LiturgicalResources For Sunday February 9, 2014
Year A, Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany :: Green :: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) :: Psalm 112:1-9 (10) :: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) :: Matthew 5:13-20
Call to Worship(Responsive)
L: Happy are those who fear the LORD
P: Who greatly delightin the LORD’s commandments.
L: For the righteous will never be moved;
P: They will beremembered forever.
L: They are not afraid of evil tidings;
P: Their hearts arefirm, secure in the LORD.
L: They have given to the poor;
P: Their righteousnessendures forever.
A: Praise the LORD!
Invocation:
We come as your faithful people, O God. We come hoping to be salt andlight to the world. Yet we come knowing our lights need to be brightenedand our flavor restored. Move among us, O God, and renew ourspirits. Help us to know your presence and experience your renewal. Hear our prayers and fill our hearts, for we offer ourselves in the name ofJesus the Christ.
Stewardship Moment:
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undothe thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor intoyour house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourselffrom your own kin?” Isaiah 58:6-7, NRSV
A couple of blocks from the Guadalupe Culture Arts Center, in the middle of theSan Antonio, Texas Housing Authority’s Alazan-Apache Courts’ boundaries, lies aministry of the Christian Church. Since 1913, when Dr. Samuel Guy Inman,the Christian Women’s Board of missions, Central Christian Church, and theChristian Church (Disciples of Christ) founded Inman Christian Center, you havebeen working to make a difference. How does Inman Christian Center make adifference you ask? Inman Christian Center offers a food pantry, anaffordable housing ministry for low income elderly, clothing supplies andsocial services, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment, child care, counselling,a vital volunteer/mission trip ministry and more. Perhaps more simply,Inman Christian Center works every day on your behalf to loose the bonds ofinjustice, to let the oppressed go free, to share bread, shelter the homelesspoor, to clothe the naked and to help us be aware of our kin in the greaterhuman family. Inman Christian Center is living out Isaiah’s fast, whichGod chooses in partnership with all of the Christian Church (Disciples ofChrist). When we bring our tithes and offerings, we bring some of theresources which make ministries like Inman Christian Center possible.
Offertory Prayer:
God of grace and mercy, we come as a people aware of the great need in oursociety, and as a people sometimes overwhelmed. Take these gifts, andmake of them a great and mighty work. Take these offerings, and turn theminto a fast pleasing to your sight. Bless these gifts to ministries of help andhope, that your realm will be known. Amen.
Communion Meditation:
Here we are again, at the Lord’s Table. If we are willing to be honestwith ourselves, sometimes we come without examining the marvel and wonder wemeet here. Because it is familiar and safe, we just come. And yet,week after week, God faithfully meets us here. God challenges us with ourshortcomings, AND God offers us grace: Grace given freely by God, throughthe gift of Jesus Christ. So here we are again, at the Lord’s Table: whata marvelous and wonderful place to be!
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