Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 84(85): 9-1 4; Eph 1: 3-14; Mark 6: 7-13
The first six chapters of the Book of Amos show in detail why the Jews will suffer judgement. Amaziah denounces Amos to the northern king for his unwelcome prophecies. Speaking around 760 BC, Amos bravely ignores him, and continues to warn the people. 200 years later his warnings were written down – because he was right: the northern kingdom had rejected God, and was destroyed.
The Psalm describes the coming happiness revealed by the Lord: virtues are imagined as courtiers of the returned king.
Over the next seven weeks we hear extracts from Paul’s breathtaking letter “to the Ephesians”. Its ideas can flow past us so quickly that we can easily miss their significance. If we stop after each phrase and ponder its meaning, we see a God very different from common belief. A God who lovingly “chose us in Christ” “before the world was made”. A God whose “hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning”, so that we might “live through love in his presence”. This was no ‘plan B’, suddenly concocted to correct a mistake!
In Mark’s gospel, after his rejection in his home town we heard last week, Jesus now sends the disciples out on mission Next week we hear about their experiences.
Psalm Response: Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your saving help.