Login / Signup

Free Access

Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany

Worship
Deuteronomy 18:15-22
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
Psalm 111
Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - B
Charles And Donna Cammarata
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series IV, Cycle B
Call To Worship
A central theme this week is the power and authority of God's Word.

Leader: Your word, O Lord, is a lamp unto our feet,
People: And a light unto our paths.
Leader: Your word is eternal;
People: Standing firm in your heavens.
Leader: We can depend on it always.
People: We can take our stand on it.
Leader: We can base our lives on it.
People: Your faithfulness continues in every generation.
Leader: Your promises are for each of us.
People: Always.
Leader: So we raise to you our praises.
People: We exult you above all others.
Leader: Come, let us worship God.
People: Amen.

How about one that just praises God?
Leader: Allelu!
People: Praise!
Leader: Yah!
People: God!
Leader: Allelu-yah
People: Praise God!
Leader: Let's do it, for the Lord is good.
People: Alleluia
Leader: The Lord is great!
People: Alleluia
Leader: God is great indeed.
People: Alleluia!

Psalm 111 is a marvelous psalm of praise. Begin a joyful worship by having it read dramatically by several readers.
Reader 1: Praise the Lord!
Reader 2: I will extol the Lord with all my heart.
Reader 3: I will do it in the midst of the people.
Reader 1: Great are the works of the Lord;
Reader 2: They cause wonderment in all who ponder them.
Reader 3: Glorious and majestic are God's deeds, and God's righteousness endures forever,
Reader 1: Along with his gracious compassion.
Reader 2: God provides food for those who fear him;
Reader 3: And remembers his promises forever.
Reader 1: The works of God's hands are faithful and just;
Reader 2: All his precepts are trustworthy.
Reader 3: They are steadfast forever.
Reader 1: Holy and awesome is his name.
Reader 2: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
Reader 3: All who follow his precepts have good understanding.
All 3 Readers: Let us praise God. Amen!


Prayer Of Confession
Confessions on the topic of how we respond to the Word.
Leader: Your Word is true.
People: Ours is skewed.
Leader: Your Word is love.
People: Ours is self-justifying.
Leader: Your Word builds up.
People: Ours tears down.
Leader: Your Word is always the same.
People: Ours is sometimes two-faced.
Leader: Lord, forgive us for using a most precious gift
People: To promote hatred
Leader: And division,
People: Rather than love and healing.
Leader: Help us change.
People: Help us speak as you speak.
Leader: In Jesus' name we ask. Amen.

Another approach to the Word.
Leader: For ignorance of your Word, O Lord,
People: We beg forgiveness.
Leader: For knowing more of the world than of you,
People: We are full of regrets.
Leader: For knowing more of Will and Grace than of Matthew and Mark,
People: We repent.
Leader: Father, forgive us for trying to live in your glorious creation without knowledge of you, the creator,
People: Fill our hearts with an ache
Leader: That can only be relieved by the medicine of your Word.
People: We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

One last approach deals with the fact that a major reason for ignorance of the Word is busyness.
Leader: A typical "to do" list: People: Finish report for the boss;
Leader: Billy to the doctor;
People: Susie to her soccer game;
Leader: Dance lessons for Dana;
People: Aerobics class for Mom;
Leader: A big meeting at the office;
People: Committee meeting at church;
Leader: Clean the house;
People: Do the shopping;
Leader: Landscape the yard;
People: Scout meeting;
Leader: Dinner with the Smiths;
People: Lots of other stuff ...
Leader: So, the question is, "Who is running our lives?"
People: Gracious God, forgive us
Leader: For allowing the world,
People: And the things of the world
Leader: To rule us.
People: Strengthen us,
Leader: That we might break free of the inner compulsion to keep up with everyone else.
People: So that we might keep up with you instead.
Leader: We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ,
People: Our Lord. Amen.


Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: We seek forgiveness all the time.
People: And God grants it like a rich father who spoils his children.
Leader: God is to be praised for this mercy.
People: Yes, God is greatly to be praised.
Leader: But let us not stop with thanks, let's also change.
People: Yes, let's change,
Leader: To better conform to the image of God in each of us.
People: And let's begin the change
Leader: By better acquainting ourselves with God's Word.
People: Amen.


Prayer For Illumination
You could simply use the reading from Mark today to lead into a prayer of illumination.
Introduction to the prayer:

Mark tells us in Mark 1:21-22: "Jesus and the disciples went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law."

