Scripture Readings for June 22, 2008 (Proper 7a)

Here are the readings for Sunday, June 22, 2008 (Proper 7a)

Genesis 21:8-21

⁸The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ¹⁰So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” ¹¹The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. ¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. ¹³As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. ¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Romans 6:1b-11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39

²⁴“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; ²⁵it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! ²⁶“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. ²⁷What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³²“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; ³³but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. ³⁴“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. ³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

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Why Youth Take Part in Our Worship Services

I recently received the following email that was addressed to me and to the SPRC.

I am really concerned that you have relinquished a big part of your responsibility to children and others by allowing the Prayer of Illumination and Scriptures to be read by them. Most of those who are charged with this responsibility are not prepared to present this second most important part of the service in a manner that compliments your sermon. Over the last months, this very important part of the service, from the Prayer of Illumination through the Scripture lessons, has been so poorly done that the impact of the sermon is diminished. Most of those “leading” this cannot read the Scriptures properly, they loose (sic) their place in the text, studder, mispronounce and stumble over the words, they read in a monotone sound i.e. no inflection or enthusiasm toward the Word, and their voice projection is extremely poor. Many in the congregation do not understand or follow what is being read. I look around and see others staring off in space because of this. I have had several folks to express similar comments.

Your sermon today was good it had a strong message, but unfortunately I felt hanging out there when you referred back to the Scriptures that tied everything together. Why? Because I did not hear the Scriptures as they were so poorly presented.

I believe I understand that you are trying to bring more involvement by others into the service, but this is not the area that should be short changed. It is too important to be handed over to those unqualified to do that job.

I hope that you will take my concerns under consideration. They are given only with a sense of love and concern for all our Church family.

I do take these concerns seriously and I do understand the “sense of love and concern” in which they were given. I understand that some people believe that only the Pastor should lead public worship. In the old Caretaker Model of the church this would have been a principal expectation of the Pastor. While worship leadership is still the responsibility of the Pastor, there are newer expectations in a church that moves from the Caretaker Model to an Equipping Model.

Our youth are members of the Body of Christ. Those who have been baptized and confirmed have taken vows as Professing Members of the Church Universal and to Horne Memorial in particular. These are people who are “ordained” as ministers in the Body of Christ.

Youth and Young Adults today are very hands-on and desire activities that are more participatory and experiential rather than those you simply observe as spectators.

As with all people, some youth are better readers than others. Part of what we are doing is helping our youth develop the skills they need to be leaders in the church and in society. I work with our youth to help them develop those skills and with practice they will become proficient at becoming leaders in worship.

If you have been following all that we have been talking about these last few years you realize that we are serious in building an Acts 2 congregation. Pastors who are equippers of ministry are a central part of this process. We are not a church with one or two ministers working to make a difference in the lives of people, we are a church with a potential of more that 500 ministers making a difference in the lives of people. Just what is God calling us to do and to be?

Involving our youth in doing ministry is crucial to the nature of being the Body of Christ.

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