Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]

Psalm 138

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

The Collect

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Old Testament

Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” [And he said, “Go and say to this people:

`Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

keep looking, but do not understand.’

Make the mind of this people dull,

and stop their ears,

and shut their eyes,

so that they may not look with their eyes,

and listen with their ears,

and comprehend with their minds,

and turn and be healed.”

Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is utterly desolate;

until the LORD sends everyone far away,

and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.

Even if a tenth part remain in it,

it will be burned again,

like a terebinth or an oak

whose stump remains standing

when it is felled.”

The holy seed is its stump.]

The Psalm

Psalm 138 Page 793, BCP

Confitebor tibi

 

 

1

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; *
before the gods I will sing your praise.

 

 

2

I will bow down toward your holy temple
and praise your Name, *
because of your love and faithfulness;

 

 

3

For you have glorified your Name *
and your word above all things.

 

 

4

When I called, you answered me; *
you increased my strength within me.

 

 

5

All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, *
when they have heard the words of your mouth.

 

 

6

They will sing of the ways of the LORD, *
that great is the glory of the LORD.

 

 

7

Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; *
he perceives the haughty from afar.

 

 

8

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; *
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your right hand shall save me.

 

 

9

The LORD will make good his purpose for me; *
O LORD, your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.

 

 

The Epistle

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you–unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he
appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been 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. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

The Gospel

Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down
your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were
with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Today’s services at St Nicholas with the Holy Innocents were different and yet the same; the music chosen for each service expressed the longing to come together to do God’s work in the world. People of many faiths can come together to work for peace and justice, and to heal one another even if there is struggle, strife, or sacrifice.

Above: “10 Modern Martyrs” from the West Door of Westminster Abbey. Dr Martin Luther King is near the center, and also with him are Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. All were killed before their time, cutting short the work they had done for equality, peace, justice, and freedom of thought and belief. There are several African and Asian martyrs who died for their faith as well.

In the early service, we ended with “In Christ there is no East or West.” The metaphors attached to both “east/west” and “north/south” pairs are still relevant today, and in the opening song in the late service, we carried on with the theme of the four cardinal directions, and the wholeness and sacredness of the Earth based on North American Indian belief.

Song From The Center

From the corners of creation to the center where we stand,

Let all things be blessed and holy, all is fashioned by your hand;

Brother wind and sister water, mother earth and father sky,

Sacred plants and sacred creatures, sacred people of the land.

Another song we sang at the second service, “We Are Many Parts,” enlarged on this theme, and included some spirited tambourine accompaniment. The chorus went:

We are many parts, we are all one body;

and the gifts we have we are given to share.

May the Spirit of love make us one indeed;

one, the love that we share, one, our hope in despair

one, the cross that we bear

“Service to the poor and lowly is not optional…it is a requirement for the follower of Christ.”
— Gerard Thomas Straub

Bishops’ committee focuses on structure

When the Bishop’s Committee met this past Sunday, much of the talk was about the need to standardize some of our practices and focus on developing structures that will serve us better and facilitate our growth.

Much of this began with the observation that our collection of the offering is often haphazard, and sometimes people who wish to put money in the basket, do not ever have the basket come their way. Starting today, expect this to be more formal.

That discussion then served as a springboard to additional discussions about how we welcome and incorporate people, how we prepare coffee hour, and more.

There also was some vigorous discussion about whether we are well served by having two liturgies or whether it would be better to have one. This led to a recognition that there is a yearning in the congregation to be one congregation. We talked about how we could accomplish this in a variety of ways, noting that during the summer we will have a single liturgy, but that the wonderful start with adult education offered another, and some social events will offer still another.

We agreed, though perhaps not unanimously, that staying with two liturgies during much of the year was an important tool for growth.

Choir note

Mary reminds choir members – and any who would like to join the choir – that the first rehearsal will be on February 11 at 8:15 a.m. sharp. During the week, rehearsals will be on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m., beginning on the 14th, with a time adjustment during the season of Lent.

Rides to church needed

Help needed to transport a family of 4 from Hoffman Estates to St. Nicholas with the Holy Innocents. The Bollyn family – two adults, two children — does not have a car and will need a ride to get to the new building. They live just a couple of blocks from the Holy Innocents building. Let me know by email ASAP if you can help — onebreadonebody@sbcglobal.net.

Additionally, two women who live near Alexian Brothers Hospital need rides to church on Sunday. Pam lives at Alexian Village Assisted Living, and Dorcas lives in a condo down the street. Frank and Suzie Pleticha have generously offered to give them a ride, but would like to alternate with some others so that they can attend adult ed on Sundays. If you can help out, please let Mary Anne O’Rourke or Frank and Suzie know.

Visit to Buddhist Temple on February 3rd

A discussion during a recent Team Awesome teen education class revealed a desire by many to learn more about Buddhism and, in particular, to visit a Buddhist temple. On Saturday, February 3rd at 11 a.m., St. Nicholas with the Holy Innocents will be visiting the Shinnyo-en Japanese Buddhist Temple in Elk Grove Village for a service to celebrate the coming of spring. We will be throwing beans around the temple, but you’ll have to come to find out why! The service at will be followed by a tour of the temple, during
which visitors are invited to ask questions. The temple is located at 120 E. Devon Avenue in Elk Grove. As everyone is coming from different directions, we will just meet at the temple. For more information on Shinnyo-en Buddhism, and the religion in general, you are encouraged to visit http://www.shinnyo-en.org.

Anyone wishing to attend should contact Ethan Jewett at jewett_ethan@yahoo.com, so that he can give the temple a final count of participants. Adults and children, as well as teens, are more than welcome to attend.

Annual meeting to be in April

Rather than try to hold an annual meeting of our newly combined congregation at the typical time in late January or early February, we will hold this year’s annual meeting after Easter.

Bring one or more food items each Sunday

Our food pantry will benefit greatly if we all remember to do this each Sunday. Place it on or beneath the table just inside the worship space.

Regular schedule now underway

• Worship at 9 – the more formal liturgy
• 10 Education hour for children, youth, and adults
• Worship at 11 – the more informal liturgy

Given the tightness of this schedule, we are going to try very hard to start everything on time. You can help make this possible by arriving a few minutes early. Thanks.

Make yourself a name tag whenever you worship

It will help us get to know one another faster, and it’s a great way to make guests feel welcome.

Adult education at 10

This week, as part of our series on Growing Our New Church, we’ll be looking at formation. Children and youth who would like to share ideas are welcome to attend this session in lieu of their regular church school programs.

One bread, one body

Thanks to Denise and Anna for doing some great organizing in the sacristy, to David T. for his devotion to getting the building into shape, and to all of you who do so much to make this congregation work.

— Steve