WORSHIP RESOURCES
First Sunday after the Epiphany
Acts 8:14-17
Baptized of Water and Spirit
Additional Scriptures
Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Preparation
For the Focus Moment, prior to today’s worship, inflate several balloons and place them toward the front of your worship space. Alternatively, you can have a deflated balloon nearby and inflate during the activity. Any kind of balloon is acceptable. Be mindful of potential allergens and proper disposing of balloons after the service.
You will need a bell for the Prayer for Peace.
Today’s theme lends itself to the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. Adjust the service accordingly if you will be celebrating sacraments.
We Praise and Sing!
Prelude
Welcome, Announcements, Sharing
Songs of Praise
“God Is Here!” CCS 70
OR “Rejoice, Ye Saints of Latter Days” CCS 81
OR “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” CCS 92
Call to Worship: Responsive Reading
Leader: The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders!
People: God is good!
Leader: The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty!
People: God is good!
Leader: The voice of the Lord breaks cedars and causes the oaks to whirl!
People: God is good!
Leader: The voice of God gives strength and peace to all people!
People: God is good!
All: Amen! —Psalm 29, adapted
Hymn of Assurance
“Standing on the Promises” CCS 257
OR “All My Days” CCS 266
OR “Let My Spirit Always Sing” CCS 269
Invocation
Response
We Pray
Prayer for Peace
Light the peace candle.
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43:1-2, 4-5
Peace Prayer with Meditation Time
God of peace that passes understanding,
We pause and listen…
Ring bell.
We listen for the presence of your Spirit in this moment.
We listen for insights on how we might continue to shape our lives and our faith community to respond to share Christ’s peace.
We pause and listen…
Ring bell.
We listen for your forgiveness for the times we fall short in our discipleship.
We listen for your encouragement to give us strength as we journey forward together.
We pause and listen…
Ring bell.
We listen for your voice to drown out the voices of our societies challenging how Christ’s vision of shalom takes form in the places where we live and serve.
We pause and listen…
Ring bell.
We listen for your continued revelation for our day and time.
We listen for continued inspiration on how to pursue peace and realize the hope of Zion.
We pause and listen…
Ring bell.
We listen with our heart, mind, and soul.
We listen, O God of unlimited possibilities to the way you speak to us today. In the name of the prince of peace, we pray, Amen.
Ring bell
We Listen
Scripture Reading: Acts 8:14-17
Focus Moment: Seeing a Sacrament See the end of this service.
Hymn of Preparation
“See What Love We Have Been Given” CCS 496
OR “Yo Quiero Ser/I Want to Be” Sing at least twice. CCS 498
Encourage participants to sing in a language other than their own.
OR “O Lord, We Come as Children All” CCS 510
Morning Message
Based on Acts 8:14-17
Hymn of Reflection
“Rain Down” CCS 260
OR “This Is My Song” CCS 389
Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.
If applicable, insert the Celebration of Sacraments, which might include charges to the candidates, candidates articulating their desire to follow Jesus, and the sacraments.
We Share
Disciples’ Generous Response
Statement
God’s grace and generosity are like the waters of a pool or riverbed flowing all around us. Just like jumping into the water, when we welcome God into our lives, we are flooded by God’s grace and generosity. As we welcome God into our life, we awaken to God’s gifts in the mundane. All the small things, even life’s simplest moments, are more than we realize when received as divine gifts.
Testimony
Ask someone to share a testimony about their baptism and/or confirmation and how they have experienced God’s generosity since that day; OR how they’ve experienced the generosity of others in your community.
When we share generously, we help God’s love and compassion grow endlessly.
If you have participants joining the worship online, remind them that they can give through www.CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing at www.eTithing.org (consider displaying these URLs).
Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes
We Are Sent
Hymn of Commitment
“Go Now Forth into the World” CCS 646
OR “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” CCS 648
OR “I Wish God’s Love to Be with You” CCS 663
Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.
Benediction
Sending Forth
Go out into the world as visible signs of God’s unconditional love! Filled with the Holy Spirit, you are poised to do more than you imagine. Lift those around you and proclaim unconditional love.
Be the peace that inspires a new world! Go in peace.
Postlude
_________________________________________________
Focus Moment: Seeing a Sacrament
Leader: Who can tell me what this is?
Hold a balloon so all can see—inflated or deflated.
Allow time for responses.
Leader: That’s right! It’s a balloon! Where have you seen balloons before?
Allow time for responses.
