The Last Shall Be First

   How many times do we truly welcome someone who can't help us get ahead? Stop and think about this for a moment. In churches, what is our motive for welcoming people? Is it because we are excited to be part of someone's faith journey? Or is it that someone chose us? Or that we think that person may just be perfect to serve on a committee and help boost our numbers again?
    In Mark 9: 33-37, we, through the lens of the disciples, are asked to evaluate our motives. Do we do what we do as disciples to bring ourselves glory or to bring God glory? Do we want to be the greatest or to be a servant? Are we willing to risk showing the authentic love of Christ without getting a reward?
   The Gospel of Mark, and particularly this passage, invites us to look into our hearts and confess the times when we have made the Good News about us and not about Christ. To turn to God and ask for forgiveness for times when we have not willingly set ourselves aside for the sake of the Kingdom. And to renew our commitment to serving God with all we have and all we are so that God's name may be proclaimed.

“The Gospel of Mark: The Last Shall Be First” - Mark 9: 30-37 Devo

June 25th, 2017

Devotional

“The Gospel of Mark: The Last Shall Be First” - Mark 9: 30-37

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “The Son of Man is to be Betrayed” - Mark 9: 30-32

The disciples also knew that they had to prepare. Jesus had told them time and time again that something was coming - that he would be killed and then would rise again. Only they didn’t understand it. Not the first time they were told, and not on this instance either. There was something about how Jesus was talking - the mixture of sadness and intensity in his eyes that caused them to be just as afraid as the words he was speaking. What did he mean that he would be delivered into the hands of man?

  The disciples knew that not everyone loved Jesus the way that they did. They understood that Jesus seemed to caused a disturbance wherever he went. They saw the ways that the Pharisees whispered about him in disapproval - but how could any of those people hand him over to be killed? And why would he rise again. Dead men didn’t rise. At the very best, God lifted them up into the heavens before their death - but dead people coming back to life, especially after three days, was unheard of. 

Sometimes, we too, do not know how to react to what Jesus is trying to teach us. We pick and choose the scriptures we relate to and like and brush others aside. We are quick to minister to those we like and slower to be present to those who are our neighbors, in the broadest sense of the term. Yet, not everything Jesus says is easy to understand, but it is vital to our walk as disciples. 

Tell of a time you didn’t understand where Jesus was leading you. How did you respond?

Prayer: Jesus, we come before you today and admit that we do not always understand. We do not understand where you are leading or how we are to respond. Help us we pray. Meet us in our unbelief and lift the veil from our eyes. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Who is the Greatest” - Mark 9: 33-34

The disciples needed a distraction from all of this teaching that saddened and confused them so they found themselves returning to their favorite subject - who was going to be the greatest. Who was going to rule with Jesus. Because to rule you needed to be alive and surely their rabbi was going to live for a long time, just to teach them. 

  Jesus must have overheard them however because he asked them what they were discussing. But no one would answer him. Then he started up with his confusing teachings again - to be first you needed to be last, very last, and be a servant. That was not what they had signed up for. No they wanted to be first. Not a servant.

Do we want to be a servant? Or do focus on the rewards of service instead of seeking just to serve on behalf of our Lord and Savior?

What are some of the images that come to your mind about being first and last?

What does it mean to you to live like a servant?

Prayer: Lord, help us to have servant’s hearts. We know Lord, that we would prefer to be first instead of last. Prefer to be served instead of to serve. But you call us to have your heart - a servant’s heart. We cannot do it alone, O Lord. Help us, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Welcomes One Such Child” - Mark 9: 35-37

Then he picked up a child - a child! - and said that only if they welcomed a child, one whom they didn’t even know, they could welcome him. Jesus, we don’t understand! Why do you make things so difficult!

  Even with knowing about Jesus’ death and resurrection, even with all of the writings of the church mothers and fathers and two-thousand years of being the church to work in our favor, I’m not sure we understand Jesus’s teachings any better today then his disciples did so many years ago. But now is the time to pray that we understand Jesus’s teachings a little more each day so we can more fully live into them. Time to pray for the needs that surrounds us.

What do you think Jesus was saying by referring to the little child?

What do you think the disciples miss about this teaching? What do we miss?

Prayer: Lord, sometimes we don’t get it. Sometimes we think your ministry is about lifting us up and leaving others behind. Sometimes we forget about the children, the vulnerable, those overlooked by society. Forgive us we pray. Help us realign our priorities with your Kingdom. Amen. 

Thursday: “The First Must Be Last” - Mark 9: 33-37

Even with knowing about Jesus’ death and resurrection, even with all of the writings of the church mothers and fathers and two-thousand years of being the church to work in our favor, I’m not sure we understand Jesus’s teachings any better today then his disciples did so many years ago.

One of the things that I am called into ministry to do is listen to stories. Especially the stories of those who have left the church who have been hurt by church. At times I just want to weep when I hear about people who have been hurt by people who, like the disciples, just wanted to exercise their power, to let others know that they were greater than then. This season is our time to repent church of hurting people. To ask God for forgiveness for not putting first things first.

