WORSHIP RESOURCES

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

(Ordinary Time)

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mission by All Means

 

Additional Scriptures

Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-11, 20c;
Mark 1:29-39; Doctrine and Covenants 4:1

 

Praise

Prelude

Welcome

Responsive Call to Worship

Leader: Praise the Lord!

Congregation: How good it is to sing praises to our God. Praise the Lord!

Leader: The Holy One heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Congregation: Praise the Lord!

Leader: The Lord determines the number of the stars and gives to all of them their names. Praise the Lord!

Congregation: Great is our Lord and abundant in power; God’s understanding is beyond measure. Praise the Lord!

Leader: The Holy One lifts the downtrodden. Praise the Lord!

ALL: The Lord takes pleasure in those who find hope in God’s steadfast love. Praise the Lord!

                                                                    —Psalm 147:1-11, adapted

 

Opening Hymn

“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty"
CCS 101

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.

OR “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!”                                                       
CCS 52

Prayer of Praise

Sung Response

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow"
CCS 53/54

OR “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah" 
CCS 86

Consider using clapping to add a percussive element to the song.

Lectionary Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Confession

Ministry of Music OR Congregational Hymn of Confession         

“Sometimes We Wait, Expecting God"
CCS 304

OR “Spirit of Christ, Remember Me"
CCS 221

Prayer for Peace

Light the Peace Candle, or if online, have someone light a candle at their home and hold it up to the computer camera.

Prayer

Dear God,

The world yearns for Christ’s peace. We hear of wars and rumors of wars, conflict, and violence all around us. Sometimes God we are paralyzed with uncertainty and fear. Uncertain about what we can do in our communities, families, and nations. God touch our hearts so that we can know how to bring Christ’s peace into the world. Help us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world desperately in need of Christ’s peace.

In the name of the one who calls us, Jesus Christ, Amen!

Hymn for Peace

“Jesus’ Hands Were Kind Hands”                                                                 
CCS 585

OR “My Savior Said That I Should Be”                                                       
CCS 589

OR “Put Peace into Each Other’s Hands”                                                      
CCS 309

Proclamation

Homily

Based on 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Commitment

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Communion Hymn

“As We Gather at Your Table”                                                                     
CCS 523

OR “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart”                                                             
CCS 531

 

Communion Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Communion Talk

Invitation to Communion

All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission.

Others might have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

Blessing and Serving of the Bread and Wine

For guidelines on the Lord’s Supper, including online participation, see
CofChrist.org/our-ministry-tools.

 

Disciples’ Generous Response

Statement

In today’s lectionary scripture, we have learned from Paul’s example what it means to be a servant to others to bring them to Christ. We are to serve others not for our own self-aggrandizement, benefit, or to show how great we are, but out of generosity and a desire to serve. This practice of whole-life generosity is an essential principle of gospel living, which is expressed and taught in Community of Christ through the practice of Disciples’ Generous Response.

Oblation

The first Sunday of the month also focuses the Disciples’ Generous Response on Abolish Poverty, End Suffering, which includes oblation ministry. As you consider the ways you can give, also think of the ways you can work and act generously to abolish poverty and end suffering in the world.

During this time of Disciples’ Generous Response, we focus on aligning our heart with God’s heart. Our offerings are more than meeting budgets or funding mission. We can tangibly express our gratitude to God through our offerings, who is the giver of all.

As we share our mission tithes either by placing money in the plates or through eTithing, use this time to thank God for the many gifts received in life. Our hearts grow aligned with God’s when we gratefully receive and faithfully respond by living Christ’s mission.

If your congregation is meeting online, remind participants they can give through CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing.org (consider showing these URLs on screen).

Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes

Closing Hymn

“You Are Called to Tell the Story”                                                                            CCS 625

OR “Christ’s Partners All Are We”                                                                           CCS 630

Sending Forth

A marvelous work is about to come forth…

For those who embark in the service of God, see that you serve [God] with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. If you have desires to serve God, you are called to the work, for, behold, the field is ripe already to harvest. …Faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualifies you for the work.                                                          

—Doctrine and Covenants Section 4:1, adapted

Go, be in mission by all means available to you. Go proclaim. Go share. Go in peace.

Postlude

 

SERMON AND CLASS HELPS

Year B—Letters

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Ordinary Time)

1 Corinthians 9:16–23

 

Exploring the Scripture

If one wants guidance on what it means to be a church planter, pastor, or teacher of seekers and new Christians, the letter to the Corinthians is an excellent place to begin. A consensus of biblical scholars is that this is a letter written by the Apostle Paul with the help of a scribe, possibly Sosthenes. It was likely written from Ephesus around 53–54 CE in response to reports of a crisis in this congregation located some 180 miles north on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greece.

Paul received troubling news the Christians in Corinth were embroiled in jealousy, iniquity, and disunity. Questions regarding Paul’s legitimacy as an apostle were also being raised. Having founded the church at Corinth 3–4 years earlier, Paul was deeply concerned about his faith family. He had to give direct guidance on several practical life matters as a Christian community. He had to make clear once again the freedom, hope, and new life promised in the good news of Jesus Christ.

In verses 16–18, Paul tries to reclaim his legitimacy as an apostle of Jesus. But that claim was not for some external reward. It was not about Paul demanding to be placed on a pedestal. His apostleship was initiated by the presence of God in Christ manifest to him on the road to Damascus. He cannot but share the resurrection faith that transformed his life. 

Paul is trying to help them reestablish relations with the God of love to return to the Spirit of love on which they were founded. Sharing this message is his duty. It is his assignment. It is where his meaning and freedom are found. Such is all the reward he needs, all the reward any congregation needs.

In verses 19–23, Paul, with a missionary hat on, explains his strategy for reaching people and inviting them to Christ. Still proclaiming his legitimacy before the Corinthian saints, he highlights why he approaches ministry as he does. He is commissioned to “become all things to all people” (v. 22). The gospel sends him out to honor both poor and rich, slave and free, weak and strong, Jew and Gentile.

He must meet people where they are and honor who they are. His words to the Corinthians are reminiscent of what he wrote to the church in Galatia 4–5 years earlier: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Paul, a cross-cultural, multi-lingual missionary, is uniquely qualified to understand and take a spirit of inclusivity to a larger circle of community. His strategy, borne of Christ-like principles and values, has been studied for centuries and used as a model by missionaries and teachers worldwide to share the story of Jesus.

Central Ideas

1. We are not to boast about our authority as followers of Christ. Such authority is a gift given; a gift received. It is both duty and privilege.
2. Telling the story of what God in Christ Jesus has done is reward enough. Our joy and purpose are in living Gospel values and principles.
3. Paul’s effort to “become all things to all people” is an invitation to “go and do likewise;” to meet people where and as they are; to listen to them; eat their food; “speak their language;” walk with and learn from them.

Questions for the Speaker

1. How did the life and ministry of Paul shape the emerging church in the 1^st century? How has Paul shaped your life and ministry?
2. When have you or your congregation/mission center responded to the obligation of the gospel to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote the kin-dom of God? What was the result?
3. When have you, or your congregation, practiced the principle of “being all things to all people”? What was the result?
4. When did a minister or messenger of God enter your ‘world’ and meet and accept you as you were? What happened to you and them?

 

SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY

Year B Letters

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

1 Corinthians 9:16–23 NRSVUE

 

Gathering

Welcome

The season after Epiphany includes the weeks between Epiphany and Transfiguration Sunday.

Prayer for Peace

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.

Light the peace candle.

God of transformation, we confess our weakness as humans. Like the shepherds, we are afraid to follow your star. Like the magi, we are uncertain of our journey. Like Isaiah, we say, “I am doomed!” as we see the death, destruction, conflict, oppression, and unjust systems in the world around us. Forgive us our uncertainty and our doubt.

Likewise, may we follow Isaiah’s example and say, “Send me!” in response to your call. May we follow in the footsteps of the fearful-yet-courageous shepherds and magi, who journeyed to the manger of your Son, Jesus, and who forever were transformed as a result.

Your love is stronger than human oppression; your patience outlasts human stubbornness; your forgiveness is more powerful than human hatred. May we be renewed by your love and forgiveness, eager to work for peace. Grant us the humility and openness to your will that we may act in your name. Grant us the faith to speak your words in the face of oppression, knowing the power to change the world lies in your words. In the name of Jesus, in whose footsteps we strive to follow. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Walking in the Light

During Epiphany and the season after Epiphany, our spiritual practice will be Walking in the Light. Take a few moments to quiet yourself. When you feel a sense of calm, begin by imagining you are walking on a path of light. As we pray, visualize the light surrounding you as you walk. As the prayer continues, offer the gift of light to those close to you, to friends and acquaintances, to those you dislike or with whom you are in conflict, and to your community at-large.

