Sorry Folks - something went wrong with the Zoom link and I can't seem to fix it - John.

Consider the Word, June 23, 2022
Email stpauls@pei.aibn.com for the link to the Bible Study.
 
Readings for June 26:

• 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
• Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
• Galatians 5:1, 13-25
• Luke 9:51-62

Collect:

Almighty God,

you have taught us through your Son

that love fulfils the law.

May we love you with all our heart,

all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength,

and may we love our neighbour as ourselves;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Reading: Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

 
Reflection Questions

• What does Jesus mean by saying, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”?
• How are our lives different as followers of Jesus than what they might have been otherwise?

 
Closing Prayer:

Generous Giver,

you pour forth your extravagant bounty without measure

upon your whole creation.

Teach us such generosity,

that the fruits of our spirits

and the works of our hands may be used

for the building of your commonwealth of blessing. Amen.

 
The Message
Reading: Luke 9:51-62

^51-54 When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?”

^55-56 Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they traveled on to another village.

⁵⁷ On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

⁵⁸ Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”

⁵⁹ He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”

⁶⁰ Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!”

⁶¹ Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”

⁶² Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

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