FLM TOBY FANANTENANA 67 Ha
Worship Communion 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Week of January 16 to January 21, 2017
“The Messiah comes to serve”
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Introduction: The Messiah is the messenger of God anointed to fulfill the ministry of redemption of men. The Psalmist’s word was fulfilled in him: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart’” Ps. 40: 6-8. Therefore, the Lord exalted him in these terms: “See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high” Is. 52:13.
Monday 16: The Messiah comes to serve.
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” Mt.20:28.
Reading 1: Is.53:4-10. Reading 2: Mt.20:21-28. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 2: Mt.20:28. Other references:
– “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work” Jn.4:34
– “Who … did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” Phil.2:6b-7.
Tuesday 17: The Messiah comes to bring God’s message.
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth” Dt.18:18a.
Reading 1: Mt.17:1-6. Reading 2: Dt.18:15-19. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 2: Dt.18:18. Other references:
– “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth’” Jer.1:9.
– “For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” Mt.10:20.
Wednesday 18: The Messiah comes to make peace.
” For he himself is our peace” Eph.2:14a.
Reading 1: Heb.9:15-22. Reading 2: Eph.2:10-16. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 22: Eph.2:14. Other references:
– “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” Lk.1:17.
– “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” 2 Cor.5:19-20.
Thursday 19: The Messiah comes to save the sinners.
« For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost » Lk.19:10.
Reading 1: Ezek.34:11-16. Reading 2: Lk.19:1-10. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 2: Lk.19:10. Other references:
– “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice” Hos.6 :6.
– ““It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’1 For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” Mt.9:12-13.
Friday 20: The Messiah comes to bring forgiveness of sin.
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Jn.1:29b.
Reading 1: Ro.8:28-34. Reading 2: Jn.1:24-31. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 2: Jn.1:29. Other references:
– “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” Is.55:7-8.
– “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” 1 Jn.2:1-2.
Saturday 21: The Messiah comes to give eternal life.
“but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst” Jn.4:14.
Reading 1: Is.55: 1-3. Reading 2: Jn.4: 4-26. Preaching 1 (choice). Preaching 2: Jn.4:13-14. Other references:
– “‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” Jn.7:37b-39a.
– “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” Rev.22 :1-2.
Note: This pericope is published in Malagasy, French, English and German, and can be consulted on the websites www.flm67ha.org and www.hifi-madanet.org and on our Facebook page “HiFi – english”.
© Madanet.