I have a confession to make. I am staying home from church this morning. I don't feel good about it, especially since I'm at Nathan, Laura, & Calvin's, but I was diagnosed w/Influenza A last FRI, & my conclusion was that it was better for me to try to stifle the threat of my plague as much as possible. Plus, I'm just not feeling very chipper. I'm still running a fever off & on, & my cough--which kept me up all night--would be majorly distracting to others.
I saved my church bulletin from Grace Norfolk last SUN 1/14, when we observed the 2nd SUN of Epiphany. My SUN meditation today consists of excerpts from last SUN's worship.
Prayer/Hymn (sung to the tune of LSB 836)
"Hope of the world, Thou Christ of great compassion; speak to our fearful hearts by conflict rent. Save us, Thy people, from consuming passion, who by our own false hopes and aims are spent.
"Hope of the world, God's gift from highest heaven, bringing to hungry souls that bread of life, still let Thy Spirit unto us be given to heal earth's wounds and end our bitter strife."
Confession & Absolution
"O Lord of might and mercy, Who made us to hope for life in You, we confess that we have sought hope in ourselves instead and stolen hope from our neighbors. We have sinned against what You command and against what You create. Our selfishness has closed our hearts, our ears and eyes and hands, to Your Word of truth and love. As we have no hope apart from your grace, forgive us and redeem us for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
"O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Christ Jesus died for your trespasses and rose for your justification. Upon this your confession, and under His authority, I, as a called ad ordained servant of Christ, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
From the Old Testament Reading found in Jeremiah 29
"For I know the plans i have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. The you will call upon Me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."
From the Epistle Reading found in 1 Peter 3:15-22
"For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit . . . Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal "of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him."
From the Gospel Reading found in Matthew 12:9-21
"'Behold My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved with whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench, until He bring justice to victory; and in His name the Gentiles will hope."
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