What does it look like in your life to be last? 

Prayer: Lord, we come today to repent. To repent for the times when we have let power obstruct our hearts. Times when the church has not put first things first and has hurt people, intentionally and unintentionally. Forgive us, your people, we pray. Amen.

Friday: “But They Did Not Understand” - Mark 9: 30-37

Now is our time to be a people of prayer. A people who pray for those who are broken in this world, including ourselves. Now is the time to pray that we understand Jesus’s teachings a little more each day so we can more fully live into them. Time to pray for the needs that surrounds us.

May we also be a people who remember. We remember that we don’t know everything. We remember that we don’t have all of the answers. And we remember that we don’t fully understand, just like the disciples so long ago. 

What freedom comes from admitting that we do not understand?

How can we bring our lack of understanding before Christ?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for approaching us with care and compassion when we do not understand. Allow us to come to you with our lack of understanding and find grace. Remind us that we do not have to have all the answers or have it all together to be your children and serve you. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel in Storybooks: A Porcupine Named Fluffy” - Genesis 17: 5-15 and John 15:16

Family Activity: Practice being last. The last one to be served at dinner. The last one to get ready for bed. The last one to be picked for a game. How did it make you feel? What do you think Jesus meant about the first and the last?

Honor Me

     In scripture, we often see Jesus taking the ways that people think about things and turning them on their head. The teachings of Jesus were radical, but we've sanitized them today, and put enough distance between the teachings and us, that we sometimes miss the point. We made Jesus tame instead of letting his teachings and actions change us as well.
    The teaching in Mark 7 about clean and unclean is a perfect example. Jesus is essentially asking us a really difficult question - what makes something clean or unclean? And second, is that a reflection of the heart of God?
    Here's the thing, we can make scripture through interpretation say whatever we want it to say. But what we really need to be looking at is the Spirit - is the Spirit of our interpretation in line with the heart of God? Because if it isn't, if we make it more about our traditions or rules then about God, we've missed the point and we've dishonored God.
    Recently I watched the moving Loving, which tells of the court case that overturned the laws concerning inter-racial marriage. The judge that originally jailed the Loving's in Virginia for being an inter-racial couple used a lot of God-talk to justify his decision. But was that honoring to God? No.
    Traditions constantly need to be examined to see if they reflect the heart of God and honor God. Because too often we let our human interpretations speak for God instead of actually praying about God's intention. Let us not become people who focus so much on the law that we forget the Spirit, or so much on what we have made tradition that it blocks us from following the heart of God.

Honor Me Devo - Mark 7: 1-23

June 18th, 2017

Devotional

“The Gospel of Mark: Honor Me” - Mark 7: 1-23

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Why Don’t?” - Mark 7: 1-5

Imagine the scene. You are famished. You have spent a long day working and you sit down to dinner only to have your parents ask you if you washed your hands. The difference in today’s scripture between wha the disciples experienced and what we probably experienced in childhood is this - the disciples are essentially being accused of not being good Jews and breaking the traditions of the people.

Is washing your hands a good thing? Yes. Does it make you a bad Christian if you fail to wash your hands? No. As we saw last week, there was a lot of concern in the religious leaders teachings around eating practices, because who you associated with and what you put in your mouth could make you unclean. So the religious leaders ask Jesus what they think is an important question, “Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?

Have you ever noticed how much time, energy, and attention we can put into the wrong things. We can slip into the same mind set of the religious leaders in Jesus’s time today when we focus more on traditions then reflecting the heart of God. 

Tell of a time that you put too much time and energy into tradition. What did you learn?

Did the religious leaders teaching around clean/ unclean reflect the heart of God? Why or why not?

Prayer: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we miss the point. We put too much into keeping traditions that no longer honor you instead of seeking to build up your Kingdom. We become champions for following our interpretations of your rules instead of seeking after your heart. Help us we pray, to truly follow the spirit of your commands so that you can be honored and glorified. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Hold to Human Traditions” - Mark 7: 6-8

No one likes being called a hypocrite, but it is a word that is flung around a lot today. It means actor, pretender, or fake. The truth is we all risk becoming hypocrites from time to time when we become more engrossed in what we are doing then asking why we are doing it in the first place.

Sometimes we need to re-examine our traditions to make sure that they honor God with our hearts, and sometimes that will mean changing things. For example, one of the churches I served always had a big Christmas Eve service. One year in council someone asked why we have an offering on Christmas Eve and the reply came “because we always have done it that way.” After further examination we arrived at the fact that all of our worship services have a time of offering. Why? “Well that’s just the way it is.” Eventually we arrived at the conclusion that we have a time of offering to give our first fruits and very best to God. However, as a congregation they didn’t need that offering for their budget so they changed things to give one hundred  percent of the Christmas Eve offering away as an act to honor God. They re-examined and then re-worked the tradition.

