Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany	February 16, 2025
Prayer of the Day
O Lord, graciously hear the requests of your people. May we who are afflicted for our sins be mercifully relieved, for the sake of your glory, to find new life through the love of Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
5Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Psalm 1 (LBW)
1Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel | of the wicked,* 
	nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats | of the scornful!
2Their delight is in the law | of the Lord,*
	and they meditate on his law | day and night.
3They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, 
	with leaves that | do not wither;*
	everything they | do shall prosper.
4It is not so | with the wicked;*
	they are like chaff which the wind | blows away.
5Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when | judgment comes,*
	nor the sinner in the council | of the righteous.
6For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous,*
	but the way of the wick- | ed is doomed.
Psalm 1 (LBW)
1Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:[1-11] 12-20
[1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.] 12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Gospel: Luke 6:17-26
17{Jesus} came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
Lessons for Next Week
Genesis 45:3-15; Psalm 103:1-13; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42; Luke 6:27-38