6/12/16
1 Samuel 16:14-23
Chris Breslin
“A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it for them rather than for yourself. And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person.” – Katherine Leary Alsdorf (Every Good Endeavor)
“To worship the Lord is—in the world’s eyes—a waste of time. It is, indeed, a royal waste of time, but a waste nonetheless. By engaging in it, we don’t accomplish anything useful in our society’s terms. Worship ought not to be construed in a utilitarian way. Its purpose is not to gain numbers for our churches to be seen as successful. Rather, the entire reason for our worship is that God deserves it.” –Marva Dawn (A Royal Waste of Time)
“I always thought of my father as a priest.” –Eugene Peterson (The Pastor)
“It will only be by movements that begin with the local congregation in which the reality of the new creation is present, known, and experienced, and from which men and women will go into every sector of public life to claim it for Christ, to unmask the illusions which have remained hidden and to expose all areas of public life to the illumination of the gospel. But that will only happen as and when local congregations renounce an introverted concern for their own life, and recognize that they exist for the sake of those who are not members, as sign, instrument, and foretaste of God’s redeeming grace for the whole life of society.” Lesslie Newbigin (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society)
“Throwing Shade” article from Indy Week (June 8, 2016)
Scripture
Further Reading on David
The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter
The David Story: A Translation of 1 & 2 Samuel by Robert Alter
1 Samuel as Christian Scripture by Stephen Chapman
1 Samuel (Word Biblical Commentary) by Ralph Klein
Leap Over A Wall: Earthly Spirituality for Everyday Christians by Eugene Peterson
