Concerning Your Calling

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

I Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1: 29-42

"Concern your calling"

1:1* ¶ Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

2* To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3* Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4* I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

5* that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge--

6* even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you--

7* so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;

8* who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9* God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

29* The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’

31* I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32* And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him.

33* I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

35* The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples;

36* and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

37* The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38* Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

39* He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41* He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

42* He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

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"When I have a poor case," said an attorney,"I prepare an eloquent speech, when I have a good case, I simply call the witnesses."

The gospel of Jesus Christ simply needs to call its witnesses.

Our gospel lesson and our second lesson about people being called by Christ. Peter, James and John were called to be disciples in our gospel lesson. In the lesson from 1 Corinthians, Peter speaks about his calling.

Peter was called to ’be an apostle, called to change his life, called to serve the Lord Jesus w as a witness to God"s grace in his life. Paul’s watchword became, ’Not I, but Christ. His only concern was to be sensitive to the voice of God who had called him.

As members of the body of Christ, we have been called by God to be his people, called to be saints, called to be his church, called to be the ones who bring God’s grace into this world. We think of God coming to us in his means of Grace, his word and the sacraments of baptism and holy communion. But the other means which we often ignore is ourselves. We are called by God to be his means of grace in this world. We are called by God to be sacramental, to be a means by which his love, his forgiveness is brought into this world. Have you ever thought of yourself as a sacrament of God?? You are, you are a holy temple, a means by which God comes to those who are hurting, a means by which God comes to those who need to be forgiven, a means by which those who need love are loved. God works through people, we see that every Sunday morning as he works through the brokenness of this person to bring his grace to you. God uses me to bring his forgiveness to you at the beginning of the service when I.declare that your sins are forgiven, it is my words, my body, my arm in the air, but it is God’s action working through these things that makes you not guilty, that forgives you of your sins.