Beginning

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, 2 happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah: Look, I am sending my messenger before you. He will prepare your way, 3 a voice shouting in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.” 4 John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. 5 Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals.8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8, CEB)

The beginning of the good news!

Here in Mark we see the beginning of the good news comes as Jesus is about to start his ministry. It isn’t at the birth, it is as John proclaims to make paths straight and prepare the way of the savior.

It is the hope we have in the birth of the savior that gives us the good news that drives out all of the fear we will encounter.

So know that the story is still be written, and go and share love.

Who do you want to impress?

27 Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. 28 They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet. 33 They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.” (Mark 11:27-33, CEB)

Isn’t it interesting how we have to think about an answer because of what might happen based on how we answer?

Have you ever answered a question in a way that would make the person asking you like you more? Have you ever manipulated the answer to a question to get the right response?

That is what the chief priests, legal experts and elders are doing. They do not want to answer with their understanding but for how the answer will be perceived. And when we do this we are not living in the truth. We are letting the hope of the coming savior not be a part of our life.

Through Jesus being in your life you know the truth, and when you live in Jesus the hope of Christ is always with you. Answer in that hope and share the truth. Live the love that God has given us.

Hope shared

19 Now those who were scattered as a result of the trouble that occurred because of Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They proclaimed the word only to Jews. 20 Among them were some people from Cyprus and Cyrene. They entered Antioch and began to proclaim the good news about the Lord Jesus also to Gentiles. 21 The Lord’s power was with them, and a large number came to believe and turned to the Lord. 22 When the church in Jerusalem heard about this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw evidence of God’s grace, he was overjoyed and encouraged everyone to remain fully committed to the Lord. 24 Barnabas responded in this way because he was a good man, whom the Holy Spirit had endowed with exceptional faith. A considerable number of people were added to the Lord. 25 Barnabas went to Tarsus in search of Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. They were there for a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching large numbers of people. It was in Antioch where the disciples were first labeled “Christians.” (Acts 11:19-26, CEB)

As we wait for Jesus to be born to us as a baby in the manger in this season of advent, we see the hope that comes after Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension back to God in the spreading of the message of Love of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit worked in and through the early followers of the way and showed them the love and message to share as they went thought the world.

We are in stilled with that same hope and the same spirit and sent to share there same love.

Live in that hope and share the love of Christ every day!

Hope in Jesus

2 We always thank God for all of you when we mention you constantly in our prayers. 3 This is because we remember your work that comes from faith, your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.4 Brothers and sisters, you are loved by God, and we know that he has chosen you. 5 We know this because our good news didn’t come to you just in speech but also with power and the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know as well as we do what kind of people we were when we were with you, which was for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord when you accepted the message that came from the Holy Spirit with joy in spite of great suffering. 7 As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The message about the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place. The news about your faithfulness to God has spread so that we don’t even need to mention it. 9 People tell us about what sort of welcome we had from you and how you turned to God from idols. As a result, you are serving the living and true God, 10 and you are waiting for his Son from heaven. His Son is Jesus, who is the one he raised from the dead and who is the one who will rescue us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-10, CEB)

We see your hope in Jesus and how that has carried you through.

When we imitate our teachers of the faith we can grow closer to Christ and God and strengthen your relationship with God. By focusing our lives on Christ and the hope we have in Jesus we will grow in our faith and share love with the world around us.

Hope will always over come fear, anxiety and any other evil we will encounter in this world.

So live in the hope we have in Christ. And love the world as you go.

Get lost

34 “Take care that your hearts aren’t dulled by drinking parties, drunkenness, and the anxieties of day-to-day life. Don’t let that day fall upon you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. It will come upon everyone who lives on the face of the whole earth. 36  Stay alert at all times, praying that you are strong enough to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand before the Human One.” 37 Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, but he spent each night on the Mount of Olives. 38 All the people rose early in the morning to hear him in the temple area. (Luke 21:34-38, CEB)

We need to not get lost in the fear and anxiety of this world so we give in to the downward spiral of the world. We must stay above board and focus our lives on Jesus. Do not let yourself be caught up in the fear and hate of this world that you lose sight of what is coming to us in a manger in 23 days.

Christ our savior came to us and gave us the understanding of loving the world, but not being a part of it.

Follow after Christ and do not live in fear, but share God’s love.

Love over fear

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was filled with light because of his glory. 2 He called out with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a home for demons and a lair for every unclean spirit. She is a lair for every unclean bird, and a lair for every unclean and disgusting beast 3 because all the nations have fallen due to the wine of her lustful passion. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich from the power of her loose and extravagant ways.” 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t take part in her sins and don’t receive any of her plagues. 5 Her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God remembered her unjust acts. 6 Give her what she has given to others. Give her back twice as much for what she has done. In the cup that she has poured, pour her twice as much. 7 To the extent that she glorified herself and indulged her loose and extravagant ways, give her pain and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit like a queen! I’m not a widow. I’ll never see grief.’ 8 This is why her plagues will come in a single day—deadly disease, grief, and hunger. She will be consumed by fire because the Lord God who judges her is powerful. 9 “The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and shared her loose and extravagant ways, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of the pain she suffers, and they will say, ‘Oh, the horror! Babylon, you great city, you powerful city! In a single hour your judgment has come.’ (Revelation 18:1-10, CEB)

Fear is pervasive in our society. And it is easy to get caught into it if we look into ourselves and only worry about what is best for us.

We can easily get caught up in the need for our own desires and pleasures, that we lose sight of others and their needs.

But we are in the season of Advent, where we wait for Jesus to be born to us as our savior on Christmas. And in that act, God stepped down from the throne and came to tent with us here. To dwell with us and to know our pains and suffering, to show us how to live. By loving everyone where they are. Loving them as they were created.

And yet when we focus on ourselves then the fear creeps in.

Do not dwell in the fear, but dwell with Christ.

Love over comes fear. Share the love of the coming savior.

who won’t fear…

Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven. There were seven angels with seven plagues—and these are the last, for with them God’s anger is brought to an end. 2 Then I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who gained victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing by the glass sea, holding harps from God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, king of the nations. 4 Who won’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? You alone are holy. All nations will come and fall down in worship before you, for your acts of justice have been revealed.” 5 After this I looked, and the temple in heaven—that is, the tent of witness—was opened. 6 The seven angels, who have the seven plagues, came out of the temple. They were clothed in pure bright linen and had gold sashes around their waists. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of the God who lives forever and always. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven last angels were brought to an end. (Revelation 15:1-8, CEB)

Who won’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name?

With all of these things that are coming for those who are not marked by God, who won’t fear you?

Is that the God that saves? Is this a loving God, a God we have to fear and wonder if we are truly a part of the kingdom that we won’t be smitten?

But is that what we need this season while we wait for the coming of the savior of the world? Do we need to up the fear and worry in the world?

The sentence before who wouldn’t fear you is “Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, king of the nations.” Great and awe-inspiring are your works and your ways are just and true. God makes us stand in awe of the works that are done and how just the way God acts. That will cast the fear away and we will fear/awe God.

So let us be in awe of God and follow where God is leading by loving God and loving others as we await the best gift all of us have ever been given!

Hope over fear!

24 “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. 25 The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken.26 Then they will see the Human One coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. 27 Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven. 28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. 30 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.  32 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows.  33 Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming.  34 It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert.  35 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!” (Mark 13:24-37, CEB)

The world is a scary place, and before it gets better it will get worse.

And there is already a lot of fear in the world and if things are going to get worse the fear will increase. But we do not have to live in fear even when we don’t know what will happen. We can know and have the promise that hope is greater than fear and the hope we have is in God, and will cover any fear and any thing that comes our way.

So live in hope over fear, and know that the coming baby in the manger is the hope we have and need and will always be with us.

hype

15 “When you see the disgusting and destructive thing that Daniel talked about standing in the holy place (the reader should understand this), 16 then those in Judea must escape to the mountains.17 Those on the roof shouldn’t come down to grab things from their houses. 18 Those in the field shouldn’t come back to grab their clothes. 19 How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children. 20 Pray that it doesn’t happen in winter or on the Sabbath day. 21 There will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see. 22 If that time weren’t shortened, nobody would be rescued. But for the sake of the ones whom God chose, that time will be cut short. 23 “Then if somebody says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Christ,’ or ‘He’s over here,’ don’t believe it. 24 False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen. 25 Look, I’ve told you ahead of time. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Look, he’s in the desert,’ don’t go out. And if they say, ‘Look, he’s in the rooms deep inside the house,’ don’t believe it. 27 Just as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so it will be with the coming of the Human One. 28 The vultures gather wherever there’s a dead body. 29 “Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Human One will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One coming in the heavenly clouds with power and great splendor. 31 He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.(Matthew 24:15-31, CEB)

When the Human One comes again it will not be good. But do not fear and follow after every person who says the Human One is coming.

We will know when the Human One is coming. Don’t believe the hype or buy into the fear people are projecting in this. It will be clear as the sign to the shepherds and the wise men.

Do not spread the fear, be calm and steadfast in the Lord, and know the baby we wait for is the one we await the return of and we will know.

Live in Jesus’ love and stop the spread of fear.

Spread Love

So then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to keep living the way you already are and even do better in how you live and please God—just as you learned from us.2 You know the instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 God’s will is that your lives are dedicated to him. This means that you stay away from sexual immorality 4 and learn how to control your own body in a pure and respectable way. 5 Don’t be controlled by your sexual urges like the Gentiles who don’t know God. 6 No one should mistreat or take advantage of their brother or sister in this issue. The Lord punishes people for all these things, as we told you before and sternly warned you. 7 God didn’t call us to be immoral but to be dedicated to him. 8 Therefore, whoever rejects these instructions isn’t rejecting a human authority. They are rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 9 You don’t need us to write about loving your brothers and sisters because God has already taught you to love each other. 10 In fact, you are doing loving deeds for all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. Now we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do so even more. 11 Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you. 12 That way you’ll behave appropriately toward outsiders, and you won’t be in need. 13 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose, so we also believe that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus. 15 What we are saying is a message from the Lord: we who are alive and still around at the Lord’s coming definitely won’t go ahead of those who have died. 16 This is because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with the signal of a shout by the head angel and a blast on God’s trumpet. First, those who are dead in Christ will rise.17 Then, we who are living and still around will be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet with the Lord in the air. That way we will always be with the Lord. 18 So encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18, CEB)

So encourage each other with these words…

Do not beat each other up over the mistakes that you make but Love each other as God has loved you. There is enough fear in the world without us saying that if those around us do not live the same way we do they will not be loved or accepted by God.

So as we wait for Jesus to come to us as a baby in a manger, let us work on not spreading fear, but spreading love.