Virtual Worship for Sunday, January 17, 2021
Second Sunday after Epiphany
PRELUDE
GATHERING
The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.
INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY
All the baptized have a calling in God’s world. God calls not just pastors and deacons but also the youngest child, like Samuel. The story of the calling of Nathanael plays with the idea of place. Nathanael initially dismisses Jesus because he comes from Nazareth. But where we come from isn’t important; it’s where—or rather whom—we come to. Jesus refers to Jacob, who had a vision in a place he called “the house of God, and . . . the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17). Jesus says he himself is the place where Nathanael will meet God.
GATHERING HYMN
In Christ Called to Baptize (ELW 575) (Vs. 1, 3-4)
Performed by Robert Prester and Adriana Samargia
1. In Christ called to baptize,
we witness to grace
and gather a people
from each land and race.
In deep, flowing waters,
we share in Christ's death,
then, rising to new life,
give thanks with each breath.
3. In Christ called to witness,
by grace we will preach
the life-giving gospel;
God's love we will teach.
By grace may our living
give proof to our praise
in costly compassion
reflecting Christ's ways.
4. Unite us, anoint us,
O Spirit of love,
for you are within us,
around us, above.
Equip us for service
with gifts you bestow.
In Christ is our calling.
In Christ may we grow.
Text: Ruth Duck, b. 1947. Text © 1995 Pilgrim Press. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.
CONFESSIONS AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
whose voice is upon the waters,
whose mercy is poured out upon all people,
whose goodness cascades over all creation.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin, trusting in the abundant grace of God.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
you search us and know us.
You are acquainted with all our ways.
We confess that our hearts are burdened by sin—
our own sins and the broken systems that bind us.
We turn inward, failing to follow
your outward way of love.
We distrust those who are not like us.
We exploit the earth and its resources
and fail to consider generations to come.
Forgive us, gracious God,
for all we have done and left undone.
Even before the words are on our tongues,
you know them;
receive them in your divine mercy.
Amen.
How vast is God’s grace!
Through the power and promise of ☩ Christ Jesus,
our sins are washed away
and we are claimed as God’s own beloved.
Indeed, we are forgiven.
In the wake of God’s forgiveness,
we are called to be the beloved community
living out Christ’s justice
and the Spirit’s reconciling peace.
Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful redeemer, for the countless blessings and benefits you give. May we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day praising you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The congregation may be seated.
WORD
FIRST READING
1 Samuel 3:1-20
At a time when visions are rare and unexpected, the Lord comes to Samuel and calls him to speak the divine word. Though just a boy, Samuel responds to God obediently, as Eli the priest has taught him to respond. This marks the beginning of Samuel’s prophetic ministry.
A reading from 1 Samuel.
1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” [11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALMODY
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
You have searched me out and known me. (Ps. 139:1)
1Lord, you have searched me out;
O Lord, you have known me.
2You know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3You trace my journeys and my resting-places
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,
but you, O Lord, know it altogether. R
5You encompass me, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
13For you yourself created my inmost parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I will thank you because I am marvelously made;
your works are wonderful, and I know it well. R
15My body was not hidden from you,
while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book;
my days were fashioned before they came to be.
17How deep I find your | thoughts, O God!
How great is the | sum of them!
18If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
GOSPEL
John 1:43-51
The holy gospel according to John,
Glory to you, O Lord.
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
God’s Call…A Lifetime Journey!
Pastor Harkness
HYMN OF THE DAY
Will You Come and Follow Me (ELW 798)
Performed by Robert Prester and Adriana Samargia
1. "Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
2 . "Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare, should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray'r in you and you in me?
3 . "Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the pris'ners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?
4. "Will you love the you you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?"
5. Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I'll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
Text: John L. Bell, b. 1949
Text © 1987 Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc., agent 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Guided by Christ made known to the nations, let us offer our prayers for the church, the world, and all people in need.
A brief silence.
The response to “Lord in your mercy” is “hear our prayer.”
The prayers conclude:
Merciful God, hear the prayers of your people, spoken or silent, for the sake of the one who dwells among us, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OFFERING
ANTHEM
Here I Am, Lord, Schutte / arr. Raney
Diane Kollmorgan and William Lutz
OFFERING PRAYER
O God,
receive these gifts as you receive us:
like a mother receives her child, with arms open wide.
Nourish us anew in your tender care,
and empower us in faithful service
to tend to others with this same love,
through Jesus Christ, our saving grace.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
SENDING
God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.
BLESSING
God the creator strengthen you;
Jesus the beloved fill you;
and the Holy Spirit the comforter ☩ keep you in peace.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN
Songs of Thankfulness and Praise (LBW 90)
Performed by Robert Prester and Adriana Samargia
1. Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise;
manifested by the star
to the sages from afar,
branch of royal David’s stem
in thy birth at Bethlehem:
anthems be to thee addressed,
God in flesh made manifest.
2. Manifest at Jordan’s stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
and at Cana wedding guest
in thy Godhead manifest;
manifest in pow’r divine,
changing water into wine;
anthems be to thee addressed,
God in flesh made manifest.
3. Manifest in making whole
palsied limbs and fainting soul;
manifest in valiant fight,
quelling all the devil’s might;
manifest in gracious will,
ever bringing good from ill:
anthems be to thee addressed,
God in flesh made manifest.
4. Grant us grace to see thee, Lord,
present in thy holy word;
grace to imitate thee now
and be pure, as pure art thou;
that we might become like thee
at thy great epiphany,
and may praise thee, ever blest,
God in flesh made manifest.
Text: Christopher Wordsworth, 1807-1885
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Be the light of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
From sundaysandseasons.com.
Copyright © 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SB125183.