This week’s Readings and Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Epiphany - The Baptism of Christ
The Collect for This Week
Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for everAmen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Lord of all time and eternity, you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son: by the power of your Spirit complete the heavenly work of our rebirth through the waters of the new creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you powers of heaven, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation; the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon; 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord splits the flash of lightning; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 8 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare; in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’ 9 The Lord sits enthroned above the water flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king for evermore. 10 The Lord shall give strength to his people; the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah Chapter 42, verses 1 to 9
1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 10 verses 34 to 43
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew Chapter 3, verses 13 to 18
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ 15 But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
This week’s sermon is delivered by Pam Bateman
Do you ever wonder how the lectionary gets sorted out? Why do they put certain passages from the Bible together? I don't know. Why do you think they put these three ones together for today? What do they have in common?
Isaiah - Book of comfort
Matthew 3 – Jesus being baptised by John
1 Corinthians 1 – Paul writing to the Corinthians about spiritual growth and relationships.
I think it is fairly easy to see some of the connection between Isaiah and Matthew. The Isaiah passage is one of the Servant Songs and is thought to be about the coming Messiah. Matthew is about the beginning of Jesus's ministry., But Paul's letter is about teaching, about right Spiritual and personal relationships. How does that connect? Has anyone has a suggestion?
Has anyone been to Japan on business or met with Japanese business people? What do they often do as a form of greeting and politeness? They offer you their business card. They do this as a form of greeting and politeness and also as a token of their authority and identity.
I think that is one of the connections of these three passages because Paul starts of by introducing himself and his place in Christian society and why he should write to the Corinthians in the wat that he does. It is clear from his writing that he has been in contact with them before so is able to demonstrate an understanding of where they are as Christians. However, Isaiah is talking about God, and in many ways is revealing a pretty clear understanding of the Trinity in this passage and the Messiah's role in His earthly form and His authority as well as the greatness of God as creator and covenant maker. Matthew writes of John in the preceding verses as declaring that his role was to prepare the way of the Lord and to make His ways straight, and he was doing so by telling people to repent and confess their sins. And then, when Jesus comes to be baptised makes clear who he believes Jesus to be, the Messiah. and this is affirmed by the appearance of the Holy Spirit and God, in the manifestation of the Holy Trinity
Now, I can almost hear you thinking, when will you get to the point please, I want my dinner sometime in the foreseeable future.
Well it's this. If you were asked to present your credentials as a Christian, of your role in this Christian community (one of a group of God's people), what would you say? What would you offer in the way of explaining who you are, and what you are doing here?
It must seem to be very obvious thing, but is it? Tom Wright suggests that in the West we have become rather confused about why we become Christians. He writes about how, for many of us, the goal of our faith is completely upside down. Instead of us seeing the Christians role as serving God in renewing the whole world and uniting heaven and earth, many believers think the point of becoming a Christian is simply for their souls to escape to heaven when they die. Did you become a Christian to be safely ushered into heaven?
Tom Wright argues that the New Testament teaches that God dwells with us and within us, and Jesus' resurrection launched a new creation that is already underway in and through us. Ephesians proposes that God's plan has always been to unite all things in Christ – and that the church, God's people is supposed to be a preview of that new creation right now, here, in this time and place! Tom Wright argues that true Spirituality or Spiritual warfare isn't about blaming people, or seeing demons everywhere. It's about living faithfully as a united, Spirit filled community that reflects God's future in the present. Here and now! His love, His Grace, His trustworthiness and acceptance.
So if this is true, how do you think this might effect the way you might explain who you are, and what is your role in God's community? Would you rewrite anything about who you are in God's kingdom and why you do what you do in Jesus name?
Why do I ask these difficult kinds of questions? It is because, as Paul points out, we all should grow and develop in our Christian life. Sometimes we kind of get stuck in a rut or assume that we continue in the same role we were first called to, but the problem is that change hurts. We like the comfort, the controllability, of the familiar, but Paul points out that suffering can be a part of that growing process and what we learn about God's love and support in and through that time enables us to empathise and encourage others in their time of suffering. Some of the traditions we have inherited has been to rely on what those we admire or rely on tell us, but sadly they aren't always right, again, as Paul wrote. We need to study for ourselves. Talk together about what we have learned from the Bible, what we have seen happening around us in the world and what we think God might think about it or want us to do.
I'm not trying to say that we are all failing or I have everything sorted. I haven't. But I do feel and believe that we are missing out on praying together and studying the Bible regularly together and not just at Advent and Lent. I know that one of the most exhilarating times I have had in the past is when somebody has said some thing and the penny has dropped, sometimes called 'the Ah-Ha moment'. It only happens when you talk together. We learn from each other as we study together and talk together. This isn't about Academic stuff but what God has taught us in life. Between us we have so much experience and understanding that God has given to us, that we can give as a gift to each other. I know some of you don't agree with me or Tom Wright, well let's talk about it, study the Bible and see if we can see what that has to say about it. Or get someone much more knowledgeable to discuss with, argue with, talk with about so we can become what God wants us to be in these coming years. Whether we are a0, 20 50 or 105 we all still have a role, a place, in the renewing of God's kingdom on earth through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.