Thanks for starting this thread.  Interesting selection of readings.

The one that speaks most directly to my heart is the Gospel reading from John 6:56-69.

I enjoy scripture readings that acknowledge the struggles of our faith, especially when I recognized that even the disciples had doubts at times.   The line that stands out for me is "When many of his disciples heard it, they said 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?'"  (John 6:60)

I look at this line and I wonder why there are some parts of Jesus' teachings that are more easy to accept than others?  What is it about us, as followers of Jesus, that make us willingly accept and believe some things, and then doubt others?

Yes, thank you for starting this thread.

So many wonderful, memorable passages on the same Sunday!

I will think about them and post if anything helpful comes to mind.

It does seem a pity that the RCL cut Joshua 24 short, because the chapter is even less straightforward than the RCL reading suggests. That's just an aside, since you will presumably continue with Solomon and 1 Kings if you use an OT/Hebrew Scriptures reading.

May God bless you in your preparations.

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  (Joshua 24:15)

A very well-known line of scripture.  I suspect this has been a theme for many sermons.  Thoughts?

Here is an excerpt I used in my sermon recently where I  used the Ephesians passage. My sermon focused on that we are a spiritual team in a spiritual game.

And we are equipped with safety gear. In Ephesians 6:10-17, Paul writes about putting on the full armour of God.  I don't relate very well to kings and queens, knights in shining armour and the damsel in distress, but I can relate to a hockey player or a football player.

To understand the safety gear, we need to understand it's function as well.
First we put on the belt of truth or my interpretation a brace. What does a brace or belt do? It gives us support. A brace is meant to strengthen a weakness. When we understand what is true, we are supported and strengthened by it

Second we have a breastplate of righteousness. A football player or a hockey player have a padded vest that they wear. It is meant to protect the player from internal injuries and to cushion hard blows. When we know and do what is right, then we are protected from the constant battering from our opponents.

Third on our feet we wear the good news of peace. Shoes gives us traction, keeps us from slipping and propels us forward faster and with more confidence.  When we understand the good news of peace, we have a mission, we develop our strategy and we can act on that.

Fourth we have a shield of faith. A shield is piece of protective gear that stops debris from getting to us, to weaken us. If we believe in the game we are playing, confident in the way Jesus and our life coaches have taught us to play the game, then we will not be weakened by doubts and fear

Fifth we have the helmet of salvation. A helmet is designed to protect our brain, that part of the body that does the thinking and protects wisdom. With the guarantee of salvation  around us we are protected from assaults to the soul. Knowing that we have the promise of eternal life, we can be strong in death. We can stand up to trials and persecution and the threat to our lives.

Sixth we have the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. My interpretation is the hockey stick. I am amazed sometimes how a hockey player can maneuver a stick to keep the puck in his play and then reaches back and with a hard and straight hit drives that puck into the net. The Holy Spirit is the word of God, is the hockey stick which in the right persons hand can do amazing things

There are many other safety gear we wear that Paul does not talk about, like the goggles that keeps our vision clear, or gloves that give us a good and sure grip

Being a visual person, I am finding these analogies helpful troyerboy.  Thank you.

I would think that an effective children's story could be built around what you described.  Perhaps a hockey bag with hockey gear in it....something they could relate to.

The time of year isn't quite right for a hockey bag - but the concept is good.  If I were to go with this passage I might get out a softball glove, catchers mask, batting helmet (and dare I have a jock strap and cup).  Or skateboarding shin and elbow pads and helmet.  Props add to the children's attention.

I'm trying to zero in on which passages to emphasize.  I seem to be drawn to the Psalm, how lovely are Thy dwelling places, and to the Kings passage about the temple.

I have a beautiful picture book about a place called Home with a bird flying over the country side until it zeros in on the birdhouse in the yard.  I could use that for the children's time and to introduce the theme.  Then perhaps talk about where is God's home?  where do we find God? 

Still in the idea gathering stage.  Do we find God in our churches and places of worship?  Are they welcoming places  (Kings mentions the foreigner who comes to the temple to worship)?  If not in our churches, are there other special places or times or circumstances in which we are close to God - the high place or mountain tops? the beauty and quiet of the forests? the strength of the ocean after a storm? a garden?  Or in the marketplace or the soupkitchen?  In our homes or in our hearts?  This could lead into a discussion of the nature of God.

And if we can find God in these places, what then is the purpose of the church building or the congregation?  - Obviously very important to King Solomon who built the temple, brought in the Ark of the Covenant, and centralized worship in Jerusalem. 

And what about the foreigner?  Or the person who finds the Holy by following other paths - who worships in the synagogue, or Buddhist temple, or Mosque, or sweat lodge?  How does this tie in with the reading from John.  The disciples were right "this teaching is difficult". 

