If Epiphany is celebrated mid-week on January 6th, Sunday January 2nd will be Christmas 2A – using the following readings. If, however, Epiphany is not celebrated mid-week, then Sunday January 2nd will be Epiphany Sunday, and the Epiphany readings may be used. In that case, you’ll probably want to click through to the Resources for Epiphany.

After the lament of last week, it’s a bit of a relief to return to joy again this week. The power of celebration, thankfulness and acknowledging the blessings God has poured on us is the focus of the readings this week, and they offer us great cause for both celebration and confession – celebration of God’s goodness and grace, and confession of our failure to recognise the goodness we enjoy.

May our worship this week fill us with laughter, praise and celebration, and may we carry God’s abundant blessing with us out into the world.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 31:7-14: God promises to bring a remnant of the people of Israel back to their homeland with joy and celebration, and with assurance of abundant provision for their needs – including the weak, poor and infirm.
OR Sirach 24:1-12: Wisdom seeks a place to dwell, and the Creator instructs her to dwell in Israel.

Psalm 147:12-20: An invitation to praise God who controls the snow, the frost and the hail and who has given God’s people wisdom and instruction by which they are strengthened and blessed.
OR Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21: Wisdom led God’s people out of Egypt and saved them from their enemies, leading them to sing songs of joy and praise.

Ephesians 1:3-14: In Christ God has brought both Jew and Gentile into God’s family and given us all an inheritance as God works out God’s plan of restoration for all creation through Christ.

John 1:(1-9), 10-18: God’s Word made flesh, through whom all things were created, has brought us into a new birth as children of God, has revealed God to us, and has given us an abundance of grace and blessing.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
Throughout the readings of this week is the joyous promise of blessing and grace – which is, perhaps, a welcome contrast to last week’s weeping and grief. In Jeremiah, the remnant is promised a return with joy and security – God’s blessing of provision and comfort. The Psalmist celebrates the God who strengthens and protects God’s people and gives them wisdom. In resonance with this Psalm, the apocryphal readings both celebrate the Wisdom which God has caused to dwell with God’s people, and which rescues them and leads them to joy and celebration. Paul, in Ephesians, celebrates the blessings and grace which have come to us in Christ, making us part of God’s family and ensuring us an eternal inheritance in God’s realm. And in the prologue to John’s Gospel (which was set for Christmas Day as well – although a slightly shorter section) we are reminded of our birth as children of God in Christ, and of the gracious blessings which we receive through Christ. There is no question that this is a week for celebration – remembering the grace and life we enjoy in Christ, and opening our hearts to God’s blessings and wisdom which are sure and sustaining – no matter what we may face in this world.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: An often forgotten task which we are called to as followers of Christ is that of celebration and life-giving. As we challenge injustice and work to bring healing and restoration to our world, celebration can feel like indulgence, and worship can seem like impractical introspection. However, there is tremendous power in recognising goodness and life, in celebrating blessings and wisdom, wherever we may find it – even in those with whom we may generally disagree. And so, as we continue to celebrate the incarnation of Christ, we live this incarnation by acknowledging and affirming the wisdom that is at work in our world, in our leaders and thought-leaders. We live the incarnation by enjoying the blessings we see and experience, and by enabling others to find joy and reason to celebrate even in their struggle. We live the incarnation by embracing all people and welcoming them into the family of God into which we have ourselves been welcomed. As we draw attention to goodness and grace around us, and as we enable ourselves and others to embrace this goodness and grace, our world is gently transformed into a more secure, more blessed and more whole place. If this is not a work of justice – of God’s reign – then I don’t know what is!

LOCAL APPLICATION: It is all too easy in our Churches and faith communities to define ourselves by what we resist, what we denounce, or what we stand against. It is all too easy to make celebration, blessing and enjoyment something that we view as evil and to be shunned, but this is not Gospel living. In every person, in every community, there is goodness, grace and blessing to be found – no matter how tough or painful or unjust our lives may be. This is why slaves could sing of their hope and joy in Christ, and why artists in every oppressive regime have continued to perform, to sing and dance and create. It is a prophetic and liberating act to celebrate in the midst of grief and darkness. It is a prophetic and liberating act to enable people to recognise and embrace the goodness hidden even in their pain. It is a prophetic and liberating act to affirm goodness and wisdom wherever we may find it, and to welcome all people into the celebration. As God’s family, as followers of the incarnate, light-bringing Christ, may we be known for our joy, our hope, our wisdom, our celebration and our enjoyment of whatever blessings we may be able to receive and give. Surely this is a far more Christ-like and healing thing than to be known only for what we oppose and condemn?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Truly Blessed
The Healing Power Of Celebration
Shared Blessings

