Prelude
“Solemn Prelude on ‘Cranham’”
Larry Visser
The Word of God
Celebrant Blessed be the one, holy, and living God.
People Glory to God for ever and ever.
Collect For Purity
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(BCP p.356)
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Collect of the Day
Celebrant The Lord be with you.
People And also with you
Celebrant Let us pray.
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Reading from the First Book of Samuel 3:1-10
The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
The Word of the Lord.
People Thanks be to God
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14 My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
15 Your eyes beheld my limbs,
yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book; *
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.
16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
how great is the sum of them!
17 If I were to count them,
they would be more in number than the sand; *
to count them all, my life span
would need to be like yours.
A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 6:21-20
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
The Word of the Lord.
People Thanks be to God.
Celebrant The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 1:43-51
People Glory to you, Lord Christ.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
I
The Sermon
Professor Huxley wrote the following words: “Every moment of our human life is a moment of crisis, for we are called upon to make an all-important decision – to choose between the way that leads to death and spiritual darkness or the way that leads towards light and life. We choose between the temporal and the eternal; between our personal will, and the will of God.” This was the crisis that faced Philip. The Christ had found Philip and then Philip, with this new joy in his heart, had set off to find his friend Nathaniel that he might tell him the Good News. When Philip found Nathaniel, Nathaniel responded with skepticism. So Philip invited him with the words, “Come and See.” The crisis, which faced Philip, was to share the news of the Christ. But the Good News of the Gospel cannot be contained. Christians are not called to convert anyone; that is the Lord’s job. Our call is merely to share what Christ means to us and to invite friends and neighbors to come and see for themselves. The response to the Good News can be varied, as shown by Nathaniel. Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders and smiled at his friend. That word “Nazareth” staggered him. Nazareth! Who had ever heard of Nazareth, that poor despised village. It could never be associated with the Messiah. Nathaniel was like St. Thomas; he wasn’t willing to accept easy answers. He wasn’t willing merely to borrow someone else’s faith. He had to experience it for himself. When Jesus met him, he complimented Nathaniel as a man of integrity. Nathaniel was not willing to hide behind a superficial mask. Nathaniel wanted to be real. But many of us only play at our faith. The story about the empress of Russia was told as she once attended the theater on a wintry night and wept at the sadness of people’s pain and suffering that she saw depicted on stage. Meanwhile, her coach driver, whom she had ordered to remain with the coach at the curb, froze to death. What the response of others may be after they have heard the word of God is part of the relationship between them and God. But we are called to live and share the presence of Christ within our lives with others. Just think for a moment about the story in front of us today. Andrew heard about Jesus through St. John the Baptism. Andrew proceeded to find his brother Simon, and Simon came to Jesus through Andrew. After Philip gave himself to Jesus, he found Nathaniel. In each of the cases, what happened? Two things – two stories have been told: the story of Jesus and the stories of the people who followed Him. Philip, and Andrew were not there to convert, but rather to share the story – they were not ‘pious pit bulls,’ setting out to drag someone to Jesus, but fellow pilgrims who simply told their story. St. Paul once said, “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” It is God working through willing disciples in each case drawing the listener to “come and see.” People are not argued into faith so much as they are invited to it through the authentic sharing of Jesus. Remember, we are called at every moment to make important decisions – decision for Christ. Are we open and able to share our faith journey and experience with others? How do we interact with others? Do others see Christ in us? It is too easy for us to criticize and sit in judgment of others. But we are called to show the love of Christ through our live, in how we live, in how we treat others, and our willingness to share the good news with others. There once was a woman who was very critical of others, especially her neighbor. She disapproved of how the neighbor was raising her children, how she maintained her home. Constantly, the woman complained about her neighbor. One day as she was visiting with a friend, she looked out her window at the neighbor hanging up her wash on the clothesline. “Look” she said, “There’s an example right there. Look how dirty that laundry is, all streaked with dirt.” The friend replied, “My dear, it’s your window that’s streaked with dirt.” To be a follower of Christ requires a conscious decision – to follow Him, to live and act like Him. It means being so filled with joy that it must be shared with other. That is the Christian life.
Meditation
“O For a Closer Walk With God”
Soloist: TJ Walch
The Nicene Creed
(BCP p. 358)
We believe in one God
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate
from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is
worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and
apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayers of the People
In the Anglican cycle of prayer, we pray for the Anglican Church of Australia.
In the Diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for Christ Church in Cincinnati, St. John’s in Cambridge, and St. Margaret’s in Trotwood.
In our Parish cycle of prayer, we pray for Fred and Phyllis Berta, Larry and Joy Brown, and Mike and Sandy Bultman.
In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.
Silence
For all people in their daily life and work;
For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.
For this community, the nation, and the world;
For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.
For the just and proper use of your creation;
For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.
For those on our Parish Prayer List (N), and for all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble;
For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.
For the peace and unity of the Church of God;
For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.
For Michael, our Presiding Bishop, and for all bishops and other ministers;
For all who serve God in his Church.
For the special needs and concerns of this congregation.
Silence
The People may add their own petitions
Hear us, Lord;
For your mercy is great.
We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.
Silence
The People may add their own thanksgivings
We will exalt you, O God our King;
And praise your Name for ever and ever.
We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in your eternal kingdom.
Silence
The People may add their own petitions
Lord, let your loving-kindness be upon them;
Who put their trust in you.
We pray to you also for the forgiveness of our sins.
Silence may be kept.
Leader and People
Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; in your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things done and left undone; and so uphold us by your Spirit that we may live and serve you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Peace
Celebrant The peace of the Lord be always with you.
People And also with you
The Lord’s Prayer
Celebrant As our Savior Christ has taught us, we now pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Act of Spiritual Communion
Blessed Jesus,
With your faithful people at every altar of your church where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated, I offer my praise and thanksgiving. Since I cannot receive you today in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let me never be separated from you. May I live in you, and you in me, in this life and the life to come. Amen.
Blessing
Dismissal
The congregation is dismissed.
People Thanks be to God.
Postlude
“Entrata in C Major”
John Holler
For today’s announcements, click HERE.
To read a copy of the December 17 Vestry Minutes, click HERE
———–
St. Mark’s Vestry
Senior Warden: Gary Welch
Junior Warden: Katherine Wagner
Treasurer: Don Nancarrow
Secretary: Dave Reuter
Vestry Members:
Carol Nancarrow, Tracey Swartz
Susan Kendall
Kendall Rubino, Jenna Walch
St. Mark’s Staff
Rector:
Parish Administrator Katherine Wagner
Music Director Donna Larsen
Sexton Douglas Plummer
Webmaster Dave Reuter
Look for us…
On the web: www.StMarksDayton.org
Facebook: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Dayton, Ohio
Instagram: stmarksdayton
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