FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2026​

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INTRODUCTION​

Who are the blessed ones of God? For Micah, they are those who do justice, love
     kindness, and walk humbly with God. For Paul, they are the ones who find
     wisdom in the weakness of the cross. For Jesus, they are the poor, the meek, the
     merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who mourn, and those who
     hunger for righteousness. In baptism we find our blessed identity and calling in
     this countercultural way of living and serving.

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PRAYER OF THE DAY

Holy God, you confound the world’s wisdom in giving your kingdom to the lowly
     and the pure in heart. Give us such a hunger and thirst for justice, and
     perseverance in striving for peace, that in our words and deeds the world may
     see the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.​

FIRST READING

MICAH 6:1-8
With the mountains and the foundations of the earth as the jury, God brings a
     lawsuit against Israel. God has “wearied” Israel with a long history of saving acts.
     God does not want or expect lavish sacrifices to attempt to earn divine favor.
     Rather God empowers the people to do justice, to love loyalty to God, and to
     walk shrewdly in God’s service.

1 Hear what the Lord says:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has a case against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.

3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow myself before God on high?
  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
  with calves a year old?
  7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
  with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
  the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
  8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
  and what does the Lord require of you
  but to do justice and to love kindness
  and to walk humbly with your God?​

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PSALM

PSALM 15
(Response) Lord, who may abide upon your holy hill? (Ps. 15:1)

1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?
Who may abide upon your holy hill?
2 Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right,
who speak the truth from their heart;
(Response) Lord, who may abide upon your holy hill? (Ps. 15:1)

3 they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil to their friends;
they do not cast discredit upon a neighbor.
4 In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who fear the Lord.
They have sworn upon their health and do not take back their word.
5 They do not give their money in hope of gain,
        nor do they take bribes against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be overthrown.
(Response) Lord, who may abide upon your holy hill? (Ps. 15:1)

SECOND READING

1ST CORINTHIANS 1:18-31
According to the world’s standards of power and might, the message of the cross
     seems stupid and offensive. Yet this word reveals the paradoxical way God has
     chosen to work power and salvation through weakness, rejection, and suffering.
     Hence the message of the cross becomes true wisdom and power for believers.

18 The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
     us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
     “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
     and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
     20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of
     this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the
     wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided,
     through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For
     Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ
     crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, 24 but to those
     who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
     wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and
     God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

     26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by
     human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But
     God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is
     weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in
     the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, 29 so that no one might
     boast in the presence of God. 30 In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus,
     who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and
     redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

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​​​​GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Alleluia. (Matt. 5:12)

GOSPEL READING

MATTHEW 5:1-12
Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount by naming those who are blessed in the reign of God.

V. 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down,
     his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
      3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
      4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
      5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
      6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
             for they will be filled.
      7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
      8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
      9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
    10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
             for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all
             kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for
             your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
             prophets who were before you.”

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Worship Service Content is used via permission through Augsburg Fortress Liturgies

Annual License #SB144368. The next Subscription Renewal Date is 2/28/2026.
Our Hymns and Worship Music are used via permission through CCLI One
License #11327166. The next Subscription Renewal Date is 1/31/2027.

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​SERMONS​
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