Hymn Suggestions:
For All Your Blessings
For The Beauty Of The Earth
At The Name Of Jesus
Joy to the World
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Do You Hear What I Hear (Link to YouTube video)
All Who Are Thirsty (Link to YouTube video)
You, You Are The God: Chord Chart; Mp3 Download (Amazon.com Mp3 Store)
Blessed Be Your Name (Link to YouTube video)
Your Grace Is Enough (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet

Video Suggestions:
Blessings In Disguise
Him

This week it’s all about listening – to God’s word – and to living it out in compassion, integrity and justice – which requires listening to others. This can be easier than it sounds with all the noise that bombards us each day. That’s why the discipline of worship is so important. It gives us the time and the space to learn the practice of listening well.

May your listening abilities be enhanced by your worship this week.

READINGS:
Amos 8:1-12: Amos sees a vision of a basket of ripe fruit, which God explains indicates that Israel is ripe for judgement. Amos then prophesies God’s judgement against the corruption of God’s people, and the famine of hearing God’s word that is to come.
OR Genesis 18:1-10a: Abraham entertains three mysterious visitors, who prophesy that within the next year Sarah will have a child.

Psalm 52: David speaks words of judgement against Doeg, proclaiming that he will be punished for his lies, while David will prosper under God’s care.
OR Psalm 15: Only those who live lives of truth and justice can worship in God’s sanctuary and enjoy God’s presence.

Colossians 1:15-28: Paul celebrates Christ as the visible image of God, the Creator and reconciler of all, and describes his ministry of proclaiming the Good News that leads us into relationship with God.

Luke 10:38-42: Jesus is welcomed into the home of Mary and Martha. While Martha serves, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet – and he refuses to chide Mary for this as Martha requests.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
Truth and lies; prophecies and the silencing of prophecy; sitting at Jesus’ feet or serving; Christ as the image of God, and the Gospel as the saving message that reconciles us with God. This week it’s all about God speaking, and the question of whether we will listen or not. As tempting as it might be, based on the Gospel reading, to create a dichotomy between listening and serving, hearing and doing, the other readings don’t allow us this luxury. Listening to God’s word is inextricably connected to following God’s ways of justice, truth and compassion. Perhaps Jesus simply wanted Martha to listen before she acted, rather than assuming she knew what needed to be done? Whatever the case, the message of this week flows easily out of last week’s theme. Not only are ordinary things powerful in the work of God’s reign, it is as we listen to God’s message and implement God’s saving reconciling word through simple acts of justice, compassion and a commitment to truth and integrity, that we find ourselves living out the reality of God’s reign in our lives and our world.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: Words, used as propaganda, mere rhetoric or to inspire, are a massive feature of today’s media-driven world. So many messages call us to label certain individuals or groups in certain ways. So many speakers claim to have the final word on certain situations or problems. So many speeches give little more than double-speak, finger-pointing or denial of responsibility. And, in all of the words, little actually changes. Lives are not saved. Injustice is not exposed and removed. Peace is not created, and solutons are not found to our big crises. One could be forgiven for thinking that we are living in the times Amos spoke about - a famine of God’s word. But, God’s word is not absent. It has not changed since Jesus lived it and preached it. The essential message of the Gospel – integrity, compassion and justice – has not changed or been silenced. All that is required is for those of us who follow the message of Christ to speak up, in words that are supported by accompanying actions, to challenge the empty words of our time, and call our leaders and our peers to account. But, we cannot do this unless we are prepared to be held to our own standards.

