Sunday, February 9, 2025
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Year C
Luke 5:1-11 | "Into the deep"

Call to Worship 
L:  There is a good word for you if you are weary.
P:  It is the Word of Love, deeper than every despair.
L:  There is a good word if you have ever felt unworthy.
P:  It is the Word of Hope, “Do not be afraid!”
L:  There is a good word that needs to be heard.
P:  It is the Word of Life, that raises up abundant blessings.

Invocation
Loving God, gather us anew into your net of love.  Interrupt whatever overwhelms us with the gift of your renewing grace.  Plumb every depth and reveal Your holy abundance.  Let it awaken us to what you make possible when we risk answering your invitation to begin again.  Gift us with the courage to trust the command of Christ to put out into the deep, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.  Answer our trust with Your promised presence, which reveals an ever-new rising.  Bless us with this of You as we gather in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Holy One, it is easy to succumb to weariness when our work has seemed to yield little goodness.  Hope-crushing night can seem so long.  Yet You call us to keep putting out into the deep, facing the reality of our emptiness. Sometimes it is of our own making. At other times, pressures beyond have submerged us to the point of losing our breath.  So we release everything to you.  We pray that Your promised forgiveness will continue to be trustworthy and true. Let it raise us up for some work of abundance made possible by your grace.  We pray this in the name of the one You raised to life, Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

Words of Grace 
Friends, hear the words of Jesus, “Do not be afraid!”  There is nothing in our past that matters more than what God can do, beginning now.  We are forgiven by the one who has endured the depths of death and has risen to ever-new life.  Not only are we forgiven, but we are also sent to fish for others, whom God also yearns to gather with the net of holy love.  This is the Good News!  You can trust it with your life.  Thanks be to God!

Invitation to Generosity
Just when he was at his wit's end, Peter received the command of Christ, to let down his nets into the deep and trust what God can and will do.  The result was a net-bursting catch.  Jesus revealed the secret of a generous life.  It requires trust that God can and will multiply our best efforts for a good deeper and wider than we can imagine.  As we bring our gifts to God, may the same spirit that enlivened Jesus and surprised Peter be at work in us.  And may it grow in us a deep joy!

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication 
God of the bursting nets, we thank you for your abundant blessings rising up at every turn.  Multiply these gifts and our faith that your good news of life-giving love may stretch wider still.  Yes, form us deep in Your heart for this good and gracious work.  Amen.

Benediction
May the blessing of the Holy One who has plumbed every depth, continually raise you up.
May God’s ridiculous abundance stretch wide your heart.
And may God gift you with a boldness to bless others, awakening them to their beloved identity.
Amen and Amen!

Prompts for a Pastoral Prayer 
Loving God, empty us in order to fill us.
  Empty our opinions
  And fill us with your wisdom…
  Empty our worry
  And fill us with new faith…
  Empty our despair
  And fill us with your hope…
  Empty our fear
  And fill us with our love…
Yes, O Love of Life,
   Empty us, in order to fill us anew.

Hymn Suggestions
You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore NCH #173

Into the deep: Service Prayers for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Year C was written by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins, Conference Minister of the Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ.