Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
Call to Worship (inspired by Ps. 139)
L: Praise God, who made each of us, and all of us.
P: Praise God! We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
L: The Holy One knows each of us – actions and thoughts.
P: The Creator wraps us in tender care.
L: So we rejoice! Waking or sleeping, we know God is with us.
P: Let’s honor this One as we share this time of worship!
Opening Prayer
Before we were born, Loving God, you already knew each one of us.
In life, your presence is in every moment of our lives.
Thank you for always seeking to make the best of every situation,
whether we’re aware of “God-with-us” or not.
Open our eyes, our ears, our minds and our hearts in this worship hour,
that we might more clearly become aware of you,
and seek to follow the ways of your Beloved, Jesus, whom we claim as
the Christ. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
In John’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus calling Philip and Nathanael to become his disciples. Gratefully, the scripture details Nathanael’s skepticism! He wasn’t sure any good thing (or person?) could come out of Nazareth. Philip’s response was not a proclamation to persuade…it was a simple “come and see”.
In the life of our congregation, we may have moments of skepticism about this whole faith business. Yet again and again, we urge each other to “come and see”.
Here, we can see (name one or two specific ministries of your congregation).
Here, if we come, we can see (name one ministry which is not well known, but is living out the Good News).
Here, each of us has opportunity to participate in making ministry happen as we share our tithes, our gifts and our offerings of time, talent and treasure.
Knowing our actions can become the invitation to others: “Come and see!”,
let’s bring the symbols of our lives to offer back to God.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God, today we remember the times our skepticism has been overcome by what we can see – right before us, or in our mind’s eye. Thank you for accepting this offering, that we might continue to grow in our ability to follow Jesus with our whole lives. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
Jesus’ disciples walked with him, learning from him, encountering crowds, moving from place to place to share the Good News of God’s love. Yet it was with his closest followers that he came to an upper room to share one last meal on the night before he was betrayed, convicted, and crucified.
We, too, are invited to gather around the table, to share in a meal of remembrance and thanksgiving. Even when we know our lives have not been totally focused on following in Jesus’ Way, we find a place at this table, and relish knowing we are welcome here.
So may we find in these simple elements of bread and juice the encouragement to move beyond our skepticism as we turn back to Jesus.
Come and see! The feast is prepared, and all who seek to follow in Jesus’ Way of love are welcome to share.