Prayers for the Epiphany Season – Almighty
God, you sent your Son to proclaim your kingdom and to teach with authority.
Anoint us with the power of your Spirit, that we, too, may bring good news to
the afflicted, bind upon the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty to the
captives.
O
God, by the leading of a star You made known Your only-begotten Son to the
Gentiles. Lead us, who know You by faith, to enjoy in heaven the fullness of
Your divine presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Most
merciful God, You gave Your eternal Word to become incarnate of the pure
Virgin. Grant Your people grace to put away fleshly lusts that they may be
ready for Your visitation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
For
our president – Lord keep this nation under Your
care. Bless our new president Obama that we may be a people at peace among
ourselves and a blessing to the other nations of the earth. Grant that he may
make wise decisions for the general welfare and serve You faithfully in this
generation; through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
A
prayer before we study the Word
– Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
without Your help our labor is useless, and without Your light our search is in
vain. Invigorate the study of Your holy Word that, by due diligence and right
discernment, we may establish ourselves and others in Your holy faith.
The
Gospel is a good report, discourse and proclamation of Christ, announcing that
He is nothing else but pure goodness, love and grace. Such a report could not
possibly be made concerning any other human being, or any of the saints. For,
although the other saints were men of quite good repute, a report on them does
not constitute the Gospel as such. It is Gospel only when the goodness and
grace of Christ are proclaimed. Even though mention is made of famous saints
and their doings, this does not make the report the Gospel. The Gospel bases
Christian faith and confidence solely on the rock, Jesus Christ. (Martin Luther)
The theme for the third Sunday after the Epiphany is the concept of
time. The word time is mentioned in each of the lessons. It was time for Jesus
to begin His ministry and to call disciples, time for Jonah to preach to the
people and time for them to repent; and it was time for Christians to live in
the light of the end of time. As we seize the time to serve God in this
generation, we have security in the knowledge of God’s nature. The Hymn for the
Day has its focus on Christ our true and only light.
Collect
for Epiphany 3—Almighty
and everlasting God, mercifully look upon of infirmities and stretch forth the
hand of Your majesty to heal and defend us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our
Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen
January 19 -24,
2015
Preparation for next week, Epiphany 3
Preparation for next week, Epiphany 3
Monday,
January 19, 2015—Psalm113:1-2, 4, 7-8—The Antiphon is taken from Psalm 113:3, “From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised! These words are taken from a hymn to
the Lord celebrating His high majesty and His mercies to the lowly. It was
probably composed originally for the temple liturgy. As the Lord is enthroned
on high, He is exalted over all creation.
Tuesday,
January 20. 2015—Psalm 62—The key verse of this psalm is
verse 8, “I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full
well” The Psalmist commits himself to God when threatened by the assaults
of conspirators who wish to dethrone him. Verse three suggests a time of
weakness and may indicate advanced age. Implicitly the psalm is an appeal to
God to uphold him. No psalm surpasses it in its expression of simple trust in
God.
Wednesday,
January 21, 2015—Jonah 3:1-5, 10—Jonah obeys God’s command to preach
to Nineveh; the people and God repent. Jonah refuses to obey God’s command to
preach to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians. After Jonah repents and
is vomited out of a large fish, Jonah obeys and preaches judgment to Nineveh.
The coming disaster causes the government and people to repent. Thereupon God
decides not to condemn the city. Jonah reflects the nationalistic concept of
God. The Lord is not the God only of Israel but of any that would repent and
trust the Lord. Judgment motivates repentance and God’s mercy is extended to
any people who repent, regardless of nationality or race. God’s salvation
depends on repentance and not on national origin.
Thursday,
January 22, 2015—1 Corinthians 7:29-31—Live in the light
of Christ’s imminent return. This reading comes from the chapter dealing with
marriage. The Lesson begins with life lives in relation to the end of the world
and Christ’s return. Paul teaches that
the status quo in one’s life should be maintained, for soon the whole song will
be over. A Christian is not to get involved with the world or to change his
vocation. He is to continue doing what he has been doing, for the end of life
on earth is near. Today’s life is to be viewed in relation to eternity. When
this is done, the present issues of earthly life become insignificant. Paul is
not teaching withdrawal from the world [such as the Amish community] but to
tolerating and persevering in what we are now doing.
In verses 29-31 Paul uses “as
though” five times. He urges us to live as though conditions did not exist. It
is a kind of “make believe” style of life. Since the end of the world is at
hand, we are to live as though the world no longer existed. It is a manner of
living that does not take seriously the things of this passing world. Our
interests and values are set upon Christ’s values.
Friday,
January 23, 2015—Mark 1:14-20— Jesus begins his ministry and calls four disciples. Jesus
has been ordained in His ministry at His baptism. He struggles with Satan in
deciding upon the method of His ministry. With John the Baptist arrested, He
feels the urge to begin His public ministry. He begins to preach in Galilee.
The content of His preaching is the
Gospel of God, the good news that the King is here. In the light of this,
people are believing and repenting. Faith and repentance are not necessarily
conditions of bringing or entering the Kingdom, but the response to the fact
that the Kingdom is here in Jesus. Then, Jesus begins to choose His leaders by
calling four men whose future will be catching men.
Jesus immediately called certain
ones to be disciples. He knew whom He wanted and needed. He did not have to
weight the matter. There was no problem of making up His mind. In like manner
the Disciples accepted the call. To be a Christian one does not need neither to
weight doctrinal matters nor to consider theological alternatives. There is the
certainty of responding to the challenge of the call to follow the Master. There
is no hesitation, no need to think it over. In an instant one knows it is the
right thing to do.
Saturday,
January 24, 2015—Luke 1:79—The hymn of the day is, “O Christ, Our True and Only Light” (LSB
839). Those who are lost, separated from
God are found only in Jesus Christ. In the season of Epiphany we see more
clearly who Jesus really is. By His words and actions we come to the conclusion
that He can only be God made flesh. See also Isaiah 9:1-2 and Malachi 4:2.
Sources
LUTHERAN SEVICE BOOK © 2006 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO
LECTIONALRY
PREACHING WORKBOOK SERIES B © 1981 John Brokhoff CSS Publishing Lima, OH
Luther’s
Works: American Edit Edition. 55 volumes. (Volumes 1-30, Concordia Publishing
House; volumes 31 31-55, Fortress Press)
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