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| Summary: The Christmas message without distortion is “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” |
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| Summary: John the Baptist, as portrayed in the beginning of Mark’s gospel, gives us a model for what active, generative waiting looks like. It’s waiting with hope that comes from outside of us, hope that transforms us, hope that points us toward where the spirit of the living Christ is active in the world, asking us to join him in helping to heal the world.
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| Summary: John the Baptist announces a new era of God’s salvation and invites his audience to realign in light of its coming. John’s preaching creates an expectation that the age of darkness is over. |
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| Summary: When we feel ourselves in the wilderness, hungering and thirsting for God, God will be there for us. And when we are feeling strong and refreshed, God calls us to move out into the world to serve others in need, all in the name of Jesus Christ. |
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| Summary: Prophets aren’t so much people who predict the future as people who give us the hard truths about the world we live in. They are the ones who tell us how it is and help us repent and turn back to God so we can be more open to the transformation God brings to us through the incarnation. |
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| Summary: The act of baptism brings pleasure to God. |
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| Summary: Christ was baptized not because he was a sinner but to show his commitment to live righteously as God’s Son and to identify with those who are in need of repentance and baptism. That, of course, includes us all. |
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| Summary: John the Baptist proclaims that, in Jesus Christ, God has saved the best for last. |
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| Summary: Baptism has both short-term and long-term benefits for believers, even today. |
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| Summary: Jesus didn’t explain why he felt he needed John to baptize him, but the act revealed who Jesus was and what his mission would be. Although Christians have shed blood over how to do and understand baptism, the important thing to remember is that baptism marks our individual entry into the communal mission of the church to spread Christ’s good news. |
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| Summary: As Jesus begins the ministry of God’s kingdom at his baptism, we are baptized to continue that ministry.
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| Summary: Jesus started his mission by allowing John the Baptist to baptize him. As Christ’s followers, we are ordained to follow his directions and his example. If we are open to the presence of the Holy Spirit we will find the power to serve in ways we can scarcely imagine. |
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| Summary: God’s love is present even in the wilderness, which can give us hope to carry on. |
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| Summary: In Mark 1:14-15, Jesus gives us the essence of his good news. |
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| Summary: When we are on the wrong path, we need someone to tell us so — maybe even Jesus! |
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| Summary: The way to the good news of the kingdom of God is through a difficult door, repentance. Jesus said so |
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| Summary: Jesus invited his disciples to cast their nets widely and “catch” men and women to serve the kingdom of God. They fished with faith, trusting that their prayer and action would yield good results. |
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| Summary: The beginning of each Christian life, however that takes place, is important, but that life is a continual response to God’s call. |
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| Summary: The alarm has gone off! The kingdom of God is near, in the sense of being close by and in the sense of being on the way. There may be a cost to count, but the kingdom of God trumps the kingdoms of this world, whether political, economic or entertainingly distracting. Turn around. Change your way of thinking. Follow Jesus. |
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| Summary: Jesus calls the first four disciples and they immediately give up everything they have to follow him. There is no process of building faith or learning discipleship. Instead, there is instant obedience. While we tend to stand in awe of the disciples’ response, we must also be awed by Jesus’ instant grace. Jesus works in our lives in the exact same way. He encounters us, accepts us immediately and summons us to follow him. |
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| Summary: Mark doesn’t waste words in getting to the heart of his message. The Baptist’s arrest reminds us of dangers as Jesus comes proclaiming God’s kingdom. Because the reign of God comes near, people are called to change their thinking and become part of that movement. And Jesus calls four fishermen to be the first of many to be instruments of the reconciliation that he brings. |
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| Summary: Jesus’ initial public act of ministry in the synagogue at Capernaum called the community to realign its life and values around the announcement of the coming of God’s age of salvation. His ministry to us calls for a similar realignment from us. |
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| Summary: Following Jesus means recognizing his authority in our lives, and using the authority derived from him to exorcise the unclean spirits of our age. |
