Darren recorded two reflections for this week’s bible readings for Project Reconnect, a worship resource that is published weekly to help congregations with their worship service.

All Age Message – Baking with Darren

Liz Morris – July 18, 2021

Good morning. My name is Liz and I am delighted to be speaking this morning and grappling with the lessons of God’s word with you. Before we begin, let us pray. Almighty God, we come before you to ask that your presence fall on us, heal us and grow our knowledge of You. I ask that my words be from your mouth and be planted in the hearts of your people as we walk into a new week by your side. Amen.

As I stand here this morning, I am faced with the beginning of a new term. I am high school English teacher and have the pleasure of working alongside teenagers every day. I often have conversations with students that are more about their pastoral needs than their academic needs and a common phrase I say is “high school is hard”. There will be a number of you who are current teachers, retired teachers or the loved ones of teachers, and you know the realities of what the profession entails. Those feelings of apprehension and the knowledge that with the beginning of the term comes bone-aching tiredness and that sustained adrenaline rushing through me to get me through another ten weeks are all too prominent. How do I give more than the minimum to God?

This morning, I see people walking different seasons of life. For some of you, the exhaustion of parenthood is overwhelming the joy of it. Some of you are finding your hands are not as swift as they once were. There are children who have returned to school or are about to start again this week; and with that come mixed emotions and reactions. There are those of you who are in a position you did not think they would find yourself and it’s hurting. In all of this, where is God and how do we give more than a little?

Message from Rev Bruce Stevens,  Gungahlin Uniting Church,  24th January 2021 

Prayer: O God, we acknowledge that You in your Trinity of relationships, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are perfect, but our relationships remain imperfect. Guide us to a better understanding of what to expect and how to love those closest to us. Amen

A Difficult Passage 
1 Corinthians 7: 25-31 “Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life and I would spare you that. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as if they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as if they had no dealings with it. For the present form of the world is passing away.”

Liz  Morris -January 17, 2021

1 Samuel 3:1-­10
John 1:43­?51

Let  us  pray:  Lord,  open  our  hearts  to  hear  your  Word.  May  your  teaching  permeate  through  us so  that   we  will  strive  to  bring  it  to  our  lives  in  tangible  ways  and  for  Your  glory.  Amen

“Speak,  Lord,  for  your  servant  is  listening.”  In  the  Old  Testament  reading,  we  hear  Samuel  being  called   by  the  Lord,  but  mistaking  God’s  voice  for  Eli’s.  At  this  point  in  the  Bible,  man  has  fallen,  prophets  have   professed  the  need  for  reconciliation  with  God,  Judges  have  failed  and  God  has  agreed  to  put  into   place  another  form  of  politics;  a  monarchy.  For  the  first  time,  God  agrees  to  and  establishes  a  political   system  in  Israel  headed  by  a  human  king.  Why  does  God  do  this?  Because  man  believes  we  are  able   to  govern  ourselves.  Although  the  Judges  were,  in  whole,  unsuccessful,  humanity  decides  a  king  will   be.  To  be  fair  to  humanity,  we  weren’t  completely  wrong;  although  we  were wrong  about  a  human king.  Samuel  is  not  king  – he  is  a  forerunner  to  the  kings  we  do  meet  in  this  section  of  the  Bible:  kings   Saul  and  David.  Importantly,  Samuel  is  also  a  prophet.  He  reminds  us  that  people  are  flawed  kings  and   leaders  – something  we  are  sure  to  be  keenly  feeling  in  current  politics.

As  we  begin  a  new  year,  many  of  us  might  be  feeling  renewed,  excited  and  hopeful,  whilst many of  us   might  be  feeling  discouraged,  disempowered  and  lonely.  However  you  are  feeling, I believe there  is  a   key  message  that  links  our  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament  readings  this  week. Although  I  began   by  reiterating  verse  10  (“Speak,  Lord,  for  your  servant  is  listening”),  Samuel does  not  immediately   know  he  is  being  approached  by  God.  At  first,  Samuel  runs  to  Eli’s  aid  – knowing  Eli  is  old  and  poor  in   sight.  He  is  obedient  to  his  master,  but  it  is  not  Eli  who  is calling  him.  God  is  faithful  in  calling  Samuel   again.