Let us pray: Jesus, teach now with the same power and authority that smote the hearts of those in Capernaum 2,000 years ago. Smite our hearts. Give us the same sense that we are hearing the deep truths of the cosmos being spoken as the words of scripture are read and preached to us this morning. Amen.

Another creative option might be to use the Amy Grant song "Thy Word" to sing your way into the reading of scripture. The chorus can be found in many hymnals today. It is based on Psalm 119, and the chorus consists of a single line: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Just have someone lead the congregation in singing it five or six times as a prayer.


Pastoral Prayer
Let us pray: Lord, if there were one gift I could give my sisters and brothers in Christ, it would be a love for and respect of your Word. As the Word set fire to the hearts of the disciples walking along the road to Emmaus, I pray that we become so hungry for it that we cannot but read, and that in our reading our hearts be set ablaze as theirs were. A daily dose of your Word not only lights the way but adjusts the attitude; not only provides nuggets of truth but gives proper perspective; not only draws us close to you, but increases the abundance of the spirit out of which we live. May your Word minister to us each this week in the very places in which we find ourselves.

We ask in the name of the one who is the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ. Amen.


Benediction
God's Word is life indeed. May we store it up within ourselves, that we will overflow with truth not so much in our speaking, as in our living. Amen.


Hymns

A Glory Guilds The Sacred Page

According To Thy Gracious Word

Bible Stands, The

Break Thou The Bread Of Life

Christ In His Word Draws Near

Come, Divine Interpreter

Faith In The Word Of God

Fed Upon The Finest Of The Wheat

God's Word Is Like A Flaming Sword

His Words Are True

Holy Bible, Book Divine

How Firm A Foundation

Lamp Of Our Feet

Lord, Speak To Me

O Word Of God Incarnate

O How I Love Thy Holy Word

Standing On The Promises

Thy Word

Thy Word Sheds Light Upon My Path

Wonderful Words Of Life



Contemporary Choruses

I Will Call Upon The Lord, Michael O'Shields

More Precious Than Silver, Lynn DeShazo

Potter's Hand, The, Darlene Zschech


Other Music

Take You at Your Word, Avalon
In this song we are challenged to take God at his word.

Thy Word, Amy Grant
You might have someone sing this whole song based on Psalm 119.

UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Transfiguration
29 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
40 – Children's Sermons / Resources
25 – Worship Resources
27 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Ash Wednesday
16 – Sermons
60+ – Illustrations / Stories
20 – Children's Sermons / Resources
13 – Worship Resources
15 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Lent 1
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
George Reed
Christopher Keating
For February 15, 2026:

CSSPlus

Bethany Peerbolte
The disciples see Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah, and then Jesus tells them to tell no one. I don’t think I would have been up for the task of keeping that secret. I know this because the first time I played The Green Wall a friend told me the secret and I had the hardest time not telling everyone else the answer.
Good morning, boys and girls. Kermit the Frog came along with me this morning. How many of you watch Kermit on public television? (Let them answer.) I've watched a bit of Kermit myself. One of the things he does that I like the best is when he pre tends that he is a television newscaster. When he does this he always reports events as an eyewitness. How many of you like his eyewitness TV reports? (Wait for a show of hands.) Can anyone tell me what it means to be an eyewitness? (Let someone answer.) It means that someone actually saw an event take place. That
SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME

Materials:
Blue construction paper
White cotton balls
Glue
Alphabet pasta

Directions:

1. Give each of the children a piece of blue construction paper.

2. Tell the children to use the cotton balls to make clouds and glue them onto the paper.

3. Have the children use the pasta letters to spell, "Listen to him," by gluing the letters on the blue construction paper under the cotton ball clouds.
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. (v. 2)

Good morning, boys and girls. Today is the Transfiguration of our Lord and it is one of the special days of the church year. Today we talk about Jesus changing in several ways while three of his disciples -- Peter, James, and John -- watched. How did he change? The Bible says that the face of Jesus became as bright as the sun and his clothes became gleaming white. There were other things that happened that the disciples remembered and

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Transfiguration is a celebration of God’s glory and how that glory is revealed in Christ when he was transfigured. The festival was observed as early as the sixth century in Eastern Christianity, but did not become a festival in the Catholic Church and its Protestant heirs until just 70 years prior to the Reformation. Sermons in line with this festival will aim to focus the flock on coming to appreciate a bigger, more majestic picture of God and Christ than what they brought to church. Assurance will be provided that this majestic God overcomes all evil.
William H. Shepherd
It was the most boring sermon I ever heard, until it became the most interesting.

