From Rev Iain Baxter, All Saints Chiang Mai
Dear Friends,
In 1979 the musical Evita took the London West End by storm. In 1996 it was made into a film starring Madonna. Eva Peron was a young actress whose liaison with an Argentinian general allowed her to propel him to power in a mixture of popular uprising and military coup. One of the lines given to Evita is “I don’t care what the bourgeoisie say.” Her power base comprised the workers, to her the views of the small middle-class was irrelevant.
In the same way, in this week’s Old Testament Reading we see King David dancing before the Lord and scandalizing his wife and many of the other well-to-do people. He was only concerned with praising God and was unconcerned about the reaction of proper society.
Our Gospel reading tells of one with a similar disregard for pleasing people, but with a rather more serious outcome: John the Baptist denounced those in power, and lost his head for his troubles! What about us? Do we care what “they” say? That will be the theme of this Sunday’s sermon.
This week our readings will be 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19, Ephesians 1:3-14, and Mark 6:14-29, and we will be singing the hymns Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, Will you come and Follow Me, When I needed a Neighbour, and What a Friend we have in Jesus. The readings can be found via this link!
God bless,
Iain
Lay Ministers for July 2015:
OT Reading: Elsie or Wim
NT Reading: William
Prayer of Intercession: Alan
Usher: Tarntip
Acolyte: Tarntip
Eucharistic Minister: open
Kitchen: Wim and Elsie
Music: Michael
All Saints' Chiang Mai 