Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Behold the seed (the word), the harvest (the 2nd coming) and hope (faith cultivation); how are we doing with that ?

Collect: Proper 6

 Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love,  that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion: for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 . . . Samuel sees beyond outward appearances to choose the least likely son of Jesse to anoint as king

Psalm 20; . . . Prayer on the day of triumph

or

 Ezekiel 17:22-24 . . . Ezekiel  gives the Israelites hope that one day God will restore their strength.

Psalm 92:1-4, 11-14 . . . Wisdom’s vision

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17; . . . Paul reminds his Corinthian communities that our eternal dwelling is not found here on earth but is with the Lord

Mark 4:26-34 . . . Jesus uses two parables to describe how God’s dynamic presence—the kingdom—grows in our lives.

Dr. Jim Somerville, Pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church and Co-Founder of A Sermon for Every Sunday, preaches a sermon from Mark 4:26-34 called, “The Mysterious Growth of the Mustard Seed Kingdom.”  “Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed and then takes a nap,” Somerville says.  “I think he means the growth of the Kingdom is a mystery.  Like the farmer there is nothing we can do to make it grow and like the farmer we might as well admit that we don’t know how it works.  I wish some of the so-called church growth experts would read this parable.”

 An 18-minute interview with the Episcopal News Service, Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry speaks about his priorities for leadership and administration, the role of the church in engaging God’s mission in the world, the state of race relations in the U.S., the importance of Anglican Communion partnerships, and his commitment to what he calls the Jesus Movement, to go out into the world “to bear witness to the good news of Jesus.”