After King Saul had broken the command of the LORD, he went home to Gibeah, and Samuel the prophet went to Ramah, and they never again set eyes on each other. Samuel was filled with grief over what Saul had become, and the LORD regretted having ever made Saul king over Israel.

One day the LORD said to Samuel, “It is time for you to get over your misery about Saul. I have had a gutful of him and I am going to end his reign. Fill up your flask with olive oil ready to anoint a new king. Go to Bethlehem and find a man named Jesse there, for I have chosen one of his sons to be my king.”

Samuel protested, “How can I do that? If Saul gets wind of it he will kill me.”

But the LORD replied, “Take a calf with you and tell everyone that you have come to a hold a feast offered in honour of me, the LORD. Invite Jesse and his family to join you for the feast, and then I will let you know what to do next. I will pick out one of Jesse’s sons, and you are to pour the oil on his head to mark him out as the next king.”

Samuel followed the LORD’s instructions and went to Bethlehem. The town officials were unnerved by his arrival, and went out to meet him asking, “What brings you to town? Have we done something wrong, or are you just passing through in peace?”

Samuel replied, “Nothing’s wrong. I am here to offer a feast to the LORD. Go and prepare yourselves properly and then come and join me for the occasion.”

Samuel also invited Jesse and his family to the feast and instructed them to prepare themselves properly. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab, and thought to himself, “He has got to be the one the LORD has chosen.”

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t be fooled by how big and impressive he looks. He is not the man for me, because I, the LORD, am not impressed by the same things that impress you people. People judge others by their outward appearance, but I look beneath that and see what makes them tick.”

Then Jesse introduced Samuel to his next son, Abinadab, but Samuel said, “No, this is not the one the LORD sent me to find.”

Jesse introduced his next son, Shammah, but Samuel said, “This is not the one the LORD sent me to find either.”

Jesse introduced seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel was convinced that none of them was the one the LORD had chosen. So he asked Jesse, “Are all your sons here?”

Jesse replied, “My youngest boy is not here. He is out on the farm taking care of some sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send someone to get him as quickly as possible, for we will not sit down to this meal until he arrives.”

So Jesse sent someone to get his youngest son, David, and bring him to the feast. David was a good-looking, fresh-faced kid, and his eyes were full of life. As soon as he walked in, the LORD said, “Samuel, get up and anoint him, because this is the one I have chosen.”

So Samuel took out his flask of oil and poured it on David’s head in full view of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD took hold of David and was powerfully at work in him from that moment on. With his mission accomplished, Samuel got up and headed back home to Ramah.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Be there for your chosen ones when trouble hits, LORD.
Use the influence of your name to protect them!
Send help from your sacred home,
and give them support from Mount Zion.

Remember all they have given you in the past,
and treasure the gifts they have offered up to you.

Give them their heart’s desire, LORD,
and make all their plans come out right.
Prove yourself a winner and set them cheering;
inspire them to fly your flag and chant your name.
Give them all they ask for, LORD.

We know you will help your chosen ones, LORD;
you will reach out your hand from heaven
and answer their prayers with a great victory.

Some people get arrogant about their military might,
or the resources at their disposal,
but the only thing we put our pride in, O LORD our God,
is belonging to you and bearing your name.
That mob are heading for disaster,
but we will come out on top and stand proud.

Give victory to your chosen ones, LORD;
be there for us when we call.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

As long as we remain living out our daily lives here in our bodies, we are not able to go and be with the Lord. All the same, we remain full of confidence, because it is what we put our trust in that keeps us on track, not what our eyes tell us. So we are confident all right — you bet we are — and if we could have our way we would rather pull up stumps, leave our bodies behind us, and go home to be with the Lord. But in truth, nothing really hangs on whether we are here or there. The only thing that really matters is that we set our sights on pleasing the Lord. At the end of the day, every one of us will have to front up before Christ when he sits down at the pay desk to judge our work. We will be paid what we deserve for the way we have lived our daily lives here in our bodies, whether we have done right, or done wrong.

Therefore, knowing our place before the Lord, we do our best to get the message through to others. But of course, God already knows us inside out, and I hope that in your heart of hearts you have got the full picture on us too. We are not trying to blow our own trumpet here. Instead we want to give you the chance to boast about us so that you can set the record straight with those who are always gloating about how good they are, when all they are doing is putting on a good face and hiding what is really going on inside. When we seem to be off our heads, we are just letting it all hang out for God. When we seem to have our heads on straight, we are taking care for your sakes. Indeed, it is the love of Christ that drives us on; because we are inspired by his example of one laying down his life for everybody else. When he died, we all died. He died for everybody, so that those who live might be set free from living as slaves to their own selfish desires, and might instead live for him who died for them and was raised to life for them.