At first, I did not understand what had come over my student. Up to this point in the class, I thought she had been getting it. She laughed when I quoted Kierkegaard, "Boredom is the root of all evils." She nodded her head when I said that the dullest presentation would not be redeemed by the soundest content. Her critiques of the other students' sermons were right on target.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
When Jesus was transfigured up on the mountain, God said, "This is my son whom I love, listen to him." In our worship today, let us listen to Jesus.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes I find it difficult to hear your voice.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I hear so many voices that I don't know which voice is yours.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I turn away from your voice because I don't want to hear it.
Lord, have mercy.

Reading:

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt And Jo Perry-sumwalt
Contents
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "Seeing Clearly"
Shining Moments: "Charlie Is Glowing" by Deb Alexander
"The Horse Whisperer" by William Lee Rand
Scrap Pile: "Picture This" by John Sumwalt


What's Up This Week
by John Sumwalt

Argile Smith
Keith Hewitt
Peter Andrew Smith
David O. Bales
Contents
What's Up This Week
"Glenda's Surprise" by Argile Smith
"It Was Just My Imagination" by Keith Hewitt
"The Terrible Dark Day" by Peter Andrew Smith
"In Secret" by David Bales


What's Up This Week

SermonStudio

Mark Wm. Radecke
You go into the movie theatre, find a seat that's suitable, clamber over some poor innocent slumbering in the aisle seat, taking pains not to step on toes or lose your balance. You find a place for your coat, sit down, and get ready to watch the movie. The house lights dim; the speakers crackle as the dust and scratches on the soundtrack are translated into static, and an image appears on the screen. It is not the film you came to see. It is the preview of coming attractions, a brief glimpse of the highlights of a film opening soon.
John N. Brittain
Leslie D. Weatherhead, the great British preacher who served many years at City Temple on Holborn Viaduct in London, told the story of the elderly gentlemen who sat on the benches near the church trading stories. As one might expect, in addition to the good old days, a popular topic of conversation was their aches, pains, and ailments. "I have heard that such-and-such a clinic has a very effective regimen of treatment for this," one fellow would say. "Well, I understand that Dr. So-and-So is very efficacious in dealing with this particular ailment," another would counter.
Stephen M. Crotts
Grandma was well into her eighties when she saw her first basketball game. It was a high school contest in which two of her great-grandsons played. She watched the action with great interest. Afterwards everyone piled into the van to get some ice cream, and a grandson inquired, "Grandmama, what did you think of the game?" "I sure liked it fine," she chirped. And then a little hesitantly she added, "But I think the kids would have had more fun if somebody had made the fellow with the whistle leave the players alone!"
R. Glen Miles
Whenever I read from the book of Exodus, especially a text which includes a visit by Moses to the mountaintop to be in the presence of God, I get an image in my mind of Charlton Heston in the movie version of The Ten Commandments. I'll bet you have that problem too, don't you? It doesn't matter if you were born a decade or two since that movie was first released. It gets a lot of play on television, especially during "holy seasons" of the year like Easter.
Joe E. Pennel, Jr
Remember that fog we had last November? I had to venture into it early that Sunday morning. I left home about 6:00 a.m., long before most people even thought about getting up. The fog was dense. My automobile headlights would not cut it. Visibility was reduced to about ten feet. I turned on my dimmer lights and hoped that on-coming traffic would do the same. As I drove, I felt like my car was pushing through a tunnel of smoke.
John T. Ball
There is an old story about a Sunday school teacher who asked a young girl in her class why her little brother wasn't coming to Sunday school any longer. The girl replied, "Well, to tell the truth, he just can't stand Jesus!" Her brother had more of Jesus than he wanted.
Thom M. Shuman
Call To Worship
One: We gather as the faithful of God,
we come to listen to what God has to say to us.
All: God has invited us to this place;
may our faces reflect our hopes and our hearts.
One: We gather as the faithful of God,
people of the new covenant of hope and promise.
All: We boldly enter into the presence of God,
hoping to be transformed into new people.
One: We gather as the faithful of God,
our fears melting away in the heart of God.
All: We come to share in the freedom of the Spirit,
Amy C. Schifrin
Martha Shonkwiler
Gathering Litany
Divide the congregation into two parts (left and right would be easiest here) with the choir or assisting minister as a third voice besides the pastor (marked "L" in this litany).

L: Looking for the Light.
I: Looking for the Light.
II: Looking for the Light.
P: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
L: Looking for the Light.
I: Looking for the Light.
II: Looking for the Light.
P: Do not be afraid.

Intercessory Prayers

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL