jews?

For we have seen his star in the East,

and have come to worship him.

The wonderful light of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

Pastoral Prayer

Speak to us, Giver of Life, and make us new.

We thirst for the waters of eternal life,

we yearn to know ourselves as Resurrection People.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us this day,

and create in us your new heaven and new earth.

Speak to us words of comfort and hope,

words of challenge and courage.

Come: move among us, and, Let your light shine through us so that others can know you.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

Lord as the days get colder and colder, we lift up in prayer the many who do not have a warm, safe, dry place to call home. God we lament the suffering and the pain that the change of seasons bring for many, and we pray that your light would shine through us to those in our midst.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

God we know that this time can also be a challenge for those that have lost loved ones. So we pray for those among us grieving both over recent losses and also over losses that were long ago, with grief that still rests at the front of our minds. Lord God may we find the hope that you offer beyond death, and the light that your resurection shines into our world of darkness.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

We lift up those for whom this time marks isolation or loneliness. We remember that we are made in your image and that you are 3-1 and we were not made to be alone. We recognize our need for the sacredness of community. We pray for our church that we might be that for others. I pray the that for each person worshiping today that this is a welcoming and connecting experience both with you and with each other.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

Lord God there is so much that separates the present earth from the New Heaven and the New Earth that we hear about in scripture. We lift up in this moment of silence the laments and pains that we carry into this space. And also the hope that we have for that world that is yet to come.

Gracious God, you have promised to make all things new: restore peace where there has been hatred, reduce tension where there has been anger, rekindle friendship where there has been enmity, relieve suffering where there has been violence and recreate a united nation; for the good of the people and for the peace of the world. In Christ's name we pray all of these things, and in Christ’s name we pray the prayer that you taught us saying...

Middle Section

Celebration - Christmas Eve

Intro to offertory

Sermon

Epiphany Sunday

After Christmas

Ephiphany is the sudden realization of something

but it also serves as the moment that the magi - had a sudden realization of who Christ was and that God was in Christ

John 8:12–15 NRSV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one.

Picking up where we left off on Christmas Eve

God Let your light shine through me so that others can know you

This scenes happens in the Temple Treasury, in the court of the women

during the festival of the tabernacles

-four big candelabra were prepared and were lit all night

-people danced before them quite literally all night, and it was a big celebration

-we are told that there was not a place in Jerusalem that could not see that light

-light at nighttime was a rare commodity so spending that much money to create light was a significant thing

-Jesus is the fireworks of the world

....So in others words this is just like Christmas....

We might be fading from the glory of Christmas, but God is offering us something much better

John 8:15 NRSV

15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one.

lead into woman caught in adultry

Woman Caught in Adultery

John 8:1 NRSV

1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

The king comes to offer freedom where there is judgement

The epiphany is that Christ comes to bring us freedom, and to set us free from judgement.

In a legal sense Jesus is our advocate, standing by us and facing the persecutor

Speaking to them that whoever is without sin should cast the first stone.

They all turned away

Demonstrating that a kingdom that is marked by judgement does not really go anywhere

How often is our view of Jesus one of judgement.

I have to do the right thing or else!

Or fear

What is our faithful response....

P. Mike

So often it can feel like we are turning the handcrank that controls God’s light

When in fact we are just plugging ourselves into the light and the source

I can’t increase Gods light, but I sure can get in the way

So we recognize and the epiphany that we can have is that our faith life is not about or dependant on us, it is dependant on God

For Christ is the one true light that shines through us

Christ is not just a brief celebration but a lasting and true light that is constant and consistent for us

Our mission is just to get out of the way

To polish the glass that God’s light shines through

We are glass polishers

Benediction