Thought For The Week 16 June 2024

Welcome to our services today as we continue our series based on the life of Israel’s shepherd king, David. Todays’ story is of the prophet Samuel anointing David king while king Saul is still on the throne!

(1Sam 16). This is a risky and subversive thing to do and it is many years before David is finally installed as king. But God’s choice of David puts an end to any succession plans Saul might have had.

What I find interesting is the discernment process Samuel went through to select David. He is told by God to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse and chose one of his 8 sons. When he sees the first son, Eliab, Samuel thinks ‘surely this is the one’ but the Lord says no, he is not the one. Seven sons are paraded before Samuel and 7 are rejected. We are not told what process Samuel went through; did he interview them? Did he consider their work experience? Or was there some kind of inner knowing? Eventually the youngest son, David is brought before him and confirmed as the chosen one.

Our parish is going through a discernment process about going to one site and perhaps starting a new venture to engage with the non-churched seekers in our community. Like Samuel, we are looking and listening for God’s choice- where is God leading us? And like Samuel we need to weigh through the options before making any decisions. Next Sunday at our combined service at St Stephens we will have a ‘family forum’ to discuss some options before us. Please note, this is not a congregational meeting and no decisions will be made at this point. I hope you will join us and contribute to the discernment process.

Luke will be away for the next 2 weeks at the winter block course in Dunedin; we wish him well for that.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koutou katoa (Blessings to all)

Brent