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Communications

WEEKLY DEVOTION PAGE THE Second Sunday after Epiphany – LECTIONARY 2, YEAR C (JANUARY 14-20)

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Here is the devotion page for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary 2 (January 14-20) – Year C. (Click on the words!)

NOTE:  There has been some confusion about the dates on the Devotion pages.  The dates are the range of Sundays that the pages are for.  If you are using these starting on a Sunday in the range, then you are using the correct one!  Read below for a longer explanation.

Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!

Lectionary dates and time after Pentecost

We are working on developing a complete 3 year cycle of devotion pages for the Revised Common Lectionary.  To make this really work the pages need to be tied to the lectionary Sunday, not the specific date.  For most seasons of the church year this is pretty easy to do.  The First Sunday in Advent is 4 weeks before Christmas, every year, so the date floats around, but the readings are always the same.  It is similar for Epiphany, Lent and Easter.  The Second Sunday after Epiphany (Note that Epiphany dates have a range, too) is always the same readings, as is the Second Sunday of Lent and Easter.  Pentecost and the season after are different.  Unlike the other seasons where the first reading of the season is set, in the time after pentecost the last reading is set.  The readings for Christ the King are always lectionary 34 and Christ the King Sunday is always on the Sunday that is between November 20 and 26, inclusive of those dates (five weeks before Christmas).  This wouldn’t be a big deal if Easter was also set, but Easter moves – by as much as 5 weeks!  So the Day of Pentecost can be closer or further away from Christ the King, depending on when Easter falls.  So if the Easter is early, the season after Pentecost is longer, and there are more readings leading up to Christ the King.  If Easter is late, there are fewer.  Since the last Sunday is of the season is set, that means the early Sundays are not always the same readings.  For example – in 2017 the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost used the readings for Lectionary 11 (Easter was relatively late that year).  In 2018 the 2nd  Sunday after Pentecost used Lectionary 9 (Easter was early).  So, indicating which Sunday after Pentecost on the devotion pages is not clear from year to year – so we use lectionary numbers that are tied to a range of Sundays.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Advent 3 year B: John 1: 6-8, 19-28

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 Tell the children at the beginning of worship to go and find an object or a picture that gives a clue about who they are and one example of who they are not. Have an example such as, I might bring my running shoes as I’m an avid runner and a plant as I am not a gardner.

Tell the children to hold up their objects and tell why that object tells us who they are and who they are not. If it’s appropriate, remind them of your objects and why.
Then talk about the John the baptizer story: John was asked by some leaders who he was. They wondered if he was the Messiah, Elijah, or another prophet. He answered that he is not the Messiah, he’s not Jesus, or any of those other things, but he is someone who God sent to show others to Jesus. He’s important because he tells others about Jesus. And Jesus tells us about how much God loves us and who we are: God’s great joy. You are God’s great joy! You might be a dancer, a soccer player, a musician, an artist, etc. but most important, who you are is loved by God and God’s great joy! And our job for God is to be that joy to everyone we meet so that they know that they are God’s great joy too!

 

Let’s pray: God you sent Jesus to show us that we are loved and your great joy forever. Help us to never forget this and to always be who we are: yours. We joyfully pray in the name of Jesus, amen.

+You are God’s Great Joy+