Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C - Worship Service - 11:00 AM Service -- Pastor Naomi Carriker

Introduction

Blessings and curses abound on the sixth Sunday after Epiphany. We would do well to listen closely to whom the “blessed ares” and the “woe tos” are directed and to find our place in the crowd among those who desire to touch Jesus. The risen Christ stands among us in the mystery of the holy supper with an invitation to live in him, and offers power to heal us all.

Prayer of the Day

Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Amen.

First Reading: 

Jeremiah 17:5-10

These verses compose a poem that is part of a larger collection of wisdom sayings that contrast two ways of life. Life with God brings blessing; the power and vitality of God is active in our life. Life without God brings a curse, the power of death.

Psalm:

Psalm 1 They are like trees planted by streams of water. (Ps. 1:3)

Second Reading:  

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

For Paul, the resurrection of Christ is the basis for Christian hope. Because Christ has been raised, those who are in Christ know that they too will be raised to a new life beyond death.

Gospel:  

Luke 6:17-26

After choosing his twelve apostles, Jesus teaches a crowd of followers about the nature and demands of discipleship. He begins his great sermon with surprising statements about who is truly blessed in the eyes of God.

17 [Jesus] came down with [the twelve] and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.

18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

19  And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  

20  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:  “Blessed are you who are poor,   for yours is the kingdom of God.  

21  “Blessed are you who are hungry now,   for you will be filled.  “Blessed are you who weep now,   for you will laugh.  

22  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

23  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.  

24  “But woe to you who are rich,   for you have received your consolation.  

25  “Woe to you who are full now,   for you will be hungry.  “Woe to you who are laughing now,   for you will mourn and weep.  

26  “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”