Summer 2018

Passage: Luke 18:1-17    

  Description: A widow, a tax collector, children, and a rich young ruler. These are the characters of four of Jesus’ parables that the gospel writer, Luke, places together to share what he believes about Jesus. Like any great storyteller, which he was, Jesus would have told these stories on many occasions to many different audiences. But you don’t write a book or a gospel by repeating the same stories over and over, so Luke chooses this point in the gospel to share these stories and he groups them together, along with a story about a rich young ruler. Luke ends this group of stories with the disciples asking a question: “Then who can be part of your kingdom?” Let’s back up to the previous chapter (remember the chapters and verse were added later and are not in the oldest manuscripts – they are one person’s idea of what stories go together, so it is good to look beyond the chapter we are reading to get a broader view of the story.) In the verses leading up to these stories, we hear this introduction: (Luke 17:20-21) Once Jesus was asked by the pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” And then, after a bit longer explanation of this introduction, we are presented with the stories: a widow, a tax collector, a group of children, and a rich young ruler. What an interesting collection of people. The widow, the tax collector and the children are ones who were on the sidelines of society at the time. They wouldn’t count for much or have any status or power. In fact, the tax collector would be considered a traitor of his faith and his people. Yet, each of these – the widow, the tax collector and the children – are honoured and valued in these stories. They are held up as models for what it means to be part of the kingdom of God.

Passage: Isaiah 25:1-8    

  Description: We need a vision for our individual lives, for our life as a faith community, for the community in which we live, for our country and our world. Without vision, we are lost and scattered, we get pulled in too many directions. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard business professor says, “A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.” That’s what vision does for our lives – calls us to become something more, calls out our gifts and our skills, challenges us to learn new skills and try out new possibilities. Vision is the inspiration to create in own lives, our communities and our world a place of hope, justice, peace and compassion for all people. In today’s scripture, we read of a vision – a dream, a hope, a picture of the best of what can be.

Passage: Hebrews 10:22-39    

  Description: The spiritual journey is not a solitary journey. We can't do faith alone. We need to be supported and challenged within a community that accepts us unconditionally. We need to gather regularly to encourage one another in faith.

Passage: Job 2:11-13 & Job 11:1-6    

  Description: Bob Gibennus continues to speak about suffering. The scriptures he refers to are: Job 2:11-13 Job 3:1-7 Job 4:1-2, 7-9 Job 8:1-7 Job 11:1-6

Passage: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15    

  Description: Celia Penman was guest preacher today!