The traditional Christian church calendar has seven seasons beginning with the Advent season. We are in the third of the seven seasons identified as the “Time after Epiphany.” Epiphany is the last day of the Christmas season and traditionally marks the time Jesus is revealed as a special teacher of the message of peace.
Brief Order For Confession and Forgiveness
Music to accompany this worship may be found on Spotify at:
Entrance Hymn
O Christ Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire
Kyrie
Hymn of Praise
Prayer of the Day
O God, strength of all who hope in you, because we are weak mortals we accomplish nothing good without you. Help us to see and understand the things we ought to do, and give us grace and power to do them, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
The First Lesson
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
15. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
16. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
17. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them,
18. I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
20. loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Psalm
Psalm 119:1-8 (1)
1. Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,
3. who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.
4. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
5. O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
6. Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8. I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
The Second Lesson
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
1. And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,
3. for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?
4. For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
5. What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.
6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
7. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
8. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
9. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. You are the light of the world.
A city set upon a hill cannot be hid. Alleluia. (Matt. 4:14)
The Gospel
Matthew 5:21-37
21. “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’
22. But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
23. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24. leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
25. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
26. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
27. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
31. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
32. But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33. “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’
34. But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35. or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
The Sermon
Inner peace comes from doing what you profess to believe
The Hymn of the Day
Lord Jesus Think on Me
The Creed
The Peace
Seek Truth, Make Peace, Reverence Life
The Prayers
The Offering
Communion
The Lord’s Prayer
Communion Hymns
Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways
Communal Blessing
Dismissal
The Bible readings are from the New Revised Standard Version. I wish to thank the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA, and its predecessor bodies for all their teaching throughout the years. I’ve used the Lectionary published on the ELCA website at elca.org in preparation of this worship.