As you hear each sentence, offer the gift of light to those mentioned.

May my loved ones be embraced in God’s light (pause).

May my family walk in the light of Christ (pause).

May my friend receive the gift of love and light (pause).

May my acquaintances sense the presence of light through our interactions (pause).

May the one with whom I am in conflict be surrounded by the light of Christ (pause).

May my community be blessed by the eternal light of God’s love and grace (pause).

Amen.

At the conclusion of the prayer invite people to share the thoughts, emotions, or images they experienced through Walking in the Light.

 

Sharing Around the Table

1 Corinthians 9:16–23 NRSVUE

If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a wage, but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my wage? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not outside God’s law but am within Christ’s law) so that I might gain those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I might become a partner in it.

In response to troubling news regarding confusion on several issues and division among the new converts in Corinth, Paul offers guidance in a letter to the Jesus followers in 1 Corinthians.

His legitimacy as an apostle has been questioned. Unlike other Christian leaders who have visited Corinth since Paul founded the fellowship three or four years ago, Paul does not accept patronage from wealthy persons for sharing the good news. He sacrifices his established rights to advance the expression of the gospel. Some, especially those of high social status, see self-support activities as demeaning and in violation of his rights as an apostle.

In today’s passage, Paul defends his sacrificial servanthood as a model of discipleship.  Paul was deeply concerned about his faith family. He had to make clear once again the freedom, hope, and new life promised in the good news of Jesus Christ.

In verses 16–18, Paul explains that he does not preach for a reward or wages; he preaches through obligation, as a necessity and fulfillment of his calling. His apostleship is modeled by the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died on a cross. Paul preaches for free so that requests for financial support would not be an obstacle to belief. His apostleship is initiated by the presence of God in Christ, manifest to him on the road to Damascus. He feels compelled to share the resurrection faith, which transformed his life.

Paul is trying to help the Corinthians reestablish relations with the God of love and to return to the spirit of love on which they were founded. Sharing this message is his duty. It is his assignment. It is where his meaning and freedom are found. Such is all the reward he needs.

Paul was a missionary. It dominated his ministry. In verses 19–23, Paul explains his strategy for reaching people and inviting them to Christ. He is commissioned to “become all things to all people.” The gospel sends him to honor poor and rich, slave and free, weak and strong, Jew and Gentile “so that I might win more of them,” a wide variety of people. He must meet people where they are and must honor who they are.

His words to the Corinthians are reminiscent of what he wrote to the church in Galatia four or five years earlier: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NRSV).

Questions

1. When have you, or your congregation, practiced the principle of “being all things to all people”? What was the result?
2. Does the principle of “being all things to all people” tie to Paul’s message in Chapter 8 concerning food sacrificed to idols? How?
3. Do you see any Community of Christ Enduring Principles expressed in today’s text?
4. Paul is very concerned with the treatment of the weak in this passage. He says in 9:22 that he “became weak,” not “like the weak.” Is there a difference? What is his point?

Sending

Generosity Statement

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

—Doctrine and Covenants 165:6a

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response.

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 339, “In Christ There Is No East or West”

Closing Prayer

 

 

Optional Additions Depending on Group

• Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
• Thoughts for Children

 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

—1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NRSV

 

Communion Statement

All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission. Others may have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

We share in Communion as an expression of blessing, healing, peace, and community.

In preparation let’s sing from Community of Christ Sings 532 “We Meet as Friends at Table.”

 

Thoughts for Children

You will need:

• Coloring supplies
• Paper

Say: Today’s scripture reminds us that it is important to relate to people where they are rather than assuming they should change to be more like us. In this way, we celebrate Unity in Diversity.

One way we can relate to people where they are is to listen to their story and come to know and understand them better.

Today, we are going to take five minutes to think about our own stories and then share those stories with each other.

Think about your own story: who you are and how you are wonderfully created.

Think about an event, a day, or a time that was important or special to you and helped you be who you are.

Draw a picture about that time. Use your colors or markers to write some words about that time. If you need to, ask for some help writing words that describe that time.

Once everyone has had a chance to reflect on their story, say: We are now going to share our stories. Remember it is important to listen to others’ stories. Challenge yourself to learn one interesting thing from each story you hear.

Allow participants time to share their stories before returning to their seats.

 

Adapted from Spiritual Practices for Children