LAST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
You will do well to attend to the message of the prophets, because it is like a lamp shining in a murky place, until the day breaks and the morning star rises to illuminate your minds.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Majestic God, transfigured Christ impelling Spirit, we confess that we do not frequent the place of deep silence where the voice of the sublime presence can be heard. Our minds dwell too much on lesser human figures than on your beloved Child, Jesus. Our reading of the prophets takes us too often to the familiar and avoids the difficult and the demanding. Forgive us if we have resisted the leading of the Spirit and missed further illumination that the Spirit can bring through Jesus Christ, your Favorite. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! The apostles share with us their experience of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when he was vested with honor and glory from the sublime presence. Friends, believe the Good News! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Do not interpret any prophecy of Scripture by yourself. The prophecies were written not by any human whim but by those impelled by the Holy Spirit to communicate to us the words of God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Keep us, good Lord, from preoccupation with our sacred history, and from the tendency to erect sanctuaries that would delay us from going on to other encounters with you in places of human need. Reveal your glory to us in quiet places of meditation and in noisy places of daily life. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Transcendent God, all too soon our experiences of your sublime presence fade when we leave the awesome view of what you have created, whether in macrocosm or microcosm. We remember such experiences with thanksgiving. We rejoice in the awesomeness of your presence as communicated by the grandeur of architecture or the sweep of great music and art. We are humbly grateful for the sense of belonging, when the Spirit draws us into genuine community with the Christ, and we too are favored and know your love. All thanks be given to you, 0 God. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
We worship you, magnificent God, with sincere reverence, knowing that no gift is worthy of you, but that you graciously receive us and what we bring for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
PSALM 2:1-12
Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
"Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us."
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the LORD has them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fuiy, saying,
"I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
I will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
he warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry,
and you will perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
(or)
PSALM 99:1-9
The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool. Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
You will do well to attend to the message of the prophets, because it is like a lamp shining in a murky place, until the day breaks and the morning star rises to illuminate your minds.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Majestic God, transfigured Christ impelling Spirit, we confess that we do not frequent the place of deep silence where the voice of the sublime presence can be heard. Our minds dwell too much on lesser human figures than on your beloved Child, Jesus. Our reading of the prophets takes us too often to the familiar and avoids the difficult and the demanding. Forgive us if we have resisted the leading of the Spirit and missed further illumination that the Spirit can bring through Jesus Christ, your Favorite. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! The apostles share with us their experience of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when he was vested with honor and glory from the sublime presence. Friends, believe the Good News! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Do not interpret any prophecy of Scripture by yourself. The prophecies were written not by any human whim but by those impelled by the Holy Spirit to communicate to us the words of God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Keep us, good Lord, from preoccupation with our sacred history, and from the tendency to erect sanctuaries that would delay us from going on to other encounters with you in places of human need. Reveal your glory to us in quiet places of meditation and in noisy places of daily life. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Transcendent God, all too soon our experiences of your sublime presence fade when we leave the awesome view of what you have created, whether in macrocosm or microcosm. We remember such experiences with thanksgiving. We rejoice in the awesomeness of your presence as communicated by the grandeur of architecture or the sweep of great music and art. We are humbly grateful for the sense of belonging, when the Spirit draws us into genuine community with the Christ, and we too are favored and know your love. All thanks be given to you, 0 God. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
We worship you, magnificent God, with sincere reverence, knowing that no gift is worthy of you, but that you graciously receive us and what we bring for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
PSALM 2:1-12
Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
"Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us."
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the LORD has them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fuiy, saying,
"I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
I will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
he warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry,
and you will perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
(or)
PSALM 99:1-9
The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool. Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