Leader: We might see balloons at parades and hot air balloons in the sky, too!
What about birthdays? Or when a baby is born? They are often used to celebrate special occasions, right?
Allow time for responses.
Leader: But how does the balloon stay afloat?! I can see the balloon, but what holds it
in the air?
Allow time for responses.
Inflate balloon if you have not done so already.
Leader: The air! Exactly! You can’t see the air, but you know it’s there. You can feel it
when I push into the balloon, and if you’re real quiet, sometimes you can hear the air release. Just like in today’s scripture, we can see the baptismal water, but the Spirit is something we can feel and hear if we listen closely!
Baptism and confirmation are sacraments—special moments where we encounter God through simple things like bread, water, and even our hands, but God’s Spirit fills us up! Just like the balloon! Although we can’t see the Spirit, it continues to speak to us and we can feel it in our hearts!
Sacraments are wonderful occasions to celebrate!
Postlude
SERMON AND CLASS HELPS
Year C—Letters
First Sunday after the Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord (Ordinary Time)
Acts 8:14–17
Exploring the Scripture
Although today’s lection is short, it opens the door to many considerations about the gospel and mission of Jesus Christ. We will discuss two of those.
The first grows from an exploration of this passage’s setting. It tells how Peter and John came from Jerusalem to Samaria because the people “accepted the word of God” (v. 14). This event is significant because Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But when Christian leaders in Jerusalem, who were Jews, heard this news, they sent Peter and John to support the efforts in Samaria.
Philip, who fled from Jerusalem to escape persecution, went to Samaria, and began sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people there. In Acts 8:5–12, we learn that Philip baptized many Samaritans.
The story importantly shows how the message and mission of Jesus are intended for everyone, not just certain groups. One of Jesus’s stories, now commonly known as the Good Samaritan, is just one example of this message. Jesus used this parable to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Philip understood Jesus’s message and went to Samaria to reach out to people there.
Theologian Lee C. Barrett expressed it this way:
This episode (of Philip, Peter and John) functions as one more step on the journey of the inclusion of both Jews and non-Jews in the people of God. A primary characteristic of the Holy Spirit is its power to forge unity amid cultural, ethnic, and ideological difference and tension. The Holy Spirit is an inclusive Spirit that fosters fellowship and communication across human boundaries.
Community of Christ expresses this message in some Enduring Principles, such as Worth of All Persons, All Are Called, and Unity in Diversity. It also is expressed beautifully in two hymns in Community of Christ Sings: “For Everyone Born” (285), and “All Are Welcome” (276). We also can find this idea in many passages of the Doctrine and Covenants, such as 161:3a:
Open your hearts and feel the yearnings of your brothers and sisters who are lonely, despised, fearful, neglected, unloved. Reach out in understanding, clasp their hands, and invite all to share in the blessings of community created in the name of the One who suffered on behalf of all.
This understanding leads to the second idea from this brief passage. It suggests that Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans who had accepted the word of God “that they might receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 17). Philip had baptized these people of water, but “as yet, the Spirit had not come upon any of them” (v. 16). Peter and John wanted to ensure the Samaritans received all the blessings of life as disciples.
We remember Jesus’ experience in which “he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting upon him” (Matthew 3:16) after being baptized by John. That experience helps give background for being baptized of water and Spirit—the same that Peter and John came to offer the Samaritans.
Community of Christ offers this same ministry through baptism and confirmation sacraments. Of Water and Spirit, Community of Christ’s baptismand confirmation-preparation book, says:
Baptism of water is a personal expression of faith in Jesus Christ. This is how we first express our commitment to lifelong discipleship…. Confirmation (baptism of the Spirit) invites disciples into the life and mission of Community of Christ.
The team of Philip, Peter, and John showed what can happen when disciples reach out and become effective ministers of the sacraments. Community of Christ has been counseled to offer such ministry to:
Lovingly invite others to experience the good news of new life in community with Christ. Opportunities abound in your daily lives if you choose to see them.
—Doctrine and Covenants 165:1c
Central Ideas
- The good news of Jesus Christ is intended for all people.
- Baptism of the Holy Spirit is important to becoming and being lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
Questions for the Speaker
- What can you remember about your baptism of the Holy Spirit (confirmation) that still speaks to you?
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 164:3a–c. How does this passage speak to you about your commitment today? How might you encourage others to reflect on their commitment in the ways suggested by today’s passage?
