This is the virtual service for 23 August 2020 – the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.

We move from the Book of Genesis (which has been the basis of our sermons for the last few weeks) into the Book of Exodus and, today, the story of the birth of Moses.

Below, you will find prayers, scripture, and Rev. Geoff McKee’s audio sermon. There is also a musical selection.

Exodus 1:8-2:10 (New International Version)
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

The Birth of Moses
2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

[Read more…]

We’ve reached the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (16 August 2020) and this week’s Genesis story is again about “Dream Coat” Joseph – when he makes himself known to the brothers who had previously sold him into slavery.

Rev. Geoff McKee examines different notions of justice, referring to lessons we can learn from world experience of the last few months (from Black Lives Matter to Dominic Cummings), as well as from the Bible.

The pursuit of justice in any context is a costly and painful process. But what is true justice and what is it not?

Joseph’s behaviour towards his brothers – his reconciliation with them – is an example of true justice being achieved. Geoff explains this lesson for us.

As usual, below, you will find today’s lectionary scriptures, prayers, the audio sermon and a musical choice.

We appreciate your feedback. Let us know what you like about this format and any suggestions you have for how it could serve you better. One way to do that is via the Contact Us page on the website.

[Read more…]

This week (09 August 2020), the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, finds us further on in the Book of Genesis and reaching the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. We hear of Joseph’s dreams and of Joseph being sold by his brothers – a very well-known story.

The trials endured by Joseph shaped him to become the mature man who would lead the greatest nation on earth.

Genesis 37:1-4 (New International Version)
Joseph’s Dreams
37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

[Read more…]

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost is 02 August 2020.

In our journey through the Book of Genesis, we reach…

…the story of Jacob wrestling with God.

And getting a new name from God as a result.

Rev. Geoff McKee considers the trials and tribulations of various other people throughout history. He discusses different attitudes to ‘testing times’, including that of the Apostle, James:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,”

James 1:2

How should we face up to – and what should we take from – testing times?

You’ll find below the four Lectionary scriptures for this week, including the passage from Genesis. There’s also prayers and Geoff’s audio sermon and Kath’s musical selection.

[Read more…]

26th July 2020 is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost and this week continues our journey through the Book of Genesis.

Today’s it’s the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah. As we’ve already seen, Jacob is a self-seeking schemer. Nevertheless, he seems to be favoured by God.

But things do not work out as he hopes here – in his quest to win the hand in marriage of Rachel. Instead, he gets his comeuppance. Is it retribution for deceiving his elder brother, Esau, out of his inheritance?

Schadenfreude – joy in someone else’s misfortune. It’s a German word. Some have said there is no equivalent word in English because there is no such feeling in the English-speaking world. Oh, really?

Read Genesis 29:15-28 (a wee bit further down this page) and see if you can avoid smiling at Jacob’s difficulties.

Below you will find today’s prayers, scripture readings, musical selection and Rev. Geoff McKee’s audio sermon.

[Read more…]