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January 16, 2022 – Gifts of the Spirit

ORDER OF WORSHIP
January 16, 2022

 

 

PRELUDE

Prelude   Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern  Hugo Distler, 1933
“How Brightly Shines the Morning Star”
Thomas Pousont, organ

CALL TO WORSHIP

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and the princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

(Howard Thurman 1899-1981)

HYMN

Hymn   O Morning Star How Fair and Bright 
(Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern)
Dorian Pousont, vocalist

1st READING
The Gospel According to Luke 4: 16-21

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of grace and glory,
forgive us our timid response
to your call to discipleship.
Pour your power on us
and on the whole church,
so that we will desire
the things you desire for us:
freedom from our many fears,
fearless trust in you,
joy in one another,
clear vision, bold speech,
and new strength
for confronting the evils around us.
We ask in the name of Jesus,
who calls us to follow him today.

Amen.

(Prayer by Mary Luti)

 

2nd READING

The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 12:1-13

READ FOR YOU BY LIZA

 

…Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses…

 

PAUSE FOR REFLECTION

What gifts of the Spirit do you discern in your own Beloved Community? To whom do you turn for wisdom, or for knowledge? for healing, or for discernment? for music, or laughter, or a listening ear? Pause a moment to remember, and give thanks.

 

3rd READING

Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God (12th c. CE)

You must know, then, what you are, and that it is not of yourself that you are what you are, lest either you not glory at all, or glory in vain…. We must vigilantly guard against this ignorance, by which we might perceive ourselves as less than we really are, or by which we might grant to ourselves more than we ought, when we wrongly think that the good which is in us, is also from us.

PAUSE FOR MEDITATION

Consider what gifts of the Spirit have been given to you. When have others turned to you? Pause a moment to remember, and give thanks.

SERMON

Gifts of the Spirit
Rev. Liza B. Knapp

ANTHEM

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern   Michael Praetorius, 1604
Dorian Pousont & Thomas Pousont, vocalists

PASTORAL PRAYER / DISCIPLES’ PRAYER

January 16, 2022

OFFERING
The Mission Committee is asking for donations towards church sponsored Community Meals. The church is currently paying for the hire of a restaurant to provide the meal. Any donations will help with that cost.  You may pay by checks (made out to the First Church of Deerfield with “Community Meals” in the memo line) or by Online donation through Breeze (click HERE and choose “Community Meals”)

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Accept, we pray, these gifts
which we have received freely from your hand
and which we now return freely into your hands,

and with them, our hope:
that through these offerings,
we may become part of your answer
to the cries of this world
and a part of the new world to come

made known to us through Jesus,
your child and our brother.

In his name,
and by all your holy names,
we pray.

Amen.

(UCC book of worship, adapt.)

BENEDICTION

For all that God can do without us,
For all that God can do within us,
Thanks be to God.
For all in whom Christ lived before us,
For all in whom Christ lives beside us,
 Thanks be to God.
For what the Spirit wants to give us,
For where the Spirit wants to send us
Thanks be to God.

(Iona Community)

POSTLUDE

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern  Hugo Distler, 1933