A digital version of this week’s worship bulletin and sermon.
Gathering
PRELUDE “Agnus Dei” G. Bizet
CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS
GATHERING SONG “Children of the Heavenly Father” red book # 781
GREETING
CANTICLE OF PRAISE red book page 169 (set 6)
PRAYER of the DAY
Word
JONAH 3:1–5, 10
PSALM 62:5–12
1 CORINTHIANS 7:29–31
SERMON Pastor Chris Halverson
On this, the third Sunday of Epiphany.
This Sunday in which we as a Church will be meeting after service to report on the past and prepare for the future.
This Sunday in which we renew the leadership of the church council through the rite of installation.
Today, as we Baptize young Alyssa into Christ.
Today, I would like us to reflect for a moment on the meaning of Epiphany.
As I taught the children two Sundays ago both Archimedes and Isaac Newton were said to have Epiphany moments—Ahah! Moments. Eureka! Moments.
Moments in which everything became clear—a whole new way of looking at the world became, for them, the only way to look at the world.
And as we read from Paul’s advice to Corinth on how to live in the world in light of Christ and as we read of Simon and Andrew, James and John having their whole lives changed the moment they encounter Jesus. It becomes plain that they too were having Epiphany moments.
And so today, I want you to know that there will be Epiphany Moments. There will be Epiphany Moments.
Let us Pray.
I’m always astonished at the brevity and the quickness of Mark’s gospel. One minute Jesus is proclaiming the rule of God and requiring repentance and trust. The next minute he has a pack of four new disciples following him.
He shows up at their place of work. He makes a pithy comment about fishermen becoming fishers-of-men and tells them to follow him. And they immediately leave everything behind—immediately leave nets, boats, fish, and father.
Something between the moment Jesus’ words left his mouth and the moment they heard them was transformational.
Something in this encounter was powerful, was life changing.
Something shifted the way they saw everything.
All of a sudden everything they had was of minor importance compared to following after Jesus. Compared to the Kingdom of God///being a fisher-prince was nothing.
When the Kingdom of God knocked on their door/ that door no longer seemed all that important.
They had had an Epiphany moment, an Ahah moment. A Eureka moment. Because there will be Epiphany Moments.
Likewise, the Apostle Paul is himself a prime example of someone who has gone through an Epiphany moment. After his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ everything he knew about faith was turned upside down.
Up became down
night became day
the Christians he had been persecuting became beloved brothers and sisters.
And it is out of that Ahah moment—that Eureka moment—that Epiphany moment,
that Paul advises the Corinthians that they ought to disentangle themselves from the concerns of the world in order to be concerned with Christ.
He says if you are married be as if you are not married.
If you are mourning be as if you do not mourn.
If you are rejoicing be as if you are not rejoicing.
If you buy stuff stop buying stuff.
Just as the disciples left everything when Jesus said, “let’s go fish for people,” Paul is calling on the Corinthians to leave everything in order to follow Christ. He does this because he knows after an epiphany moment everything looks different.
After an epiphany moment everything makes sense in a different way—therefore the Corinthians should not be attached to the world as it was—because that world was passing away.
To use some modern examples: it would be like Paul writing to Mitt Romney’s campaign and saying, “Don’t get too attached to that win in Iowa—it will pass away. Don’t get too attached to that double digit lead in South Carolina—it too will pass away.”
Or it is like the Apostle Paul writing to a student who wanted to use Wikipedia during the Wikipedia blackout—he would say, “Don’t even try it—it won’t be there—it will have passed away.”
There will be Epiphany moments.
And these Epiphany moments aren’t things relegated to the past or to scripture—they are living moments in our lives.
I think of my friend Samantha and her Epiphany moment.
Sam’s Story
Lobbying Firm Loans Church LoanShark Shark/Fisher of men
And just in case you think that example let’s you off the hook because it was about someone becoming a pastor—just in case you think Epiphany moments are only for so called professional Christians I want to tell you about my friend Ward from Baltimore and his Epiphany moment.
Adopt Jake Fatherhood Grocery store Hopscotch Tiles
And today I want to say to the whole church—as we meet to look toward the future, there will be Epiphany moments in the life of this community and we can’t prepare for them, but we can look forward to them together. We can hope for them because God continues to work on us and change us and surprise us.
And on this Sunday as we install new council members I want to say to them, There will be Epiphany moments as we vision and plan for this congregation and ultimately are astonished by God’s plans for us.
And on this third Sunday of Epiphany, as we Baptize little Alyssa—I want to say to her, and to her family—Baptism—being named and claimed by Christ and brought into community with his people here and throughout the world—Baptism, is an Epiphany moment. A moment that flips and shifts everything about Alyssa’s life. And there will be more Epiphany moments in her life, and I hope and I pray and I promise that the church will be there to follow Jesus with her in whatever he calls her to.
There will be Epiphany Moments.
Amen and Alleluia
HYMN of the DAY “Borning Cry” red book # 732
BAPTISM
PRAYERS of INTERCESSION
PEACE
Meal
OFFERING
OFFERTORY ANTHEM “Come As A Child”
GREAT THANKSGIVING
LORD’S PRAYER
COMMUNION SONG red book pg.208
“Let There Be Peace on Earth” also red # 522, red # 661
INSTALLATION OF COUNCIL
Sending
BLESSING
SENDING SONG “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound” red book # 779
DISMISSAL
POSTLUDE