Seeler, I don't very often disagree with you, but I am this time.

ANYTIME is hockey time in Canada.  Hockey camps are happening right now as we speak, and the regular season starts in September where I live. 

But, that being said, the baseball gear would work too.!

I like your ideas using the Psalm Seeler.  I wonder if a neat touch would be to have an addressed envelope for the children's story and ask the children where you would send a letter to God?  Where does God live?

Busymom - you are right, as usual.  I forgot about hockey camps.  I guess I'm out of touch - but I did hear of a teenage girl who is off to hockey camp this week. 

My son played hockey (well road hockey in summer) all year round.  But that was years ago.

There's no hockey season anymore in a hockey fan's life.....it lasts all year!  LOL!

This is just like a bible group - it goes off track. So, seeler, does your son call road hockey "shinny"

No, Crazyheart.  Shinny is an old fashion word in this part of the woods. 

Hello, all.  I will be focusing on the psalm reading, as that is what our summer Sunday School curriculum (Seasons of the Spirit) is doing, and I'm trying to keep us all on the same page while we can (we go back to Godly Play in September, and it is not lectionary-based)!  I like how the psalmist plays with the concept of "dwelling place" -- referring to the temple, but also beyond it, to the knowledge that those who find their strength in God create "highways to Zion" in their very hearts.  And so the temple/church is a special place of sanctuary and rest -- but we can also "live in your house, ever singing your praise" when we are not at church.

I'm not sure if I'll use it, but there is a great tie-in with 1 Kings, as Solomon dedicates the new temple, acknowledging that "even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!"  Again we have the two sides of the same coin: a special place where we can experience God; and the knowledge that God can be experienced everywhere and at every time.  But there is something about sacred space...  even Solomon asks that God specially honour any prayer that is directed toward "this house" -- so that the Temple is a touchstone (tangible or not, as the case may be), a reminder of the covenant between heaven and earth.

I'm tempted to craft a more contemplative worship experience for this Sunday -- taize or lots of silence, or ???  to try to focus in on that experience of God's presence that is particularly present in a church sanctuary.

Those are my initial thoughts!

shalom!

Heaven and Earth Meet?

1 Kings 8:30, 8:43: God's "dwelling place" is in heaven, i.e. not on earth, and certainly not in Solomon's Temple (agreeing with clergychickita).

8:29: '[God's] name shall be there' in Solomon's Temple (echoing Deut 12:11). What does this mean? Some compare "name" to "reputation" (as in "Canada's good name") or to "authority" (as in "in the Queen's name"). Does that help?

8:29, 8.30, 8:42: servant Solomon, people Israel and foreigners should 'pray toward this house' to which God's 'eyes will be open night and day' so that God will 'hear in heaven [his] dwelling place'.

Putting those together we see Solomon's Temple presented as a special "point of contact" between earth and heaven. For busymom's letter-writing exercise, Solomon's Temple is not the place God lives, but it is a very special place where God 'checks for new mail'.

"Point of contact" is an idea that is taken up again in John 6.

John 6:56-58: Jesus identifies himself as 'the bread that came down from heaven'. (See also John 6:48-51 and 6:53-55). That makes him another special "point of contact" between heaven and earth. More alive than Solomon's Temple!

John 6:56: Eat the bread from heaven and it 'abides' in you. Like anything else we eat, that special "point of contact" between heaven and earth becomes a part of us.

In each case our "point of contact" with heaven becomes closer and more intimate: the magnificant Temple of Solomon, the body of the man Jesus, our own Jesus-fed bodies.

I'm not sure how the letter-writing exercise would go here. For John 6, a cell-phone exercise might be a better analogy, though even that is less intimate that the "point of contact" described there. Maybe a pager? I suppose some kind of communication chip implant might work, but that's getting a bit too weird.

And of course the difficulty of John 6 is already recognized explicitly in verses 41-42, 52, 60 and 66. It's just not a good example of "how to make friends and influence people"! I guess this teaching must have been really important.

John 6:56-69

I guess it raises the question for me, "when do we become disciples and not just students?" Is it the point when we can accept the "hard truths" of  Jesus' teachings?

Do we "walk away" as some did or remain without the slightest doubt, knowing that what Jesus is saying is the truth? (even if we don't fully understand)

Based on Simon Peter's response, I am not sure the disciples even reached the point of "knowing that what Jesus [was] saying is the truth".

My sense of Peter's response is that the disciples were committed to stay with Jesus because of who he was, despite their doubts and lack of understanding about all kinds of things he said.

Those who stayed, stayed because they believed, not because they understood. And they had no problem admitting that they did not understand. But they did not use their lack of understanding to drive them away from Jesus, as the others did.

St. Anselm's "I believe so that I may understand" (credo ut intelligam) seems to apply.