The worship theme for today and the next two Sundays in June is “When I’m calling youuuu…” In the sermons and readings we will be considering the idea of “being called.” Is “calling” just a special category reserved for priests or ministers, or is there a “calling” for everyone? How do we know who is called? And to what? And when?
This Sunday, June 7th, the topic for the meditation is taken from an old children’s game chant: “tick, tock, the game is locked.” We will be looking through the lens of “Trinity Sunday” (which celebrates the Christian idea that God is revealed in three ways: Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and considering how our traditional ways of speaking about God or understanding God’s relationship with us (or me) limit our possibilities for creative participation in a complex and continually changing world. If we see God in a bigger or more diverse way, is it possible we might see ourselves, and our place or role in our community and society in a more significant way as well? Do our old religious habits define our future spirituality? Or is our past faith the ground from which we draw strength and nourishment in our creative growing and changing?
On Sunday the 14th the sermon will be based on I Samuel 15, “The Highly Unlikely Calling of the Usually Left-Behind.” Using the story of Samuel’s identifying of David as the future king of Israel, we will look at how our expectations and habits, and the history out of which we have been formed, tend to predict and limit the way we envision or anticipate the future.
Sunday the 21st: the text will come from 1st Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. The sermon topic will be: “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” as we consider what tools and resources we bring to times of crisis and political challenge.
Please join us on Summer Sundays at Riviera.