Epiphany
We know the word: a moment of piercing awareness, the sudden jolt of understanding. This is the season of Epiphany, a season celebrating the revelation of the Savior, the light of the world. Throughout the season we focus on the ministry of Jesus: the calling of the disciples, the teachings of Christ, his miracles, and finally his transfiguration. The epiphany of Epiphany is that this is no mere teacher or prophet— this is the Son of God, the Messiah. Epiphany calls us to live God’s mission, announcing the good news of Christ’s arrival to every culture and to those who live across the street. We, the church, are sent out as the manifestation of Jesus to a watching world (from Seeking God’s Face by Philip Reinders).
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
The Lord has manifested his glory:
O come, let us adore him.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 105
[1] Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
[2] Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
[3] Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
[4] Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
[5] Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
[6] O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
[7] He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
[8] He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
[9] the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
[10] which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
[11] saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”
[12] When they were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,
[13] wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
[14] he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,
[15] saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”
[16] When he summoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply of bread,
[17] he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
[18] His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
[19] until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the LORD tested him.
[20] The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;
[21] he made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
[22] to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
[23] Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
[24] And the LORD made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes.
[25] He turned their hearts to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
[26] He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
[27] They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.
[28] He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
they did not rebel against his words.
[29] He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
[30] Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
[31] He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
[32] He gave them hail for rain,
and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
[33] He struck down their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country.
[34] He spoke, and the locusts came,
young locusts without number,
[35] which devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
[36] He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
[37] Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
[38] Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
[39] He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by night.
[40] They asked, and he brought quail,
and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
[41] He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
[42] For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham, his servant.
[43] So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
[44] And he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
[45] that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 106
[1] Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
[2] Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or declare all his praise?
[3] Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times!
[4] Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,
[5] that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
[6] Both we and our fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
[7] Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
[8] Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
that he might make known his mighty power.
[9] He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
[10] So he saved them from the hand of the foe
and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
[11] And the waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
[12] Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.
[13] But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
[14] But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
[15] he gave them what they asked,
but sent a wasting disease among them.
[16] When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
[17] the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
[18] Fire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
[19] They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
[20] They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
[21] They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
[22] wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
[23] Therefore he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
[24] Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
[25] They murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the LORD.
[26] Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
[27] and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
scattering them among the lands.
[28] Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
[29] they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
[30] Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
[31] And that was counted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
[32] They angered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
[33] for they made his spirit bitter,
and he spoke rashly with his lips.
[34] They did not destroy the peoples,
as the LORD commanded them,
[35] but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
[36] They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
[37] They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
[38] they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
[39] Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the whore in their deeds.
[40] Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
and he abhorred his heritage;
[41] he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
[42] Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
[43] Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.
[44] Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
[45] For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
[46] He caused them to be pitied
by all those who held them captive.
[47] Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
[48] Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the LORD!
Old Testament Reading
Job 19
[1] Then Job answered and said:
[2] “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
[3] These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
[4] And even if it be true that I have erred,
my error remains with myself.
[5] If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my disgrace an argument against me,
[6] know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net about me.
[7] Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
I call for help, but there is no justice.
[8] He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
[9] He has stripped from me my glory
and taken the crown from my head.
[10] He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
[11] He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.
[12] His troops come on together;
they have cast up their siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent.
[13] “He has put my brothers far from me,
and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
[14] My relatives have failed me,
my close friends have forgotten me.
[15] The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
[16] I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
[17] My breath is strange to my wife,
and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
[18] Even young children despise me;
when I rise they talk against me.
[19] All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
[20] My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
[21] Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
[22] Why do you, like God, pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?
[23] “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
[24] Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
[25] For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
[26] And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
[27] whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
[28] If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’
[29] be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
that you may know there is a judgment.”
New Testament Reading
1 Corinthians 6
[1] When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? [2] Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! [4] So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? [5] I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, [6] but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? [7] To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [8] But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
[9] Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
[12] “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. [13] “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. [14] And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. [15] Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! [16] Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” [17] But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. [18] Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. [19] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.