week of January 12, 2025

This Week’s Lectionary Scripture

First Sunday After the Epiphany¹

The season after Epiphany includes the weeks between Epiphany and Transfiguration Sunday. This first Sunday after Epiphany is the Sunday when the Baptism of the Lord is observed.

Acts 8:14-17

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

• Remember that many of Jesus’s early followers would have felt tensions with the Samaritans; Jesus’s Parable of the Samaritan is told in response to the question “And who is my neighbor?” Who is your neighbor? What prayers and visits do they need?

• What can you remember about your baptism of the Holy Spirit (confirmation) that still speaks to you? When have you experienced the Holy Spirit at other times and in other ways that signal the Spirit is ever present?

• Just as we do today, Peter and John seem to make a distinction between baptism of water and baptism of the spirit. What do you see as the difference between these sacraments? How do they influence your life differently?

This Week’s Text from Sharing in Community of Christ

Five Mission Initiatives—They’re All Essential!²

Our call is to reclaim that same vision and passion for the whole mission of Jesus Christ today through five life-changing, church-changing, and world-changing Mission Initiatives:

Invite People to Christ—Christ’s mission of evangelism

We are poised to share the peace of Jesus Christ with those who are waiting to hear the redeeming words of the gospel.

Abolish Poverty, End Suffering—Christ’s mission of compassion

We are poised to be Christ’s hands and feet, reaching out through compassionate ministries that serve the poor and hungry and stop conditions that diminish the worth of persons.

Pursue Peace on Earth—Christ’s mission of justice and peace

We are poised to restore Christ’s covenant of peace, even the Zion of our hopes. The hope of Zion will become reality when we live Christ’s peace and generously share his peace with others.

Develop Disciples to Serve—Equip individuals for Christ’s mission

We are poised to equip men, women, and children to be true and living expressions of the life, ministry, and continuing presence of Christ in the world.

Experience Congregations in Mission—Equip congregations for Christ’s mission

We are poised to become congregations that are true and living expressions of Jesus Christ, woven together by the Holy Spirit, and sent into the world as evangelistic witnesses, compassionate ministers, and justice and peacemakers.

We will be a prophetic people characterized by uncommon devotion to the compassion and peace of God revealed in Jesus Christ!

• How will you respond to God’s call to put your life into the divine mission of invitation, compassionate ministry, and justice and peacemaking?