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| Summary: In the story of the demoniac in the Capernaum synagogue, we are shown someone who can be found in the midst of the community of faith, yet who is isolated and all alone. When Jesus heals, Jesus restores the relationships between God and all of us. It may not occur to us that people in our midst feel isolated even when they’re sitting in our midst. But it happens. For that matter, some of us may not have figured out we’re the ones who feel apart and lost. We have a part to play in the healing, in the restoration and in the salvation. |
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| Summary: We should never give in to despair, even when our efforts seem to make no real difference against the suffering of the world. Jesus’ victory over the unclean spirit teaches us that God ultimately will win the victory over evil. |
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| Summary: What does the New Testament mean when it speaks of the authority that people saw in Jesus? Is this authority something that was available only to him, or is it possible that his followers might have at least a measure of it? And if so, what is the secret? |
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| Summary: Our gospel reading is the first of six stories in the New Testament about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Usually that provoked criticism. But if we look at the full significance of the Sabbath in scripture, we see that it was just the right time for healing to take place. It was a sign that the kingdom of God, the goal of creation, was breaking in. Now, in the renewal of creation brought about by Jesus’ resurrection, we are on our way to that goal and are called to be God’s instruments for the healing of the world. |
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| Summary: Jesus’ exorcism of an unclean spirit teaches us about the spiritual dimension to evil and the role of the church in fighting evil.
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| Summary: In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins ministry right away, defining his identity by action. In the midst of all of Jesus’ teachings and healings, and a battle with evil, Jesus takes time to pray. Prayer empowers us for our ministries. |
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| Summary: We need regular times of retreat and spiritual renewal. |
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| Summary: Mark tells the story of Christ’s coming to a world out of joint and in need of a compassionate Savior. |
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| Summary: Sabbath time is a different quality of time — and that’s subversive! |
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| Summary: We can look at Jesus in more ways than one, but the way we choose to look will have an impact on the depth of our faith and will determine how we can make the difference that he calls us to make. We might even say that the way we look at Jesus determines whether our Christianity is genuine. |
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| Summary: Jesus resists the temptation to build a huge following using miracles and healings as the draw. He stays focused on his mission. |
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| Summary: This ancient story showcases Jesus’ compassion and provides a powerful message about asking for help. When we recognize our need and open our hearts to God’s healing presence, our lives and spirits can be renewed. |
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| Summary: While God is clearly able to do anything, he is not always willing to do everything. When we pray, “Lord, thy will be done,” we concede that, perhaps, God will not act in ways that we think best. There is never any legitimate excuse for disobedience, even experiencing the miraculous. When the Lord’s directions are clear, we must not deviate from them, no matter how attractive the detour. |
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| Summary: Jesus heals a man of leprosy, a disease that made him ritually unclean and a social outcast. Jesus’ response shows his compassion for sufferers, and he restores the man to physical health and membership in the community. Jesus goes about his saving work, healing humanity of even deeper illnesses. |
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| Summary: Just as Jesus healed the leper of his illness and his isolation, so the Risen Christ heals us of our alienation from God and one another. Christ then calls us to love others in the same daring way. The risen Christ will do what it takes to reach us. |
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| Summary: This passage tells a story of God’s wrath that turns the usual stories of God’s wrath upside down. The wrath of Jesus, and the wrath of God, are aimed at those who would declare that sickness and disease are signs of God’s wrath. |
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| Summary: Jesus touched a man with leprosy and healed him, and then instructed him to say nothing to anyone about who had healed him. But the man proclaimed it to everyone he saw. This man who could previously go nowhere now moved about freely; Jesus, who had been going anywhere he wanted, could now no longer go into town openly. Jesus paid a price to heal, and he paid a greater price when he went to the cross for us all. |
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| Summary: Righteous indignation has an important role in the Christian life. Its energy can melt the ice of indifference. But once we have acknowledged our anger, would should let compassion, not wrath, win the day. |
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