Epiphany 5B
February 8,
2015
10:30 am Holy Communion Service
Grace Evangelical Lutheran
Pastor: Rev. Megan Rohrer
Guest Musician: Katie Gerber
Welcome to worship at
Grace!
Welcome to long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and
people new to faith. Welcome to all who have no church home, want to follow
Christ, have doubts, or do not believe. Welcome to new visitors and old
friends. Welcome to people of every age and size, color and culture, every
sexual orientation and gender identity, socio-economic status, marital status,
ability and challenge. Welcome to believers and questioners, and to questioning
believers. This is a place where you are welcome to celebrate and sorrow,
rejoice and recover. This is a place
where lives are made new.
Special Welcome to
Newcomers
Welcome to our small community of
faith. While we are small in numbers, we
have big hearts and a desire to grow. In
order to help you follow along, we have included all the materials you need for
worship in this bulletin.
Please join us for worship any Sunday at 10:30am
that you are able. If you cannot join us
in person, you can also join us online via live stream or by watching the
archives of our worship and Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck anytime during the
week at our website (www.gracesf.com), or on our mobile phone app, Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck, is
available on Google Play and ITunes.
If you have any questions about the service
or about Grace, you can fill out the form in pew to let our pastor know you’d
like to chat. Or you can contact Pastor
Megan Rohrer at pastor@gracesf.com.
Prelude:
Greeting:
Water is poured into the baptismal font.
P The Grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C And
also with you.
Gathering Hymn:
Prayer of the Day:
Loving
God, help us discover your call for our lives.
Keep us ever listening and looking for what you are up to in the
world. Amen.
Welcome
First Reading: Isaiah
40:21-31
21Have
you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It is
he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like
grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them
like a tent to live in; 23who brings princes to naught, and makes
the rulers of the earth as nothing. 24Scarcely are they planted,
scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows
upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 25To
whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. 26Lift
up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host
and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength,
mighty in power, not one is missing.
27Why
do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28Have
you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the
everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or
grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to
the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30Even youths will faint
and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31but those who
wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall
mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not faint.
L Word of hope, word of life. Thanks
be to God
Psalm 147 (read responsively)
1Praise
the God most high! How good it is to sing praises to our
God; for God is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 2The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he
gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
4God
determines the number of the stars; God gives to all of them their names.
5Great is our most high, and abundant in power; God’s understanding is
beyond measure.
6The
most high lifts up the downtrodden; God casts the wicked to the ground. 7Sing
to the most high with thanksgiving; make melody to our
God on the lyre.
8God covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes
grass grow on the hills.
9God
gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry. 10God’s
delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a
runner; 11but the most high takes pleasure in
those who fear God, in those who hope in God’s steadfast love.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians
9:16-23
16If I
proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is
laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17For if
I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am
entrusted with a commission. 18What then is my reward? Just this:
that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make
full use of my rights in the gospel.
19For
though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so
that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in
order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though
I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21To
those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free
from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the
law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I
have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23I
do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
L Word of hope, word of life. Thanks
be to God
Anthem: WOV #776 Be Thou My Vision Grace Choir
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:29-39
29As
soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew,
with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a
fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her
by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve
them.
32That
evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with
demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And
he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons;
and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In
the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted
place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted
for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is
searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring
towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came
out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee,
proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
P The gospel of the Lord. Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
Silence for reflection
follows the sermon. The assembly stands
to proclaim the word of God in song.
Hymn of the Day:
Prayers of Intercession
A During
this season of Epiphany, we pray for teachers, the wise ones who have mentored
us, and for the church, the world and all people in their need. A brief
silence.
Creating God, help us repair broken relationships,
to clean up our messes and debts and to ask for help when we need it. God in
your mercy, hear our prayer.
Parent God, bless all who are parents, the family
and staff of the Grace Infant
Care Center
and all who have created families. Help
us to become better at loving and receiving love from others. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God, you are the highest authority. Help our civic leaders to bring peace to a
war torn world and to care for those who are vulnerable. Be with our bishops Elizabeth and Mark, our
pastor Megan and all the staff and leaders of our congregation. Help us to support the work and hobbies of
all who worship with us, so that we may draw closer to God in all that we do at
work and at home. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Loving God, help us to have patience, compassion and
listening ears for those who differ from us.
Provide healing and hope for those whose minds, bodies or spirits are in
need of care. We pray especially for
those who care for the sick and support those who are aging. Help us to live and experience as much as we can
while we await the day we will be reunited with those we have lost. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For whom and what else do the people of Grace pray?
(Please offer
- silently or aloud- petitions to God.
End spoken petitions with “God in your mercy.”)
P Our prayers rise like incense and are held by a
loving God who yearns for us to be our best.
May we sleep well, worry less, and live convinced that God is on our
side. Amen.
Peace
The presiding minister and the assembly
greet each other in the peace of the risen Christ.
P The peace of Christ be with you always. C
And also with you.
The people may greet one another with
the sign of Christ’s peace, and may say, “Peace be with you” or similar
words. Then, the assembly is seated.
Offering
An offering is gathered for
the mission of the church, including the care of those in need. After the offering is gathered, the assembly
stands.
Offertory
Offering Prayer
A Let us
pray. God, bless all that we have to offer. May our financial support
match the generosity of our lives. Help
us to be good stewards of our financial and emotional investments. Amen.
Communion:
P It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise . . . we
praise your name and join their unending hymn:
