After Lent and Easter we have returned to our trip through the Bible with today’s readings from 1 Samuel, a passage where the people are rejecting Samuel’s leadership and asking for a king, which they have seen in other nations.  We’ve seen and will see in our trip through the scriptures that God has a plan and design for what the kingdom should be, but the people continually turn aside and choose worldly things over what God would have them choose.  In this particular case it is a choice between God’s kingdom and a worldly kingdom, like the other nations.  Early Christians proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord” rather than “Caesar is lord.”  We, too, have to decide what to put at the center of our lives, and we do that in proclaiming, “We are Easter people!”    (NOTE: Reflecting the importance of the Word, the video begins with the scripture, but once it starts you can scroll back to the beginning of the service if you want.  The entire service is videoed.)