Wednesday Words for January 16, 2013
from Pastor Carrie Smith
Thought for the Day:
“The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
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In our prayers: Alice McDonald, in hospice care at home; Carol Stupar; Bruce Johnson, having surgery for a recurrence of a brain tumor this morning; Malena Graddy; Rush Clinkscales (Pr. Carrie’s uncle).
Tonight at Bethany: Join us for worship at 6:30 pm in Luther Hall! We are singing Holden Evening Prayer and will have time for prayer and hearing Scripture. Take time out in the middle of the week to be renewed by the Word!
Sunday at Bethany: Representatives from our Lutheran camps (LOMC and Lutherdale) will be here to provide the Child’s Word during the 9 am worship. They will also accompany the children to Sunday School for a morning of camp songs and activities. Parents, you will have the opportunity to sign up your children for camp during coffee hour.
This is the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, and we will be hearing the story of Jesus’ first miracle—turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana. We’ll be graced by special music from the Bell Canto Choir, and will sing some hymns in honor of the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (“We’ve Come This Far By Faith” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”).
Organ Concert and Workshop on Sunday! At 4 pm, come on back to church for a special organ concert by Craig Cramer, professor of organ at Notre Dame. The builder of our beautiful organ, Halbert Gober, will be here to provide an organ workshop at 3 pm. Admission, as always, is FREE, although a freewill offering will be received to support the Bethany Arts Series.
Monday is not just a day off of school! The 4th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Breakfast will take place at D’Andrea Banquet Hall at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are still available in the church office. This is a chance to hear a wonderful guest speaker and meet some of the members of other faith communities in the area. I hope to see you there!
Are you considering membership at Bethany? A New Member class will be held on Sunday, January 27th from 4-6 pm in Luther Hall. If you’d like to register, please contact me as soon as possible: carrie.smith@bethanylc.com Right now, it looks like we have about 18 people attending. Thanks be to God!
Worship Leaders’ Workshop: On Saturday, January 26th, I will be leading a workshop for those who are interested in being a reader, assisting minister, or home communion minister (otherwise known as a Eucharistic Minister.) 9 am is the class for readers, 10 am for assisting ministers, and 11 am for Eucharistic ministers. Please e-mail me if you plan to attend one or more of these sessions.
Pledge cards: Yes, the a budget has been prepared for 2013. No, it is not too late to turn in a pledge card! Financial pledge cards and Time and Talent sheets are on the information desk at church. Please fill one out if you have not already done so, and leave it in the offering plate or in the church office.
Annual Meeting and Annual Reports: The Annual Meeting is Sunday, January 27th after the late service. Please pick up your reports at the church, or read the one that was emailed to you. You can print one out and bring it to the meeting to reference, if you wish.
This Week’s Texts: 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 62:1-5
62For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 3You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Psalm 36:5-10 (Message Version)
God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!
How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You’re a fountain of cascading light,
and you open our eyes to light.
10-12 Keep on loving your friends;
do your work in welcoming hearts.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
12Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
John 2:1-11
2On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Peace,
+ Pastor Carrie Smith
