"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

 


Photo contributed by Mike Willock

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Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening

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Mike Willock writes: At Second Church earlier this month the preaching text came from 1 Samuel 3, the call of Samuel. It’s a good story: The boy Samuel is serving in the house of the Lord under the old priest Eli at a time when the word of the Lord is rare in the land of Israel. When the lamp of God had not yet gone out, the Lord calls Samuel by name. Samuel runs to Eli, who says, “I did not call you. Go lie down.” When the call comes a third time, Eli realizes God is calling Samuel and tells Samuel to respond, “Speak, Lord . Your servant is listening.” “Speak, Lord . Your servant is listening”. Just six words, but they 1) confirm the relationship between God and Samuel, 2) affirm with conviction that God is still speaking, and 3) that Samuel is ready and willing and waiting to receive and do the word of God. As reformed Presbyterians we know that God still speaks to those who have ears to hear by the power of Holy Spirit, and that God calls us to live out God’s word in love among...
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How Then Shall We Live?

A poem by Ellie Stock , appropriate for the Easter season, Earth Day and National Poetry Month in April. The poem will be included in the liturgy at Second as part of one of the upcoming services this month.     HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?   What do we call What calls from the deeps, that pulses through stars and quickens heart’s beat, that surges through waves and cleanses with fire, emerges from dust and breathes soul’s desire? What do we name What mocks human pride, that bends the Tree of Life, sustaining being’s tide?   How do we greet What calls to our deeps, that lasers vulnerabilities and loves us into being, that mourns lost illusions and leaves us defenseless, transforms the present moment and awakens all senses? How do we embrace What eternalizes finitude, that opens wide portals, flooding tears of gratitude?   How do we know What calls us to decide, that gives no guarantee and provides no place to hide, that beckons all...
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"A God-bathed world"

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 A shout out to Kendal Ackerman who each week in Lent has been placing one or two framed posters of paintings by Van Gogh in the sanctuary, accompanied by devotional writing to tease out the connections between Van Gogh’s artistic vision of the world and the season of Lent. This Sunday – Easter Sunday – the culminating image was “The Raising of Lazarus.” Others images on display include “The Starry Night,” “Worn Out/At Eternity’s Gate” and “Still Life with Bible.” This quote on the leaflet to do with “The Starry Night” particularly caught my eye: “[Van Gogh’s] paintings reveal a more biblical vision of reality – one in which heaven and earth intersect to form what Dallas Willard called a ‘God-bathed world.’ We occupy a cosmos filled with God’s presence the way liquid fills a sponge.” (Quote from author and podcaster Skye Jethani) All of the write ups coordinated by Kendal can be found here .
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