Because of all this, nowadays we are careful not to assume that people are nothing more than what our eyes and ears tell us about them. In the past we made that mistake with Christ, but we now know a lot more of him than our eyes or ears alone could detect. Whenever anyone unites themselves to Christ, something new is created. What that person was becomes a thing of the past; they get a whole new start in life!

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Jesus used some stories to teach his followers, saying, “Here is a good illustration of the culture of God. A bloke empties a few packets of veggie seeds all over his back yard, and then just goes about his business, night and day, without giving them a second thought. The seeds sprout and grow, but the bloke has got no idea how it happens. Nature does the job, all by itself. First the shoots pop up, then before long the plants take shape, and then one day there is a bumper crop of veggies in the back yard. And once they are ripe, it doesn’t matter that the bloke doesn’t know how it happened. It’s not going to stop him going out into the yard with his knife and picking himself a feast at harvest time.”

Jesus also said, “What else can we compare the culture of God with? How can we picture it? It is a bit like a mustard seed. When it gets planted in the garden, it is so small, you wouldn’t even know it was there. But once planted, it grows into a huge weed. It goes berserk and starts throwing out branches big enough that a flock of galahs could build nests in its shade!”

Jesus used lots of these sort of illustrations to get the message through to the people. Everything he had to say to them was said in stories, but when he was alone with his closest followers, he explained things in more detail.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.

The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

This is what the Lord GOD says:

I will personally choose a sprig
from the crown of a towering tree
and cut it loose.
I will get one with tender leaves
from among the new growth at the very top.

I will plant it myself
on top of the highest mountain.
I will plant it
on the great mountain of Israel
so that it may grow to be a mighty tree
with massive branches and loads of fruit.

Birds of every kind will find shelter in it,
building nests in its shady branches.
Everything that flies will be up there!

Then every tree in every field will know for sure
that I am the LORD.

I cut down the big trees
and raise up the little ones.
I wither the lush green trees,
and make the dry ones flourish again.

I the LORD give you my word on this,
and I do what I say.

©2009 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

It is a privilege to be able to publicly thank you, LORD,
to sing your praises and put your name up in lights.
It is great to start the day singing about your rock-solid love,
with a full band ringing out the tune,
and to end it thanking you for being so loyal and trustworthy,
accompanying our praise with guitars.

For you, O LORD, have given us so much to be happy about;
what you have done with your own hands
sets us singing and dancing for joy.

People who always do the right thing by others
will thrive like a tropical rainforest
and grow strong like a river redgum.
They have put down their roots in your soil, LORD,
and they will brighten up your temple like flowers.
Even when they grow old they will still be fruitful,
healthy and vibrant and pulsing with life.
They are a credit to you, LORD,
proving for all to see that you are straight and true.
You are our rock,
and there is nothing rotten or crooked in you.

©2009 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your kingdom grows from the smallest beginnings,
and you have given us all a home in the shelter of your love.

You created the heavens and the earth,
and from the tiniest seeds, you filled the earth with life.
You called your people to walk by faith, not by sight,
and you anointed faithful rulers to lead them in your ways.

Your child, Jesus, came among us
sharing stories of your love and grace
and teaching us the mysteries of your kingdom.
He died at the hands of those who take pride in brute force,
and in his death, all have died.
But you raised him to life for us,
and in him everything has become new.
Now we are confident that you will grant
our heart’s true desire:
to be at home with you forever.

Therefore with .....

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who shared stories of your kingdom
and who died so that we might no longer live for ourselves,
but live as new creations in him
who you raised to life for us
and made all things new.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your kingdom grows from the smallest beginnings,
and you have given us all a home in the shelter of your love.

You created the heavens and the earth,
and from the tiniest seeds, you filled the earth with life.
You called your people to walk by faith, not by sight,
and you anointed faithful rulers to lead them in your ways.

Your child, Jesus, came among us
sharing stories of your love and grace
and teaching us the mysteries of your kingdom.
He died at the hands of those who take pride in brute force,
and in his death, all have died.
But you raised him to life for us,
and in him everything has become new.
Now we are confident that you will grant
our heart’s true desire:
to be at home with you forever.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The Lord does not see as we see, but looks on the heart.
If anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
everything has become new.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go out, and live no longer for yourselves,
but for him who died and was raised for you.
Walk by faith, not by sight,
and judge others only by the integrity of their hearts.
Make it your aim to please the Lord,
and to persuade others of the love of Christ.

And may God answer you in times of trouble and protect you;
May Christ Jesus grant you your heart’s desire;
and may the Holy Spirit take hold of you mightily from this day forward.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net