​Sit down, close your eyes and breathe three deep, slow breaths.

Opening Prayers
Sit down, close your eyes and breathe three deep, slow breaths.
Keeping your eyes closed – pay attention to your breath for a minute or more and in doing so,
when you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in the love of God.
When you open your eyes look around you, what do you notice in your room that reminds you
of the love of God?
If this is something you can hold, hold it, if it is to be looked at, look at it. As you do so,
remember that you are in the presence of God.
When you are ready, offer this time of worship to God, and you might like to say these words out
loud:
“Around me and within me, Spirit of God I thank you for your presence here.
I offer each breath in worship to you.
Amen”

You may now wish to say the Lord’s Prayer in a version or translation with which you are
familiar

Reading: Luke 20:27-38 The Resurrection and Marriage27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Responding to the reading
In this passage, a group of Sadducees come to Jesus with a question. But it’s not a genuine
inquiry, it’s a trap. The Sadducees don’t believe in resurrection, so they present an elaborate
hypothetical situation meant to make belief in life after death seem ridiculous.
They describe a woman who marries seven brothers (according to the law at the time), and they
ask: “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”
Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Instead, He shifts the whole conversation. He tells them they’re
thinking too small, too literally. The resurrection, he says, is not a continuation of the same old
systems. It’s not just more of this life, extended indefinitely. It’s something altogether new.
He says, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to God all are alive.”
It’s a breathtakingly hopeful vision. The God Jesus reveals isn’t preoccupied with rules or legal
puzzles. God is the God of now and forever, the God who brings life where there was death,
meaning where there was confusion, and hope where there was despair.
For us, this story is a reminder that God’s ways are bigger than our categories. The Sadducees
were stuck in systems of marriage, inheritance, and legal status. But Jesus invites them – and
us – into a wider imagination. Resurrection life is not just about what happens after we die. It’s
about what kind of life we are living now.

​Do we live as if God is the God of the living?
Do we see each person – especially those who are excluded, questioned, or diminished – as
beloved and fully alive in God’s eyes?
Do we believe that transformation is always possible, that the systems and patterns that bind us
are not the end of the story?
In a world that can feel cynical, transactional, and small-minded, this passage challenges us to
live with deeper hope. To believe in the sacredness of every life. To trust in a God who
transcends death, not just biologically, but spiritually, socially, and morally. A God who is always
working to bring life.
So today, reflect on this:
- Where do I need to expand my imagination about God, life, or others?
- Where might I be clinging to outdated systems or assumptions?
- How can I live more fully now, with resurrection hope at the centre?
May you be a disciple of the living God, not stuck in what has been, but alive to what is possible
through love.

Hymn / Song
46 STF – Everlasting God, the years go by



​

​Responding in prayer
God of yesterday, today and all the days that are to come
Today, I pray for the Church, for its leaders and all its members
That they may work together to make the gospel known,
That the Church may reach out, demonstrating and embodying your love.
God of history, of the now, and of all that which is to be
I pray for the communities of which I am a part.
For my friends and families
For colleagues with whom I work
For those whom I meet at the social club, the gym, the shops,
on public transport or at the health centre...
Wherever I encounter others,
Help me to build bridges, to offer the hand of friendship,
the listening ear and the open heart.
I hold before you those whose particular needs I know,
Some are awaiting medical assessment or treatment
Some will receive difficult diagnoses
Others will anticipate the restoration of good health.
Lord, hear my prayer,
Amen.
​
Blessing
May you go with the courage to join in with God’s prophetic, transformative work, here in this
community, in your home, in your life, and throughout the world.
May you go, knowing that the Spirit of God goes with you.
Amen.

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