WELCOME to Westminster Church Online!

We are glad that you are here this morning. We hope this time of worship nurtures
your faith enlivens your spirit and engages your mind as we celebrate God’s
love and healing for the world with the resurrection of Christ, our Risen Lord.

Before you begin, remember to download and print the 01.22.23 – Bulletin
Then grab your Bible, a cup of tea or coffee, and prepare your heart for worship.

If this is your first Sunday with us, welcome! We’re glad you choose to worship with us.
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READ THE SERMON

January 23, 2023 – 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

“FOLLOW THAT LIGHT”

The psalmist announces the theme of today’s readings: ¹The Lord is my light and my salvation. In keeping with the Epiphany imagery of following the light, as the magi followed the star to Bethlehem, we hear the words of Isaiah read on Christmas Eve: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” For the Israelites looking to return from exile, the light that shined on their paths broke the yoke of their burden and the bar of their oppressors. The Psalmist joins the chorus of those seeking God and God’s ways when he writes of his heart declaring, “Come seek the Lord’s face!” In our epistle reading, Paul warns that divisions within the congregation prevents them from seeing their true purpose of revealing the gospel to others and seeking to follow Christ’s ways. In the gospel reading, Jesus quotes a verse from the Isaiah passage, thereby proclaiming that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the light shining on those who sat in darkness. Then Matthew tells the story of Jesus calling his first disciples to leave their former ways of living to follow after him as he proclaims the good news of the kingdom.

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“As a newcomer to Westminster,  I’ve found it to be a most welcoming fellowship.  I look forward to going to services and events and find the warmth of the congregation to be most helpful to a newcomer to the entire area.  I find sermons challenging … music beautiful and well prepared … and a dignity in the worship that is all too lacking in most Protestant congregations.  Mix this with an open atmosphere where it is OK to question and still be seen as a good Christian, and I know I’ve found one important ‘home’ in Central Illinois.”