LOCAL APPLICATION: It is all too easy, in our personal lives and in our communities, to decide that we know what is needed, and what is to be done, without taking the time to listen. It is all too easy to speak, without taking the time to hear carefully and prayerfully, what God’s message for us really is, or what the stories of those we seek to serve really are. If we are to be a people who bring Christ’s grace and justice into our communities, we will need to listen carefully, and then act justly, compassioantely and with integrity in response. We will need to avoid the temptation to assume we know what our communities need, and we will need to resist the urge to see ourselves as ‘saviours’ coming in to ‘fix’ things ‘for’ those who ‘need’ us. Rather we will need to adopt the humility of Mary, the hospitality of Abraham, the commitment of Paul, the integrity of Amos, and the faithfulness of David, as we come alongside the people within and ‘outside’ of our churches, and speak, in listening and word and action, the Gospel message of Christ.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Listening
Word of God
Messengers

Hymn Suggestions:
And Can It Be
Where Cross The Crowded Ways Of Life
Master, Speak! Thy Servant Heareth
O Word Of God Incarnate
Lord, Speak To Me
All The Way My Saviour Leads Me (Link to YouTube video)
Thy Word (Link to YouTube video)
Living For Your Glory (Link to YouTube video)
Your Word: Mp3 Download (Amazon.com), Chord chart (Scroll down for the link)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Sacrament

Video Suggestions:
Listen: Alone
Listen: Failing
Always Listening
Protest vs. Listening

As we move into Lent, it is tempting to make services solemn and dark, to preach hellfire and brimstone and to focus on all the evil in the world that we must oppose. This is certainly necessary, and the first week in Lent gives much to support this approach. However, there is also a lot to inspire celebration and joy. This first week in Lent offers us an invitation to a life of abundance – found in the practice of spiritual disciplines and in the freedom of taking responsibility for our own light and darkness. And it assures us of God’s care and protection throughout. So, perhaps Lent can be a little lighter this year, and lead us into dispelling the darkness by simply lighting our little candle.

READINGS:
Deuteronomy 26:1-11: Instructions to bring the first produce from each crop as a thanksgiving offering to God, and a recognition of God’s care and provision for God’s people in the past and the pesent.

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16: A psalm celebrating God’s care and protection of those who dwell in God.

Romans 10:8b-13: The message of faith in Christ that ensures that we will never be disgraced and that we are saved.

Luke 4:1-13: Jesus is tempted by the devil in the wilderness, and uses God’s Word to stand firm.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
What is interesting about the readings for this week is that the focus, rather than being on Jesus’ temptation, is on God’s care, protection and provision for God’s people. When the temptation narrative is placed in that context, our focus shifts dramatically – and importantly – away from fear of failure or succumbing to evil, and on to God’s resources that are at our disposal to keep us strong and faithful. Perhaps the great temptation of this week in the lectionary is to make it all about evil and it’s attack on us and our world. The Lectionary, however, rightly calls us to make this week about God – God’s care, God’s Word, God’s protection, God’s provision – which means that we can rest assured that whatever we may face, “the best of all is ‘God is with us’” as Wesley said.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: With little scratching of the surface, the three temptations of Jesus are no different than the ones we wrestle with in the world today – power & influence, wealth & consumption, personal appetites and greed. Are there any of the big justice issues that don’t fall into one of these general categories? But, this is where God’s care and protection is so important for us to focus on, or we can easily fall into the trap of fighting this evil on its own terms. Jesus refuses to do so. Trusting in God, and immersing himself in God’s word, Jesus simply embraces a different set of values – self-giving, humility and servanthood, fasting and self-control. Even in the big global issues, simply working to create communities of trust in God’s ways that live out these alternative values is a significant way to contribute and to push back the forces of evil. How can your community embody the values of Christ more visibly and publicly?

LOCAL APPLICATION: There are so many things at issue in this week’s readings, and similarly in our lives today: issues of identity; issues of security; issues of power; issues of appetite and consumption. It is out of these issues – and the knowledge that it is only “under the shadow of God’s wing” that we can hope to face them satisfactorily – that the three Lenten disciplines emerge – fasting (to confront our consumption and appetites); giving of time, abilities and resources (to confront our love of power and pride); prayer (to confront our self-dependence & security issues). As individuals, and as faith communities, embracing these practices – not just in Lent – is the easiest way to confront the evil within and without. As Mother Teresa famously said: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Darkness And Light
Overcoming Temptation

Hymn Suggestions:
I Know Whom I Have Believed
I Cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship
Be Thou My Vision
Saviour, Like A Shepherd Lead Us
Heart Word
How Long? (Link to Amazon.com Mp3 preview)
Thy Word (Link to YouTube video)
Blessed Be Your Name (Link to YouTube video)
Your Grace Is Enough (Link to YouTube video)
Everlasting God (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Celebation of Sacrifice

Video Suggestions:
Tempted By The Devil
Temptation
Shine Your Flashlight