The reading of Holy Scripture together as a community has been a central part of Christian worship throughout the Church’s long history, and it has deep roots within the spiritual and communal practices of Israel.

We read Holy Scripture together not simply to learn new information about God’s dealings with humanity in the past, but also to listen in faith to what the Living God is saying to us His people today. We listen to His Word to draw closer to Him, and to one another.

This week, as we did for much of the Summer, we will be engaging with the Scriptures in a more open-ended way: carving out some time for silent contemplation, as well as sharing some questions for further reflection, rather than having our usual Sermons.

After every Scripture Reading in the At-Home Morning Prayer service, we’re all invited to take a few moments (1-2 minutes) in silence to reflect upon the passage, and how God’s Spirit might be addressing us through it, as individuals or as a community.

In those moments, pay attention to any words, ideas, or images that stand out to you. In the silence afterwards, ask God to help you hear His heart for you today.

After the Gospel is read, and we’ve taken a moment to in silence to reflect upon it, review the Reflection Questions for the week that Pastor Rob has prepared to help us dig in a bit deeper. 

In addition, here is a link to a short video put out by the Bible Project exploring the important practice of the Communal or Public Reading of Scripture.

And our Songs for this week can be found here:

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, & Reflection Questions this week can be found here:

Starting Monday July 17, Rev. Rob has been on vacation, and will be returning to St. Luke's on Monday August 14. 

While he's away, our excellent team of Lay Readers will be leading our In-Person services of Morning Prayer, and Rev. Rob has prepared Reflection Questions each week to help us engage with our Sunday the Scripture Readings.

The reading of Holy Scripture together as a community has been a central part of Christian worship throughout the Church’s long history. It has deep roots within the spiritual practices of Israel, and sustains God’s people today.

We read Scripture together not simply to learn new information about God’s dealings with humanity in the past, but to listen in faith to what the Living God is saying to us His people today.

It is in fact a profound act of worship, a turning of our full attention to our Lord. We listen to His Word to draw closer to Him, and to one another in love.

After every Scripture Reading in our At-Home Morning Prayer service, you're invited to take a few moments in silence to reflect upon the passage, and how God’s Spirit might be addressing us through it, as individuals and as a community.

In those moments, pay attention to any words, ideas, or images from the reading that stand out to you. In the silence afterwards, ask God to help you hear His word for you today.

After the Gospel Reading, take 1-2 minutes to reflect, and then read over this week's Reflection Questions. Take whatever time you need to prayerfully sit with these questions, taking notes if you find it helpful, or perhaps even returning to the questions throughout the week. 

In addition to our Reflection Questions, we'll also have a link to a short Bible Project video from their "How To Read Biblical Narrative" series, helping us to read the story of the Bible with even more understanding.

This week, the video is called "Setting", and the link can be found right here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Starting this Monday (July 17), Rev. Rob will be on vacation, returning to St. Luke's on Monday August 14. 

While he's away, our excellent team of Lay Readers will be leading our In-Person services of Morning Prayer, and Rev. Rob has prepared Reflection Questions each week to help us engage with our Sunday the Scripture Readings.

Even though Rev. Rob is still with us In-Person this week, he's prepared Reflection Questions this week instead of a Sermon to help us get into this practice together.

The reading of Holy Scripture together as a community has been a central part of Christian worship throughout the Church’s long history. It has deep roots within the spiritual practices of Israel, and sustains God’s people today.

We read Scripture together not simply to learn new information about God’s dealings with humanity in the past, but to listen in faith to what the Living God is saying to us His people today.

It is in fact a profound act of worship, a turning of our full attention to our Lord. We listen to His Word to draw closer to Him, and to one another in love.

After every Scripture Reading in our At-Home Morning Prayer service, you're invited to take a few moments in silence to reflect upon the passage, and how God’s Spirit might be addressing us through it, as individuals and as a community.

In those moments, pay attention to any words, ideas, or images from the reading that stand out to you. In the silence afterwards, ask God to help you hear His word for you today.

After the Gospel Reading, take 1-2 minutes to reflect, and then read over this week's Reflection Questions. Take whatever time you need to prayerfully sit with these questions, taking notes if you find it helpful, or perhaps even returning to the questions throughout the week. 

In addition to our Reflection Questions, we'll also have a link to a short Bible Project video from their "How To Read Biblical Narrative" series, helping us to read the story of the Bible with even more understanding.

This week, the video is called "Plot", and the link can be found right here:

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, & Reflection Questions this week can be found here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, & Reflection Questions this week can be found here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

​
​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

The reading of Holy Scripture together as a community has been a central part of Christian worship throughout the Church’s long history, and it has deep roots within the spiritual and communal practices of Israel.

We read Holy Scripture together not simply to learn new information about God’s dealings with humanity in the past, but also to listen in faith to what the Living God is saying to us His people today. We listen to His Word to draw closer to Him, and to one another.

For the next five weeks, we will be engaging with the Scriptures in a more open-ended way: carving out some time for silent contemplation, as well as sharing some questions for further reflection, rather than having our usual Sermons.

After every Scripture Reading in the At-Home Morning Prayer service, we’re all invited to take a few moments (1-2 minutes) in silence to reflect upon the passage, and how God’s Spirit might be addressing us through it, as individuals or as a community.

In those moments, pay attention to any words, ideas, or images that stand out to you. In the silence afterwards, ask God to help you hear His heart for you today.

After the Gospel is read, and we’ve taken a moment to in silence to reflect upon it, review the Reflection Questions for the week that Pastor Rob has prepared to help us dig in a bit deeper. 

Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, & Reflection Questions this week can be found here:

​
​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: 2 Samuel 18:5–9, 15, 31–33 | Psalm 130 | Ephesians 4:25–5:2 | John 6:35, 41–51 

An invitation for reflection on the Scriptures from Rev. Rob.
There are many ways that God can speak to us through Holy Scripture, including times of silence, quiet reflection, and sharing. Just as we did these last few weeks, I invite us to personally think about these questions arising from our Scripture readings. We’ll take 3-4 minutes together in silence for us to reflect on each question. You might find it helpful to write down your answers, but you don’t need to share your answers with anyone. For questions 1 & 3, those who feel comfortable doing so are invited to share their responses in a word or two, but even then, no one has to share unless they would like to.
 
1. What words, ideas, or images stood out to you as the Scripture passages were read? Why did they stand out? [If anyone feels able to share their response in a word or two here, please do].
 
2. Today’s reading from 2 Samuel gives us a glimpse of the turmoil of King David’s family: his son Absalom (whose name means “my father is peace”) led a rebellion against King David. At first he succeeded, driving David from Jerusalem, but the civil war ended with Absalom’s death in battle. Despite Absalom’s great betrayal, David still loved his son and was deeply grieved by the news of his death, even saying he wished he himself would have died instead of Absalom. Reflect on David’s experience and grief for a moment. In what ways might David’s story here be similar to God’s relationship with His rebellious people? In what ways is it different?
 
3 In our reading from Ephesians, St. Paul again describes the kind of life God’s children are to share: one of mutual kindness, forgiveness, integrity, and support, sharing the self-giving love Christ Jesus first offered to us. How does this way of life connect to our faith, and our purpose as a Church community? What might be some obstacles that keep us from following this way of life? [If anyone feels able to share their response in a word or two here, please do].
 
4. In our Gospel reading, Jesus responds to the doubts of His fellow Israelites by insisting that He is the gift of eternal life offered from God the Father. How has drawing close to Jesus and placing your trust in Him been a source of blessing to you? Take a moment and give thanks to God for any blessings that come to mind.

Beginning Sunday July 18, our Priest-in-Charge here at St. Luke's Gondola Point, Rev. Rob Montgomery, has been on holiday, and he will be returning to us next Sunday (Sunday August 15).

While he is away, we will continue to offer Morning Prayer services each week (both In-Person in the St. Luke's GP Hall, and here on our Parish website), led by our great Lay Reader team.

Also during this time, instead of our usual sermons we have been making use of some Reflection Questions each week to help us hear and respond to God's word to us in a different way.

Reading the Holy Scriptures together is a powerful and life-giving practice of the Church. Over the last few weeks, we have been sharing videos from the Bible Project to help us read the Holy Scriptures with a deeper understanding. 

Three weeks ago, the video was part 1 of their "How To Read The Bible" series, called: "What is the Bible?"
Two weeks ago, the video was part 2, called: "The Story of the Bible."
Last week's video was part 3, called: "Literary Styles."
And this week's video is part 4, called: "Ancient Jewish Meditation Literature"

All are well worth watching, and together they provide a solid foundation for helping us understand both what the Bible is, and how we can read it more faithfully. These videos can all be found below: 

​Our All-Ages Song for this season can be found here:

Scripture Readings: 2 Samuel 11:26–12:13a | Psalm 51:1–12 | Ephesians 4:1–16 | John 6:24–35 

An invitation for reflection on the Scriptures from Rev. Rob.

There are many ways that God can speak to us through Holy Scripture, including times of silence, quiet reflection, and sharing. Just as we did these last few weeks, I invite us to personally think about these questions arising from our Scripture readings. We’ll take 3-4 minutes together in silence for us to reflect on each question. You might find it helpful to write down your answers, but you don’t need to share your answers with anyone. For questions 1 & 3, those who feel comfortable doing so are invited to share their responses in a word or two, but even then, no one has to share unless they would like to.
 
1. What words, ideas, or images stood out to you as the Scripture passages were read? Why did they stand out? [If anyone feels able to share their response in a word or two here, please do].
 
2. In response to King David’s acts of exploitation, adultery, and murder, the LORD sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, to expose the truth of his guilt, and to pronounce God’s just response. David repents (Psalm 51 is his prayer of confession), and the LORD spares his life, but the consequences of his sins cause all sorts of chaos in his family for years to come. Reflect on the impact that David’s ‘secret’ sins had on his wider community. How might the ways we live in ‘private’ have much wider consequences, either negatively or positively?
 
3. In our second reading, St. Paul claims that Christian maturity is not simply about private ‘spirituality’, but is really inseparable from the shared life of the wider Christian community. He emphasizes the vital importance of Christian unity, not only with each other, but with Christ Jesus Himself, promoting a tangible way of life that seeks to maintain these vital relationships (for instance: being led by humility, patience, gentleness, peace, truthfulness, and love). What are some of the specific ways that being a part of the Christian community (that is, a Church family) can help to us grow closer to God and to each other, and also to grow more like Jesus Christ our Saviour? [If anyone feels able to share their response in a word or two here, please do].
 
4. In our Gospel reading, Jesus challenges the crowd that was following after Him not to “work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:27). We too can often become preoccupied with things in life that truly do not matter when considered in light of the Kingdom of God. Instead, Jesus invites the crowd (and us!) to do the “work” of faithfully believing in Him, the one God has sent to bring eternal life to the world. What might God be asking us to let go of at this time? How might God be challenging us to trust in Jesus in a deeper way?