PRACTICE & PRAY
True Authority: The Fourth Sunday of Epiphanytide
Blessed Epiphany, friends!
We’re in our fourth week of walking with Jesus in Epiphanytide’s celebration of revelation and witness!1
Today’s letter includes:
A few thoughts from last week in the church calendar
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Practices and prayers, art and music for this week in the church year
A reflection on today’s scripture readings
Let's begin.
Last week’s reflection
Going into the lectionary passages last Sunday, the third Sunday in Epiphany, I had so many questions.
Why the reference to John Baptist’s arrest with no other details?
Why so much talk about circumcision in the other lectionary passages and then the metaphor about fishing in the Gospel passage?
How would all of you feel about the art and music I selected? Endearing or offputting?
I left my questions and went to church to hang out in the nursery with the world’s most adorable church people (scroll to the bottom of today’s post for a pic of me holding the youngest member of Church of the Apostles).
Later in the week, I found Brian’s sermon helpful on a couple of questions (i.e., Mark’s treatment of John the Baptist’s arrest) and less on others (nothing about circumcision). I was especially compelled by Brian’s invitation to cast the net and trust Jesus to catch the fish. And that, in our desire to be a faithful, non-anxious presence of Christ to our neighbors, we may need the Holy Spirit to refresh our sense of urgency. The Gospel of Jesus is a good and life-giving gift for the world, and it is our privilege to go and speak.
Practices and prayers, art and music for this week in the church year
This week, we are framing our prayer and practice around today’s lectionary passages: Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-282
Community Prayer
