This Sunday we will hear the famous passage where Jesus says that the realm of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds that becomes the greatest of all shrubs (Mark 4:26-34), and we will also hear a passage from Ezekiel where the prophet says God will “bring low the high tree and make high the low tree.” (Ezekiel 17:22-24)

Two church activities are coming to a close, at least this stage of them.  Sunday will be the last day for the congregation to respond to the Future Directions Summary Statements that you can see on the Parish Hall wall or by clicking here.  Monday will be the last of the Poor People’s Campaign Moral Monday events.  Both of these are mustard seeds of God’s realm, they look small but will have much larger ramifications.

We can look back on actions that individuals or churches took that were small and seemingly insignificant that grew to be mighty trees.  We can look at moments in our lives when we said or did something that changed the course of our personal history.

This perspective can give us hope and encourage us to act at a moment in national and world history when we could feel paralyzed by how small or few we are.  It is essential that we trust and rise to let God work through us to change the course of humanity.

We will sing “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” “We Plow the Fields and Scatter” and “The Hymn of Promise (In the Bulb There Is a Flower).”  The choir will sing a German “Our Father” by Arvo Pärt and a repeat of the beautiful Iona (John Bell) Introit, “Agnus Dei (Aidan),” and the Hebrew Choral Benediction, “Hashivenu,” from last week.

Pianist Annemieke McLane will play two preludes from J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and a piece by R. Schumann.