Rev. Franke's Theme Thoughts

The Second Sunday after Epiphany                                                                                                              January 20, 2013

LESSONS FOR SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

                                                                                                                                                                                                            

        Isaiah 62:1–5 ~ God promised to restore Israel as His bride with a new name to draw all nations to Himself.

Psalm 128 (antiphon: v. 5)

        1 Corinthians 12:1-11 ~ Spirit-given faith in Jesus as the one Lord of our lives brings us together as one.

        John 2:1-11 ~ Jesus’ gift of wine at a wedding was the instrument for the Spirit’s gift of faith to the disciples.

GATHERING THE TEXTS: The Glorious Gift of Faith

Nations and kings would see and believe in the God of Israel when Jerusalem was once more restored to the delight and covenant of God.  When the disciples saw Jesus' miraculous sign at Cana they put their faith in Him.  Each believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit to recognize Jesus as Lord and to trust in Him for eternal salvation.  God creates His Church, the new Israel, by gathering believers into one faith around the one Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERVICE: Lord Jesus, You had ceremonial jars filled with water, and from them You gladdened the hearts of wedding guests with the finest wine.  You have also replaced the symbol of sacrifice with Your grace in the sacrament.  Fill me with the joy of Your salvation that I may continue to live out my faith in Your love.  Amen.

STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT: As Jesus blessed the wine at Cana, creating joy in the hearts of the guests and faith in the minds of the disciples, so He blesses the gifts we bring in service to His Word, making them instruments to create and sustain faith in Him, the one Lord of the Church.

OFFERING PRAYER:      Lord, You have given us great gifts to use

                                                As tools within the Church to spread Your Word.

                                                Grant us true faith that we may not refuse

                                                To say and show that Jesus is our Lord.  Amen.

CONVICTION AND COMFORT: Like the master at the wedding banquet, we sometimes taste God’s miraculous gifts in our lives without realizing where they come from, but the Spirit opens our minds, as he did the disciples’, to create faith in our hearts.  When we confess “Jesus is Lord,” we are members of the one body by faith in Christ Jesus. If we refuse to use the Spirit’s gifts to build up the faith of the body, we are not confessing Jesus as Lord.  If we confess the new name by which the Lord has called us, we will not keep silent until all nations have come to know the salvation of our Lord.