Epiphany of Our Lord
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the Day
The feast of Epiphany (“manifestation”) concludes the Christmas season
with a celebration of God’s glory revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. In
Isaiah and Ephesians, that glory is proclaimed for all nations and people. Like
the light of the star that guided the magi to Jesus, the light of Christ
reveals who we are: children of God who are claimed and washed in the waters of
baptism. We are sent out to be beacons of the light of Christ, sharing the good
news of God’s love to all people.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
Amen.
God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we
are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in
thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as
ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive
us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your
ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.
Amen.
Gathering Song – O Come All Ye Faithful (ELW #283)
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Canticle of Praise – ELW p.213
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
O God, on this day you revealed your Son to the nations by the leading
of a star. Lead us now by faith to know your presence in our lives, and bring
us at last to the full vision of your glory, through your Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the Book of Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine; for
your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
you.
For darkness shall
cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will
arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to
your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and
look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come
from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on
their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see
and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance
of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to
you.
A multitude of camels
shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold
and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a
king’s son.
May he judge your
people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in
righteousness.
May he defend the
cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
May he live while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon,
throughout all generations.
May he be like rain
that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the
moon is no more.
May the kings of
Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.
May all kings fall
down before him,
all nations give him service.
For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no
helper.
He has pity on the
weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in
his sight.
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 3:1-12
This is the reason that I Paul am a
prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— for surely you have
already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and
how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few
words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the
mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to
humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body,
and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Of this gospel I have become a servant
according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his
power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to
me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to
make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who
created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich
variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out
in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and
confidence through faith in him.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew 2:1-12
Glory to you, O Lord.
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed
his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard
this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all
the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has
been written by the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
Guest speaker - The Venerable Helen Kennedy
Today we get to mark the visit from the Magi to the infant Jesus. We know very well the story of how astronomers from a different land and culture read the signs in the sky and made their way with gifts for a child they knew little about, but knew was important enough to honour.
They started off in the wrong place, though, going to Herod’s palace, in search of this world leader. When they found none there, they continued on. Herod as we know was quite shaken by this threat to his power and authority.
But the travellers continued and when they saw that the star that they had been following had stopped they were overwhelmed with joy. They had reached their journey’s end, and were overwhelmed with joy.
700 or so years before this occurred Isaiah wrote, “Arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
Isaiah tells us that gold and frankincense shall be brought and proclamations of praise to the Lord will be all around.
It is easy to understand after we hear all of these inferences and references to think that the ’you’ in this passage is about Jesus. This child has been the focus for a while now, and it is true that the Glory of the Lord has risen upon him.
It is true that his light is the one to which kings and nations are drawn.
But Isaiah is part of the scriptures of the Jewish people, and when they meditate on these passages and they hear, The Glory of the Lord has risen upon you, they don’t automatically think of Jesus, they think of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel as the people of God.
In the previous chapters, Jerusalem is described as a bereaved woman, and this is a message of hope and assurance that God will be there to liberate Israel and rule the nation directly in the future, where they will enjoy royal status.
So the Jewish reading of this text gives us a deeper insight to its meaning. Showing us that it is not simply a backdrop to the coming of the Magi.
We are reminded that God’s glory is completed in the glorification of God’s people. Barbara Brown Taylor says that Israel understood that their radiance is essential to any bright future of God’s own imagining.
God’s vision is to have them front and centre, not sitting on the sidelines.
I do not see a contradiction between how this passage refers to Jesus, the coming messiah and to the people of God, those past and those present.
Those people of God at present are you and I, we are Christ’s kin. The Glory of the Lord has risen upon you, yes you! Each of us glows with God’s light because God is in each of us, not because of anything we have done, simply because of who we are.
Whatever darkness may be surrounding us disappears because we get to behold God’s glow until we glow ourselves, we will be radiant, and our hearts will thrill and rejoice, and there is nothing more we need to do, but to be radiant with the light of Christ in us.
This year we have seen the light in the sky, if you were lucky enough to see it. We have seen it in the generosity and grace of people, we have seen it in a vaccine to help us battle this virus. Joy can and does overwhelm us at times.
Isaiah had no idea that his writing would point to the Christ child coming, his thoughts were directed to the people he saw before him. As we enter into a new calendar year, let us be content in the truth that we are God’s people and the light that Christ brought shines through us to a dark world.
There is nothing we need to be, or do differently, by being God’s people we are enough, enough to shake the foundations of the Herod’s of this world.
We are enough, and our light will shine.
Amen.
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say the Nicene Creed:
We
believe in one God,
the
Creator, the Almighty,
maker
of heaven and earth,
of
all that is, seen and unseen.
We
believe in one Redeemer, Jesus Christ,
the
only Child of God,
eternally
begotten of the Creator,
God
from God, Light from Light,
true
God from true God,
begotten,
not made,
one
in being with the Creator:
Through
the Redeemer all things were made.
For
us and for our salvation
Jesus
Christ the Redeemer
came
down from heaven:
by
the power of the Holy Spirit
was
born of the Virgin Mary, and became human.
For
our sake Jesus was crucified
under
Pontius Pilate,
suffered,
died and was buried,
and,
on the third day, rose again
in
fulfillment of the Scriptures,
ascended
into heaven
and
is seated at the right hand of God.
Jesus
Christ will come again in glory
to
judge the living and the dead,
and
the Reign of God will have no end.
We
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
Sanctifier, the Giver of Life,
who
proceeds from God the Creator
and
Jesus Christ the Redeemer,
who
with the Creator and the Redeemer,
is
worshipped and glorified
and
who has spoken through the Prophets.
We
believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We
acknowledge one baptism
for
the forgiveness of sins.
We
look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life
of the world to come. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Joining our voices with the song of the angels, let us pray for the
church, the world, and all who are in need.
Silence
Glorious God, fill your church with joy. Let your faithful people live as beacons of your redemption. Give wisdom and courage to your church that it may speak with boldness and confidence, even when words of mercy are met with scorn.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Show us your faithfulness in the rising and setting of the sun. Place wonder into the hearts of those who search the skies and explore the heavens. Curb waste and pollution, that all might have clean air to breathe.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Bring all nations and rulers to the splendor of your dawn. Raise up advocates who champion the cause of exploited and vulnerable people. Inspire leaders to be generous with abundance, that all people might live in stability and freedom.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Come quickly with your healing power to all who seek love, support, and restoration. Dispel fears and shadows. Restore broken relationships and mend broken hearts. Bring relief to those who are sick or struggling.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Send traveling mercies upon all who journey home by other roads. Guard refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers. Protect families fleeing conflict in their homelands or abuse in their homes. Tend to those who have no place to lay their heads.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
According to the boundless riches of Christ, you draw all your saints, from the least to the greatest, to your heavenly places. As you created all things, make all things new again in the splendor of your glory.
Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
God of mercy, come quickly to us with grace upon grace as we lift these and all our prayers to you, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Hymn of Thanksgiving – Joy to the World (ELW #267)
**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.
Thanksgiving for the Word
Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all
things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and
brought life into being.
For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you.
For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your self-giving love.
For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Blessing
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and
mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor and ☩
give you peace.
Amen.
Sending Song – Angels We Have Heard on High (ELW #289)
Dismissal
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage;
hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the
fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and
serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God
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