EPIPHANY
Prepare Him Room - Epiphany 2025
In the season of Epiphany, we focus on the revelation of Jesus and our desire to be formed in his image. for the good of others. Our desire in adopting the theme of Prepare Him Room during this liturgical year is that we would all make room in our lives and our hearts for Jesus to do his transforming work in us.
Throughout the liturgical year, we have the opportunity to see this formation take place. As we live out the story of Jesus, we invite you to participate in a personal discipline for each season change. We are constantly being [de]formed by the world around us. Step into these intentional rhythms that are designed to form us into the image of Jesus instead.
For Epiphany, our personal discipline will be Prayer.
“Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to.”
- Tim Keller​
Prayer
PERSONAL DISCIPLINE
Prayer is a massive topic. Volumes and volumes have been written on what prayer is, why we should pray, and how we should do it. Dealing with all of that is well beyond the scope of what we are trying to accomplish here. One thing is clear, and should come as no surprise if you are a Christian - we ought to pray. Most of us don’t struggle with whether or not we should pray, the problem is making the time to do it and understanding how to do it. In this season of Epiphany, as we focus on the revelation of Jesus and our desire to be formed in his image, we invite you to take a step toward becoming a person of prayer.
We designed the Prayer & Practice Book to help you create a daily prayer habit. The Daily Prayer pages contain daily liturgies meant to help shape our prayers. Each day of the week is divided into three sections: Morning, Afternoon, and Evening Prayer. In different seasons, you may find you are only able to set aside one or two of these times to pray. That's ok. Each day follows a similar rhythm with space for selected readings, Psalms, and Proverbs. You can find these readings in the daily planner section corresponding to the calendar day. The selected readings follow the preaching calendar of the church.
Make it a goal to spend time every day during Epiphany in prayer. If you miss a day or two here and there, it’s OK! Simply recommit and work toward greater and greater consistency.
Kids & Family Resource
Janet Surette
This book is a great way to celebrate Epiphany by joining the wiseman on their quest for the greatest treasure – Jesus!
The rhyming text is fun for even the youngest children and adults will appreciate the historical accuracy.
Year-Round Resource
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Prayer & Practice Book - A City Church book of common prayer.
With short daily liturgies, planner pages, and collections of breath prayers, blessings, and more, this is intended to be a daily resource to help us integrate the many pieces of our lives.
Download PDF here or email us for a printed copy.
LITURGICAL YEAR
The liturgical calendar follows the life of Christ and, in its cyclical rhythm, invites us to enter the movement of his life on a yearly basis. As we observe each season, we can observe Christ. We pray that as you allow the seasons of the church year and anchor your life to the life of Christ, you’ll discover that a fuller joy and vitality marks your days.
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Lesslie Newbigin writes, “the business of the Church is to tell and to embody a story, the story of God’s mighty acts in creation and redemption and of God’s promises concerning what will be in the end. The Church affirms the truth of this story by celebrating it, interpreting it, and enacting it in the life of the contemporary world.”
Each Sunday we see the arc of God’s story rehearsed and embodied (God is Holy, We are Broken, Jesus Saves Us, Jesus Sends Us)... but how do we “enact it in the contemporary world” of our homes, where we can create culture and habits that form us.
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The church calendar, much like Sunday Service, moves us through a story. Specifically the story of Jesus with his incarnation in Advent all the way through the sending of the church in Pentecost.
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ADVENT - the future hope of Christ
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CHRISTMAS - the joyful birth of Christ
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EPIPHANY - the perfect manifestation of Christ
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LENT - the temptation and death of Christ
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EASTER - the world-changing resurrection of Christ
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PENTECOST - the renewing Spirit of Christ