13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Letting Go”

Worship for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time: June 29, 2025

IN-PERSON and ONLINE at 10:30 a.m.

The Rev. Matthew Emery, lead minister, worship leader

Luke 9:52-62

As we step into the rhythms of Summer and back into the more "ordinary" rhythms of weekly worship life, we are landing back into the Gospel of Luke, our focus gospel for the year.  In this week's scripture, we pick back up with Jesus and his disciples as they make a distinct shift in their journey.  No longer will they be simply touring around their home region of Galilee and nearby lands; rather, they are now on an intentional trajectory toward Jerusalem, the centre of religious and political power.  As ones who know how the story ends, we know this means a turn toward Jesus' impending conflicts with the powers and, ultimately, his crucifixion... but that's still a long way off.  Meanwhile, the journey of following Jesus means knowing that the time has come to let go of other attachments, both positive and negative, in order to be solely committed to the urgency of God's kingdom.

On this long holiday weekend, we will dwell in this word together intergenerationally this Sunday... there will be no separate "Children's Church" programming this weekend (and Ross Shearer, our children's leader, is away).  Instead, Rev. Matt will invite us into some interactive ways of reflecting on the word that will hopefully be engaging for people of all ages.