Notices 5th July 2026

A special welcome to everyone joining us in worship at Kingston today.

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Leaving, cleaving, becoming one

Marriage customs are fluid. Within our own lived experience, we will have noticed a diversity of ways in which the people we know have formed a view of who would be an appropriate partner for life, and of the different ways they made their marriages and built their families. At first reading, the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah seems culturally very different, but for many Australians the processes underpinning the experience of Isaac and Rebekah resonate strongly with contemporary experience. A closer look reveals to us that many of the common elements present in the lead up to marriage in our own time can be identified in the story of Isaac and Rebekah as recounted in Genesis.

At one level, the account of Isaac finding a wife has a certain ordinariness, just part of the cycle of life that forms the backdrop of many of the stories of the patriarchs and matriarchs and of ourselves. However, Abraham’s trust in God’s promises, blessing and guidance, is far from ordinary and should give us pause for thought. It invites us to reflect on God’s involvement in the ordinary things of our lives, and upon our own experience of finding and sharing life with a partner.

Happy remembering!

Peter Gunn