Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fifth Sunday in Epiphany Season 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fifth Sunday in Epiphany Season 2018 – Year B

God Works Miracles and Renews His People
Praise God for his provision and renewal (Ps. 147:1-11). God’s ways are beyond our understanding, yet he lifts up the weak and stoops to save his people (Isaiah 40:21-31). Jesus came as “God among us,” sovereign over brokenness and disease (Mark 1:29-39). Like Paul, we follow the example of Jesus and live for the sake of others, that they might know the healing grace of God through Christ (1 Cor. 9:16-23).
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Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fourth Sunday in Epiphany Season 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fourth Sunday in Epiphany 2018 (Year B)

Casting Out Evil Through Love
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111). The Lord raised up prophets to speak in his name (Deuteronomy 18:15-20). While Jesus was on earth, he taught with authority and did many miracles (Mark 1:21-28). Knowledge puffs us up, but love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1-13) – Thomas Oden,  Ancient Christian Devotional
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Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Third Sunday in Epiphany Season 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Third Sunday in Epiphany 2018 (Year B)

Repent and Follow, the Kingdom of God is Near
Jesus calls us to repent and follow him. The kingdom of God is near and we are called to live in the freedom of God (Mark 1:14-20). With God as our rock and refuge (Psalm 62:5-12), we are commanded to turn from evil (Jonah 3:1-5,10) and become disciples of Jesus, joining him by becoming “fishers of men.” There is a sense of urgency to heed this call because the present form of this world is passing away and the kingdom of God is being made manifest among us (1 Cor. 7:29-31).
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Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Second Sunday in Epiphany Season 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Second Sunday in Epiphany 2018 (Year B)

God Knows Us
“O Lord, you knew me before I was born! Nothing I do escapes your notice (Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18). Here am I, Lord. I am listening for your voice (1 Samuel 3:1-20). Jesus told his disciples, “You will see greater things than these” (John 1:43-51). Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we should shun sin (1 Cor.6:12-20).” – Thomas Oden in Ancient Christian Devotional

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Quote: Karl Barth on the Baptism of Jesus

“No one who came to the Jordan was as laden and as afflicted as He. No one was as needy. No one so utterly human, because so fellow-human. No one confessed his sins so sincerely, so truly as his own, without side-glances at others. He stands alone in this, He who was elected and ordained from all eternity to partake of the sin of all in His own person, to bear its shame and curse in the place of all, to be the man responsible for all, and as such, wholly theirs, to live and act and suffer. This is what Jesus began to do when He had Himself baptized by John with all the others. This was the opening of His history as the salvation history of all the others.”

-Karl Barth, CD IV.2.2

“Jesus of Nazareth—among the many who in Jordan received the baptism of John for the future forgiveness of sins—was the One in whom God was well pleased as His beloved Son, the One upon whom John saw the Spirit descend from heaven, Himself the One who, proclaimed by John, was to come as the bringer of forgiveness. In this way, in the free penitence of Jesus of Nazareth which began in Jordan when He entered on His way as Judge and was completed on the cross of Golgotha when He was judged—there took place the positive act concealed in His passion as the negative form of the divine action of reconciliation. In this penitence of His He “fulfilled all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15). It made His day—the day of the divine judgment—the great day of atonement, the day of the dawn of a new heaven and a new earth, the birthday of a new man.”

-Karl Barth, CD IV.1, 259

What is the Revised Common Lectionary?

The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of Holy Scripture readings that follow the Sundays, festivals, and seasons of the Christian liturgical year.  It was compiled in 1992 by the ecumenical Consultation on Common Texts to provide a balanced scriptural guide for weekly worship that ensures exposure to the main themes of Christian faith and worship. It is ecumenical in nature and overlaps heavily with the Roman Catholic lectionary.

Four texts are assigned for each Sunday and festival:

  • The first reading usually comes from the Old Testament but is replaced by a reading from Acts during the season of Easter
  • Psalm(s)
  • A reading from an Epistle or other New Testament writing
  • A reading from a Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).

The three-year lectionary cycle (A, B, and C) focuses on different portions of the Gospels in each year:

  • Matthew in Year A
  • Mark in Year B
  • Luke in Year C
  • John featured at certain times in each year

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – First Sunday after the Epiphany / Baptism of Our Lord 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – First Sunday after the Epiphany / Baptism of Our Lord 2018 (Year B)

The Light of the World
God is the creator of all things and the author of light (Genesis 1:1-5). He sent John the Baptizer to prepare the way for the Light (Mark 1:4-11). We praise God, who has given us the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless his people with peace (Psalm 29).
– Thomas Oden in Ancient Christian Devotional

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