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Seventh Sunday after Epiphany • Year C
February 23, 2025
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Historical Collect
O God, you know our fears and lack of confidence. Forgive our willful ways, and defend our faith through the teaching of your Christ, through whom you gather saints to give you glory without end. Grant this, we pray, through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Thematic Collect
God of love, you sent your Son, Jesus, to show us how to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Fill us with your love, and give us the strength we need to meet all people with lovingkindness, especially those who seek to harm us because we follow Jesus. Let your holy light shine through us, that we may show the world your never-ending joy and mercy. We pray this through the precious name of your Son, our Lord. Amen.
The Common Thread
Joseph, through no intention of his own, gave his life for the sin of his brothers, that God might preserve a remnant of Israel to bless the nations. Jesus, with full intent, gave his life for the sins of the world, to establish a remnant of believers from all the nations. Now, we are called by Christ to give our lives in service and prayer. This is the duty of the Church; it is to their shame when believers do otherwise, as they act contrary to their Lord.
First Reading • Genesis 45:3–15
The Son lives! I am your brother, Jesus. Do not be distressed that you sold me into death, for God sent me to preserve life.
Psalm • Psalm 103:1–13
The Lord redeems our life from the grave. He has both saved us from death, as well as doing so in and by death. We will be lifted up on that Day, as though we had the wings of eagles. We will be caught up in the air (1 Thes 4:17) with the whole remnant that Christ has preserved. This is the Lord’s doing, his righteousness working out God’s peculiar justice through his grace.
Second Reading • 1 Corinthians 15:21–26, 30–42
Thank God for second births. Because of Adam, our first birth lineage, we will all die. Because of Christ Jesus, our new pedigree, all who believe, who are reborn in him, shall live and not die (John 11:25). They shall not perish (John 3:16) but have eternal life. No one can defeat the second birth in Christ (John 10:28). Being awakened from the stupor of sin, we should now live in the company of the saints, as we are already being fitted for eternal life with them and the Lord in the heavens (1 Thes 4:17).
Gospel • Luke 6:27–38
Jesus, in his redemptive work, went further than the law’s demands, laying down his life for sins of the world (John 1:29; 10:11, 18; 1 John 2:2). Now, he commands us to do more than the expected. We are to love—not just those we call neighbors, but our enemies too. We are to give our lives for them in prayer and service, expecting nothing in repayment or reward, other than to be known as those of the family of God. For this is what a son of the kingdom does.
Resources
Links to Worship Resources for this Service
