week of January 19, 2025

This Week’s Lectionary Scripture

Second Sunday After the Epiphany and Racial Justice Day1

The season after Epiphany includes the weeks between Epiphany and Transfiguration Sunday.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were gentiles you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore 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.

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

  • How would you feel if your gifts, ministry, ideas, or practices were discounted by some in your own community?
  • When have you discounted or disrespected someone else’s gifts, ideas, ministry, or practices?
  • Describe the differences between tolerating differences, accepting differences, and embracing differences. Where do you fall when encountering different worship, music, prayer, or spiritual-formation experiences?
  • How has your spiritual experience deepened by participating in worship, fellowship, or service projects with those from a culture unlike your own?

This Week’s Text from Sharing in Community of Christ

We Share Enduring Principles2

The Foundation: God, Christ, Holy Spirit

God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and continuing presence through the Holy Spirit, as proclaimed by scripture, is the foundation of our faith, identity, mission, message, and beliefs.

In faithful response to our heritage and continuing experience with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we endeavor to uphold the following Enduring Principles (values, concepts, themes) as essential components of church identity and mission.

Enduring Principles define the essence, heart, or soul of church identity, mission, and message. They describe the personality of the church as expressed through its participants, congregations, and affiliate organizations throughout the world.

Some call Enduring Principles core values. Others call them foundational concepts. Use whatever terms make the most sense in the setting where you are writing, sharing, teaching, or preaching. For general official purposes, the World Church uses the term Enduring Principles.

  1. The scripture text is taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyrighted in 2021 by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States, and made available through these Licensing and Permission Guidelines. Other text is adapted from this week’s Sacred Space resource for small-group ministry, provided by Herald Publishing House. ↩︎

  2. This text is adapted from pp. 27-28 of the fourth edition of Sharing in Community of Christ: Exploring Identity, Mission, Message, and Beliefs, which was copyrighted in 2018 by Herald Publishing House. ↩︎