Consider the Word, September 20, 2021 - Cancelled 
19^th Sunday after Pentecost – Season of Creation
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for October 3:

• Job 1:1, 2:1-10
• Psalm 26
• Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
• Mark 10:2-16 (However we’re using Matthew 6:25-33 to fit the theme of the Blessing of the Animals)
  

 
Collect

Almighty God,

you have built your Church

on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

Join us together in unity of spirit by their teaching,

that we may become a holy temple, acceptable to you;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Readings: Matthew 6:25-33

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 
Reflection Questions

1. What is the connection between trusting in God or in worldly possessions, and being anxious?

 
Closing Prayer

Gracious and heavenly God, to you be all praise, and glory, and honour! We praise you and give thanks for blessing us with all sorts of creatures; for all the animals, birds and fish, which fill your world. We thank you for the wild and the tame, for the domestic and free and may they all enjoy healthy and appropriate habitats and be allowed to flourish. Let us protect wild places. May all you creatures, all that you’ve created, be treated with respect and honour. O God, your world is wonderful, and particularly this day we thank you for our pets and the companionship they bring us. This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

 
The Message:

^25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

Consider the Word, September 23, 2021

Consider the Word, September 23, 2021
18^th Sunday after Pentecost – Season of Creation
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for September 25:

• Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22
• Psalm 124
• James 5:13-20
• Mark 9:38-50

 
Collect

Grant, O merciful God,

that your Church,

being gathered by your Holy Spirit into one,

may show forth your power among all peoples,

to the glory of your name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen

 
Readings: Mark 9:38-50

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Why does Jesus speak so grotesquely (as drownings, amputations, plucking eyes, thrown into the fire)?
2. Are these metaphorical sayings?
3. What does it mean to have salt in yourself?

 
Closing Prayer

Raise us up, O Lord,

for it is you alone who restores life and health

to the suffering

and to those who wander from the truth.

By your grace,

may we offer powerful and effective prayers

for one another and the world,

in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 
The Message:

³⁸ John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

^39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

⁴² “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

^43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

^49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

Consider the Word, September 16, 2021 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Consider the Word, September 16, 2021
17^th Sunday after Pentecost – Season of Creation
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for September 19:

• Proverbs 31:10-31
• Psalm 1
• James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
• Mark 9:30-37

 
Collect

Almighty God,

you have created the heavens and the earth,

and ourselves in your image.

Teach us to discern your hand in all your works

and to serve you with reverence and thanksgiving;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Readings:
Psalm 1

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful! Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper. It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgement comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.

 
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Why does Jesus predict his betrayal, murder, and resurrection so frequently?
2. What child-like qualities do you think Jesus is suggesting for his followers?

 
Closing Prayer

Life-giving God,

heal our lives,

that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds

and offer you thanks from generation to generation

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 
The Message:
Psalm 1

How well God must like you—you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats, you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings, you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls. Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom. You’re not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust—Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people. God charts the road you take. The road they take leads to nowhere.

 
Mark 9:30-37

^30-32 Leaving there, they went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts, for he wanted to teach his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him. Three days after his murder, he will rise, alive.” They didn’t know what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask him about it.

³³ They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

³⁴ The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.

³⁵ He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

^36-37 He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

Consider the Word, September 9, 2021

Consider the Word, September 9, 2021
17^th Sunday after Pentecost – Season of Creation
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for September 12:

• Proverbs 1:20-33
• Psalm 19 Or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1 As Canticle
• James 3:1-12
• Mark 8:27-38

 
Collect

Almighty God,

you call your Church to witness

that in Christ we are reconciled to you.

Help us so to proclaim the good news of your love,

that all who hear it may turn to you;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Reading: Mark 8:27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Who do you say Jesus is? What does Jesus mean to you?
2. In what ways do we pretend that Jesus didn’t mean that we are to “take up [our] cross?
3. On what do we stake our lives?

 
Closing Prayer

Through suffering and rejection, O God,

you bring forth our salvation,

for in Jesus you embrace our humanity

and transform our lives by the glory of his cross.

Grant that for the sake of the gospel

we may rebuke the lure of this world,

take up our cross,

and follow your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

 
The Message:

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, “Who do the people say I am?”

²⁸ “Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”

²⁹ He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”

^30-32 Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.

^32-33 But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.”

^34-37 Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

³⁸ “If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

Consider the Word, September 2, 2021
16^th Sunday after Pentecost
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for September 5:

• Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
• Psalm 125
• James 2:1-10 (11-13), 14-17
• Mark 7:24-37

 
Collect

Stir up, O Lord,

the wills of your faithful people,

that richly bearing the fruit of good works,

we may by you be richly rewarded;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Reading: Mark 7:24-37

Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Are we surprised, perhaps offended by the initial response Jesus gives the Syrophoenician woman? If so, why?
   
2. Do you find it significant that both of these healings take place in Samaritan territory, amongst a people hated by Jesus’ home community?

 
Closing Prayer

Life-giving God,

heal our lives,

that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds

and offer you thanks from generation to generation

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 
The Message: Mark 7:24-37

^24-26 From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.

²⁷ He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”

²⁸ She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”

^29-30 Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

^31-35 Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.

^36-37 Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson