Sunday, February 1, 2026
This Sunday we read from the prophet Micah, including the much-quoted imperative to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. The context for Micah’s writing is critical: he’s writing to his fellow country-folk, condemning their actions and warning them of the imminent destruction and conquest by the neighbouring Assyrian empire. Sure enough, the invasion did take place within the period of Micah’s activity.
His writings remind us that the age of empires is a long period of human history, and that we shouldn’t be confused by the present chaos: chaos, Micah tells us, is actually the norm. And then the lectionary cycle presents us with the Beatitudes (“blessings”) to remind us that God turns all of this upside down. The kin-dom of God, Jesus tells us eight centuries after Micah’s writing, does not belong to the emperors and conquerors, but rather to the merciful, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
Presiding: Rev. Greg Powell
Music Minister: Jennifer Turner
Tech Team: Nathan McDormand, Jamie Waters, Alan Thurston
Christ Candle: Rev. Greg Powell
Scripture Reading: Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:3-10
Read by: Owen McCooey
Bulletin
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Our worship each Sunday is intended to be a collective experience, a communal practice. We might step into whatever is our sanctuary, each one of us as individuals, and yet as we assemble, from wherever we are, we become a people, drawn together through song and prayer, through word and ritual, and through the Spirit who breathes through it all, through us all. One and the same Spirit uniting us breathing us into life!
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