Residents of The Menno Simons Centre provided a wonderful worship service by leading our singing, presenting both the children's story and a mimed drama, leading our prayers and thinking. Grant Hill (second-year Regent student and member of Abendmusik) spoke on 1 Samuel 7:1-14, an appropriate story for the time of Lent. Samuel called Israel to return to the Lord--and they actually responded, on a national scale. Consequently, they enjoyed victory over neighboring enemies without actually fighting. But this unusual act of repentance was unfortunately not an immediate response to God. Instead, it represented the culmination of decades of humiliations stemming from military loses, the loss and desecration of the ark itself, and even the death of 70 Jewish men when the ark was improperly treated upon being returned. Israel's response to Samuel's call might therefore largely be attributed to people simply being at their wits end, for there seemed to be no other options left. We, like that generation of Israelites, need to discover that nobody can stand in the presence of the Lord, and that our only hope is that the Lord will speak to us and offer us mercy, for even though our lives may not be as troubled as theirs, we have no option left. [JEK]

Passage: 1Sa 7:1-14
Communion: No
Ecumenical or Event: Lent III
Potluck Lunch: No
Congregational Meeting: No

Speaker: Grant Hill
Worship Leader: Jaclyn Smith
Song Leader: MSC students
Pianist: MSC students
Usher:
Zoom Coordinator:
Children's Feature Leader:

Bring Flowers:
Coffee Helper:
Sound Helper:

Child Care Volunteer: Mark Greenstreet