Hidden Power
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Samuel
went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not
see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the
LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.
The
Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected
him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will
send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among
his sons." Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will
kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, `I
have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to
you." Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The
elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come
peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the
Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he
sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel
15:34-16:13
King
David
RUBENS,
Peter Paul, 1577-1640
1616,
extended in the late 1640s
Städel
Museum
Frankfurt
am Main, Germany
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_David_-_Sir_Peter_Paul_Rubens.png
“King David Playing the
Harp” by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Boeckhorst has numbered among the
outstanding examples of Flemish Baroque painting in the Städel Museum since
1867. It also illustrates the workshop practice of those years for only part of
the work is by Rubens’ hand: the head was painted by him as a study on a small
panel in 1616. It was only after his death that Boeckhorst, a former member of
his workshop, extended the “tronje” by two boards, transforming it into King
David’s full portrait. The exhibition explored Rubens’ use of the “tronje” and
elucidated its extension by Boeckhorst who not only left Rubens’ head
“uncrowned” but completely untouched.
http://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/focus-peter-paul-rubens-and-jan-boeckhorst
If you truly understood a single grain of wheat,
you would die of wonder.
~
Martin Luther
The secret of happiness, you see,
is not found in seeking more,
but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.
~
Socrates
Ordination and Installation
Kimra Suzanne Perkins
Sixth Avenue United Church of Christ
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Rev.
Brother John Gaudreau places a butterfly stole,
a
very special gift from her husband, around Kimra’s neck.
Rev.
Kimra Perkins
Transformation
The
butterfly symbolizes the resurrection of Christ as well as
the
resurrection and transformation of believers.
Jeanne
and Graham Gibbard invited Vicki Hall and me to a lovely lunch last Sunday.
Vacation
Bible School was this week. Here, they are learning about Newton’s First
Law of Motion.
Shaun
loves to draw!
An Evening with Ted Garcia
Thursday,
June 11, 2015
Aspen
Grove Mall
A
night of art, music, hors d’ouvres, wine, beer, and Coyote Gold Margaritas.
Ted
Garcia with Kathie Mattox
Ted
Garcia did a painting a day for six years!
Elizabeth
and Anne Vickstrom
Journey to the West
Center
for the Arts Evergreen
Friday,
June 12, 2015
This
thrilled young student from West Jeff Elementary won an Honorable Mention for
the western scene she
painted
on her plate in the silent auction fundraiser we do each year before the
Evergreen Rodeo.
Van
and John Farnsworth hosted our Spares and Pairs dinner Friday evening.
They
have beautiful art in their log “cabin.”
The
pouring rain stopped in time for us to enjoy drinks on their balcony.
The
elk were cavorting at the lake Saturday morning.
This
young fawn has already nearly doubled in size!
Just one time, walk out
into the field and look
at that towering oak --
an acorn still beating at its heart.
~
Peter Levitt
June 14, 2015 Third
Sunday after Pentecost—11th Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 6
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is as
if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and
day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth
produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the
head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because
the harvest has come."
He also said, "With what can we
compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a
mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the
seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all
shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make
nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Mark 4:26-34
Agnus Day, by
James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission
of www.agnusday.org
We need the tonic of wildness, to wade sometimes in marshes where the
bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; …
At the same time that we are earnest to explore
and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and
unexplorable …
We need to witness our own limits transgressed,
and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
~ Henry David Thoreau
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13) 14-17
Mark 4:26-34