Greetings!

This week we continue our ongoing series about some of the things that lie at the foundation of faith and community for us at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church. As we do so, I am mindful that Pastor Annanda intended this ongoing dialogue to stay connected to our everyday lived reality.

For many of us this summer, our lived reality has involved a lot of protests, marching, various celebrations and demonstrations that have been aimed at making public statements. As we return in the sermon series to the theme of “trusting God,” I want to reflect on the possible connection between our various activities and being people who trust in God above all else.

So, this week, we’re going to reflect along with a Syrophoenician woman from long ago who launched her own little protest against Jesus himself. We’ll think about her demand that her own child be granted a measure of God’s care, and what that demand has to do with the things that are happening in our own world. I hope you’ll join us!

With hope,

Hardy

Please join us immediately following the Sunday service for our Coffee Hour (in-person in Trinity Court or online via Zoom).

bit.ly/SVPCCoffeeHour

Theme for Sunday

“The reality of divine abundance given in generosity requires a very different mode of discourse, namely, doxology. Doxology is the glad, self-abandoning exuberance of the creature who holds nothing back in affirmation of the Creator. Doxology is a mode of discourse that matches the lived generosity of the creation.”

Walter Brueggemann, Grace Abounds

Questions for Reflection

• Was there ever a time when you experienced a genuine lack of something – food, resources, care? What was that like?

• What are some ways that folks in our society are being denied resources or care that stand out to you? Do you feel like there are potential solutions to these problems? 

Mark 7:24-30 CEB

Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

“Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.” When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.