The beginning…

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8, NRSV)

Here we see the story of John the Baptist, one who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. To help the people prepare for the coming Messiah.

But if all we come away with here is a weird guy wearing camel hides and eating bugs was shouting at people, I think we have misses the boat, or the point…

The gospel of Mark ends with the woman running from the empty tomb, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8) Not a really good ending to the story, but it actually isn’t the end…

You see Mark gives us the beginning. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ! And today you continue the story!

We are still writing the story of the good news of Jesus Christ by living our lives as the beacon of hope and spreading His love!

footstool

The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes. Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you. The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth. He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head. (Psalm 110, NRSV)

God says to the Messianic King, who is the Lord of David, Sit here on the throne at my right hand, until I subject all of the world to you!

You will rule over all and people will willingly offer themselves to you. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

The image of the footstool of the enemies is what sticks out to me in the passage. Can you imagine using your enemies as your footstool? It is great imagery! And a wonderful thought. It shows complete surrender to the will of the other. And this is not only something that God wants for the enemies of Christ, but for all of us! To be so fully committed to following and trusting the Lord that we will do whatever we need to do to move forward the mission and ministry of Christ in the world!

So follow and trust. He will never leave you nor forsake you and He will rule all!

Rest

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (Revelation 14:13, NRSV)

Do you ever feel like you never get a break?

Like you are constantly running?

Going to this meeting…

Going to that party…

Always working or running to make the next meet/game/concert/event for a kid…

Sometimes it seems like our work is never done, and we will never get any rest.

And in some things that is true, but you see we need to make the rest.

We have to take the time to slow ourselves down and see the world around us and see what God wants us to see with His eyes!

We need to do His labor and know that we will have rest. When we follow and trust Him, when we rest eternally we will be blessed and have rest in the Lord.

So slow down this season and look for what God is showing you, and trust that He is always with us!

 

Be alert

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:25-36, NRSV)

This generation will not pass away until these things have happened…

Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will not. We rest in the assurance we will be with God in Heaven right?

Well if that is the case, Jesus just shot that down, because Heaven and earth will pass away He just told us here.

We rest in the promise we will be with God in His kingdom. And we have to be alert and aware of what He is calling us to do, and where He is leading us.

We have to be alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic to do what God is setting before us to do! Knowing He will give us the strength to do all He asks us to do,.

Gather

“Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31, NRSV)

The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give light and the stars will fall from Heaven….

Scary stuff…

Yet we have seen “stars” fall from Heaven in meteor showers, and the sun has eclipsed which is not giving light, which then I guess would not allow the moon to give light either because of the sun providing light for the moon…

It is hard to take this literally even thought it could be literal language because it has all happened…

But never have we seen after these events Jesus in the clouds with a trumpet blast.

But we do believe we will be called to meet Him when the kingdom of God comes in its fullness.

He will gather His people together and He will be with us! It is a promise regardless of when it comes, it is a promise we can count on.