Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 30, 2022
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Livestream at 8:25am
Bulletin for the service
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Scripture
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Luke 4:21-30
Sermon
“Love Never Ends”
1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 4:21-30
He is standing before them. The one who was raised in their midst has come home to be among his townspeople. They are filled with anticipation and pride. What signs will he do there? For them? We cannot get too closed in. Jesus has something more to reveal. Our epiphany journey must take us beyond the borders of our own Nazareth’s where we are comfortable and safe, and things are predictable. Jesus senses they might have a little too much ownership over him. They have become stuck in a vision narrower than the vision of the prophetic tradition that Jesus is a part of. The work of God has always moved outward. Towards the widow in Sidon, the Syrian and others along the way. Love always reaches across borders and boundaries. Love never ends until he crosses sin and death to embrace you and me and all the outcasts and sinners of this world. Love is set loose in all kinds of places. Now we can get caught up in this vision.
Hymns
Dearest Jesus, at Your Word, LBW 248
O Word of God Incarnate, LBW 231
He Comes to Us as One Unknown, ELW 737
Go, My Children, With My Blessing, WOV 721
LBW, Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW, Evangelical Lutheran Worship
WOV, With One Voice
In our prayers we remember ELCA Global Missions.