Today is the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel reading from Mark chapter 10 introduces us to Jesus welcoming and blessing children. There are two key places in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus gives priority to children. In Mark 9: 35-37 Jesus affirmed that ‘whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.’ In today’s passage Jesus affirmed that ‘it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.’ On both occasions Jesus was contrasting the acceptability of the child with the behaviour of his disciples.
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of children. In today’s picture from his book Teddy Horsley meets Jesus’ Disciples, Teddy Horsley finds that his church is a place that makes children (and bears) welcome.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you welcomed children into your community,
and you invited your disciples to learn from them.
Open our eyes to the children in our community;
open our ears to their voices,
and our hearts to their searching;
for the Kingdom of God belongs to them.
We make our prayer in your name.
Amen.
Next Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark 10 explores Jesus’ teaching on radical discipleship and his advice to sell what you own and to give the money to the poor. The image to help us prepare for next Sunday’s theme is possessions. You can find out more about that theme by looking at the Educational Resources and the Preparation Resources.
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100 Years of Liverpool Cathedral History Exhibition