- Baptism of the Spirit is an important sacrament. When have you experienced the Holy Spirit at other times and in other ways that signal the Spirit is ever present?
SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY
Year C—Letters
First Sunday after the Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord (Ordinary Time)
Acts 8:14–17
Gathering
Welcome
The season after Epiphany includes the weeks between Epiphany and Transfiguration Sunday. This first Sunday after Epiphany is the Sunday when the Baptism of the Lord is observed.
Prayer for Peace
Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.
God of liberation, we come before you thankful, so very grateful for the birth and baptism of Jesus. Just as you called Jesus by name into the waters of baptism, you call each of us, too. From north, south, east, and west, all around the world you call your beloved.
In being called, we are freed to live fully into your divine vision of peace for the world. The task is great, and our community is, too. Together we ache for peace in every corner of our world. Empower us to go and act, knowing that you will be with us as we strive for peace in our schools, neighborhoods, and communities. May we be bold, demanding peace in places we previously have thought impossible because you already are in those places, waiting for us to show up. We pray for peace, and now we work for peace.
In the name of Jesus, our example of peace. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Dwelling in the Word
I will read a scripture aloud. As you hear it, allow the words, images, or phrases to come to mind. Try not to focus on them. Let them rest with you. After a moment of silence, I will read the scripture a second time. As you hear it again, pick a character in the scripture and see the scripture through that lens.
Read Luke 3:21–22 NRSVue:
Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Pause. Read the scripture a second time. Invite group members to respond to these questions:
- What images and thoughts came to your mind during the second reading, when you listened through the lens of a particular character in the text?
- Seeing this scripture through a different lens, how did it change your perceptions and understandings of the passage?
- How do you sense the Holy Spirit speaking within you?
Sharing Around the Table
Acts 8:14–17 NRSVue
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).
Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
In the eighth chapter of Acts, we find Philip in Samaria, having fled Jerusalem to escape persecution. Philip preached the gospel of Christ to the Samarians, and many accepted. It should be remembered that the Samarians were considered second-class citizens by the Jewish people. This passage tells us that Peter and John came to Samaria because the people accepted God’s word.
Peter and John’s willingness to travel to Samaria shows the inclusiveness of the message of Jesus. The story importantly shows us how the message and mission of Jesus are intended for everyone, not just certain groups. One of Jesus’s parables, commonly known as the Good Samaritan, asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Philip understood that message and took the gospel to Samaria.
After Philip baptized the Samarians, it was not until Peter and John traveled to Samaria and prayed for the people that they received the Holy Spirit. In Community of Christ this is the sacrament of confirmation. Of Water and Spirit, Community of Christ’s baptism and confirmation-preparation book, says:
Baptism of water is a personal expression of faith in Jesus Christ. This is how we first express our commitment to lifelong discipleship...Confirmation (baptism of the Spirit) invites disciples into the life and mission of Community of Christ.
Questions
- Who is your neighbor? Who needs to hear the message of Jesus?
- What can you remember about your baptism of the Holy Spirit (confirmation) that still speaks to you?
- Baptism of the Spirit is an important sacrament. When have you experienced the Holy Spirit at other times and in other ways that signal the Spirit is ever present?
(from Worship & Sermon Helps, and Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1)
Sending
Generosity Statement
Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.
—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. You also may give at CofChrist.org/give.
The offering prayer for Epiphany is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response.
Revealing God, may we always be generous. You have gifted each of us with boundless grace and unending love. May our response to that love and grace be humble service to others, and may generosity be part of our nature. Amen.
Invitation to Next Meeting
Closing Hymn
Community of Christ Sings 442, “When Jesus Came to Jordan”
Closing Prayer
Optional Additions Depending on Group
- Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
- Thoughts for Children
Thoughts for Children
Materials:
- crayons
- dove coloring pages
Lesson: What Is Baptism?
Encourage children to listen carefully to this story from the Bible:
Jesus was baptized and came up out of the water. Heaven opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit coming down to Jesus like a dove. And a voice spoke from heaven. The voice said, “This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him.”
—Matthew 3:16–17 ICB
Ask:
- Who was baptized?
- What did God say?
When people are old enough (eight years old), they can be baptized just like Jesus was baptized. Baptism is making a promise or covenant to follow Jesus. When we follow Jesus, we are called disciples.
When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit came down like a _______?
The dove is a symbol that God’s Spirit is always with us.
Hand out the dove coloring pages and crayons.
Thank the children for participating.