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Woship Resources 2008-2009 — Year B: Be a Sanctuary of Christ's Peace
Return to Year B: 2008-2009
Resource Index
Epiphany Season
(Ordinary Time)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Believe!
First Sunday after the Epiphany (Ordinary Time)
Scriptures: Genesis 1:1–5/1:1–8 IV; Psalm 29; Acts
19:1–7; Mark 1:4–11/1:3–9 IV; III Nephi 5:39, 40; Doctrine and Covenants
83:10c
Display a picture of Jesus’ baptism for the worship center.
Prelude
Welcome/Sharing Joys and Concerns
Of Water and of Spirit
Introit: “Baptized in Water” HS 350
Verses one and two, adapted, might be sung by an unaccompanied soloist
from the back of the sanctuary.
Baptized in water, you became a person born anew.
You made a covenant and then God made his promise, too:
His Holy Spirit could be yours that day and all life through.
To some it comes as bursting light upon a special hour.
It may come slowly and in time as an unfolding flower.
However it may come to you, you’ll feel God’s love and power.
OR Congregational Hymn: “Baptized in Water” HS 350
Call to Worship: Responsive Reading
Leader: God, we come expectant, waiting for your Spirit.
People: Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Leader: It comes in many ways, many forms.
People: Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Leader: As we have assembled in faith, let us be willing to receive.
People: Come, Holy Spirit, come!
OR III Nephi 5:39, 40
*Hymn: “Afar in Old Judea” verses 1 and 4 HS 296
OR “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine” HS 281
*Invocation
*Response
Two Kinds of Baptism
A Drama Based on Mark 1:4–11 and Acts 19:1–7
Paul: (shaking the Unnamed Disciple’s hand) I am so glad to
meet you, sir. My name is Paul, and I am an apostle of the Lord Jesus. I was so
pleased to find believers like you already present here in Ephesus. Tell me,
when you were baptized, did you receive the Holy Spirit?
Unnamed Disciple: Holy Spirit? We’ve never heard of it.
Paul: Oh my! What was your baptism about then?
Disciple: We were following the teachings of John. We heard he was a
no-nonsense sort of guy, dressing very simply and living in the wilderness on
locusts and wild honey. He called on people to enter the Jordan River as a sign
that they were repentant and wished to receive God’s forgiveness. So ours was a
baptism of water.
Paul: Ah, but there’s more to the story! John also told the people
that another was coming who was even greater than he was. His name was Jesus,
and John called upon the people to believe in him so he might baptize them with
the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself was baptized in water by John, and, afterward,
the Spirit rested upon him in the form of a dove. Then the people heard a voice
from heaven, say, “This is my son; I am well pleased with him.”
Disciple: So there are really two baptisms: one of water and one of
the Spirit. We want this second baptism, too.
Paul: Excellent! Bring your fellow believers to me. I will lay my
hands on them and confirm upon them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then your
baptism will be complete.
Disciple: I must go find my brothers and sisters in the faith. What
good news I have to share with them!
—Sue Janetta
It’s Our Story, Too
Hymn: “O Holy Dove of God Descending” HS 285
OR “Come, Holy Spirit, Come” NS 6
Ask two members of your congregation, perhaps a young adult and a senior
citizen, to reflect back on their own baptism/confirmation as a spiritual
experience.
Message
Based on Mark 1:4–11 and/or Acts 19:1–7
Hymn: “The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning” HS 33/R-18
Poem
Spirit of God
Yes, the Spirit of God like a fire is burning
and at the same time like a clear brook churning.
It’s hot and it’s wrought with flames of inspiration
and yet cool with moments of quiet meditation.
The Spirit of God is a young mind learning
and at the same time, mature minds yearning
for discernment, revelation, and mystery too.
It remembers, and is pleased, by the good that we do.
The Spirit of God is a new season turning
that brings to our mind the Savior returning.
Creation circling ’round and always reforming—
the love of our Savior, gracefully transforming
—Linda Mountenay, 2005
Prayer for Peace
Disciples’ Generous Response: Freely Receive, Freely Give
Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to
integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries
Mission Tithes. Generosity stories are provided to keep the church in touch
with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ.
Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information
as part of your offertory ministry. Visit
www.CofChrist.org/generositystories to print a copy, or contact your pastor, congregational financial officer,
or worship coordinator for a copy.
Reflection
Those who have stepped into the waters of baptism and have been
confirmed with the presence of God’s Spirit are the recipients of a
precious gift. With the assurance of pardon, they can start afresh and
try again to walk the path of the disciple. But more than this, they
have received new empowerment to do what they must do. It is not
surprising that God calls from us a response to God’s grace and
ministry. God has called upon us to “bear much fruit,” and a generous,
giving spirit is one form of this fruitfulness. When you feel God’s
presence, do you also feel God’s claim upon you? What is God’s call to
you today?
Blessing and Receiving of Mission Tithes and Offerings
Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 83:10c
*Hymn: “Lord, Help Me to Know Your Presence” NS 31
OR “Tell It! Tell It Out with Gladness” HS 470
*Benediction
*Response
*Postlude
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: Genesis 1:1–5/1:1–8 IV; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1–7; Mark
1:4–11/1:3–9 IV
Exploring the Scriptures
Today, the church teaches that “Together, baptism and confirmation bring a
person into membership. Baptism by water is symbolic of the candidate’s yielding
of his or her life to God and earnestly desiring to become what the candidate
senses is at that time a joining of self with Christ and the church.
Confirmation is an act of bringing the Spirit to the person in response to his
or her life commitment to Christ and the church. It is God’s response to the
candidate’s commitment in which the Holy Spirit enters into that life to
strengthen, comfort, enlighten, teach, and guide the person in fulfilling this
new commitment. It is the promise of God to be one’s constant companion” (The
Priesthood Manual, 2004 Edition, Herald House, 191).
The purpose of Christianity is for people to connect to God and gain strength
to meet the challenges of living a righteous life. Christianity demands an inner
spiritual life, expressed outwardly. This inner life is a necessary part of
being Christian, helping life become more meaningful in all of its dimensions.
The price is yielding love of self to the greater love of God.
When John baptized Jesus, Jesus joined a community that we too can join.
Virgilio Elizondo said that community is not a melting pot where everything
becomes the same or a salad where each ingredient remains unchanged. Instead,
community is like a stew where each part gives something up and takes in the
flavors of the other ingredients. Jesus was willing to let the community change
him, instead of being above it. He was willing to take on the joys, fears,
pains, hopes, victories, and defeats of other humans, as one of their number.
Baptism represents full participation with those who worship God. Just as the
Word became flesh and Jesus came to live with humanity, baptism represents
joining in a community dedicated to living out God’s will for the world. With
that willingness to join in comes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism in the name of Jesus brought power to the men that Paul met, as
described in Acts 19. Just as Jesus was baptized to join the community of
humanity, now humanity has the opportunity to be baptized into community with
Jesus. The baptism of Jesus represents another dimension of God’s love and
longing to be close to humanity. Paul’s baptism of the disciples in Acts shows
how the power of Jesus’ baptism set up a connection between God and humanity
that still exists.
Central Ideas
- Jesus was baptized to fully join in human community; through his
baptism, we can be in community with Jesus by being baptized ourselves.
- Baptism carries with it the Holy Spirit’s influence as an expression of
the connection of God and humanity through Jesus Christ.
Questions for the Speaker
- What is the most powerful experience you have had with baptism?
- How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in the church?
- Have you experienced the church as a melting pot, salad, or stew?
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