Lessons for January 15, 2006 – Second Sunday after the Epiphany The first lesson 1 Samuel 3:1-20 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel was serving the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. 2One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had just gone to bed. 3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4Suddenly, the Lord called out, "Samuel! Samuel!" "Yes?" Samuel replied. "What is it?" 5He jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am. What do you need?" "I didn't call you," Eli replied. "Go on back to bed." So he did. 6Then the Lord called out again, "Samuel!" Again Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" "I didn't call you, my son," Eli said. "Go on back to bed." 7Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8So now the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, 'Yes, Lord, your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went back to bed. 10And the Lord came and called as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, "Yes, your servant is listening." 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family. 13I have warned him continually that judgment is coming for his family, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn't disciplined them. 14So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings." 15Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16But Eli called out to him, "Samuel, my son." "Here I am," Samuel replied. 17"What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God punish you if you hide anything from me!" 18So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. "It is the Lord's will," Eli replied. "Let him do what he thinks best." 19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. 20All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. (NLT) Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17 . L. O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. C. You know when I sit down or stand up. L. You know my every thought when far away. C. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. L. Every moment you know where I am. C. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. L. You both precede and follow me. C. You place your hand of blessing on my head. L. Even in darkness I cannot hide from you. C. To you the night shines as bright as day. L. Darkness and light are both alike to you. C. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. L. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! C. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. L. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. C. You saw me before I was born. L. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. C. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. L. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! C. They are innumerable! (NLT) The second lesson 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 You may say, "I am allowed to do anything." But I reply, "Not everything is good for you." And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. 13You say, "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them. But our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 14And God will raise our bodies from the dead by his marvelous power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. 15Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which belongs to Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16And don't you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one." 17But the person who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (NLT) The Gospel Lesson John 1:43-51 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come, be my disciple." 44Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter's hometown. 45Philip went off to look for Nathanael and told him, "We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46"Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. "Can anything good come from there?" "Just come and see for yourself," Philip said. 47As they approached, Jesus said, "Here comes an honest man—a true son of Israel." 48"How do you know about me?" Nathanael asked. And Jesus replied, "I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you." 49Nathanael replied, "Teacher, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!" 50Jesus asked him, "Do you believe all this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 51Then he said, "The truth is, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man." (NLT)