Theme of the Day: You Are…So Be!
Imagine a beautiful guitar, carefully crafted out of the finest mahogany and steel strings. Now imagine that fine instrument is never played. It is placed atop a bookshelf and never touched. It just collects dust. Tragic, right? What a thing is finds fulfillment when that thing does what it was made to do. Of what use is a guitar that makes no music? What would be the point of turning on a lamp and then throwing a heavy blanket over it. It might still be a lamp, but it provides no light. Form and function are intimately connected.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the same is true of discipleship. He wants us to see that being a disciple and acting as a disciple are intimately connected. When God called us to faith, he declared that we were something new: light, salt, his children. Jesus now encourages us to be what God says we are, so that God might bless the world through us. As Jesus speaks to us, he means to mold our will to his own.
Matthew 5:13-20
Exodus 19:1-8
1 Peter 2:9-12
Psalm 112
854 – Church of God, Elect and Glorious
630 – Thy Strong Word
370 – How Lovely Shines the Morning Star
736 – Lord, You Call Us as Your People
Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, you sent your one and only Son as the Word of life for our eyes to see and our ears to hear. Help us believe what the Scriptures proclaim about him and do the things that are pleasing in your sight; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Alleluia.