Traditions add value to what we are doing, however, they are not meant to be the same forever. They are contextual. We need to make sure that our human traditions do not block our hearts from the leading of God. 

Tell of a time that you changed a tradition. Why did you do so? What happened?

Why are traditions important? Why must we constantly examine our traditions? How could our traditions unintentionally block us from following God?

Prayer: Lord, help us to get to the heart behind the traditions we hold on to. Help us to hold our traditions gently, offering them to you for examination and re-working. May we always honor you with what we do, both as individuals and collectively. Amen. 

Wednesday: “ The Traditions You Hand On” - Mark 7: 9-13

We do not set out to alter God’s intentions with our traditions, but it can happen from time to time. Traditions can be rich and can lead us even deeper in our relationship with God when they are used well. But they also can make us focus more on the tradition then on God if we aren’t careful.

In today’s scripture Jesus is talking about one of the Ten Commandments: “Honor thy Father and Mother.” Somewhere along the way, it had been changed a little and after time the tradition got handed on more then the Word of God, which became problematic. 

We have twisted the intentions of God to say extremely hurtful and untrue things over the years, using it to belittle other races that are not white. We have used it to say awful things about the Jewish religion. And then we have passed all of these hurtful things on from generation to generation without thought. We need to examine the Word of God to see how to reflects the heart of God instead of simply relying on what we think we have been taught, which becomes problematic.

How have we twisted scripture to hurt people and build ourselves up? 

What traditions have you seen dismantled in your life time that did not reflect the heart of God?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we can use your Word as a weapon. We have used it to justify our racism, sexism, and hurtful actions. We have taken your Word out of context for our own building up and tearing down. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “The Things That Come Out” - Mark 7: 14-16

Jesus starts to turn his comments and teaching away from the religious leaders and looks right into the crowds. They had been taught again and again through tradition that they had to be extremely careful about what goes into their bodies because it could defile them, but really it was what comes up that could defile.

Apparently, the disciples and the crowds continued to miss the point because re-thinking and dismantling tradition can be hard. Jump ahead to the book of Acts where Peter is given a dream multiple times concerning what he could eat. He kept hearing the voice of God telling him to eat animals appearing on a sheet that he refused to eat because tradition told him it would make him unclean. Eventually the voice tells him that nothing God has made clean can be deemed unclean, and finally, Peter understood.

We still don’t understand sometimes today. We judge people in ways that do not honor God. Why? Because we want to make ourselves feel better, superior. When words come out of our mouth that are meant to belittle other people, we are not clean. When we teach our children to bully other people, we are not clean. Our heart and our mouth are directly linked, and can be more poisonous then when we are putting in.

How can what comes out of our mouth be unclean?

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us we pray. Cleanse our hearts, our minds, and our mouth. Free us from saying and thinking things that do not honor you and exist only to lift us up amongst one another. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “For it is from Within” - Mark 7: 17-23

People usually do not just wake up one day and act in a way that belittles God’s name. For example, I once heard a teaching that folks don’t just fly off the handle one day and murder someone. Instead, there is usually a heart issue that starts deep inside them - anger, jealousy, etc. that festers until it becomes something akin to hate. That hate starts to manifest itself in intentions, thoughts of what a person would like to do. After time those intentions become actions, like murder.

The heart is the seat of where things start. The heart reflects our values and intentions. For us, as Christians, we need to be in prayer asking if our heart reflects the heart of God. If we value what God values or if we have let our values replace God’s values. If we have have let what we want replace what God wants. 

How does your heart reflect the heart of God?

How is the heart the beginning of all actions?

Prayer: Lord, we want our heart to beat for what your heart desires. Help us to value your values and love what you love. Help us to seek your peace in this world. Let us not become sucked into values and behaviors of the world that lead us astray such as anger, jealously, deceit, and pride. Free us to be your people. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel of Mark: The Last Will be First” - Mark 9: 33-37

Family Activity: Cut out a paper heart. Right in the middle of the heart the things that are important to God. How can we live out those things in our lives? 

Follow Me

   Once at a conference about Christian education for youth, I had the privilege of hearing the Getty's perform a new song in their set list - "Come People of the Risen King":
"Come, young and old from every land -
Men and women of the faith;
Come, those with full or empty hands -
Find the riches of His grace.
Over all the world, His people sing -
Shore to shore we hear them call
The Truth that cries through every age:
“Our God is all in all”

 

    As I was working on this particular sermon about following Christ, I found these words particularly appropriate. But they are missing something - they are missing our resistance sometimes to come and follow. We want to come on our own terms, and certainly not with everyone - we would prefer to come only with those who are like us, those who we like period. But instead, these lyrics paint a picture that remind us that when Christ comes again in all of his glory, we are going to be united with people who proclaim "Our God is all in all", not that we are all in all.

    If we have problems coming to follow Christ, we have an even greater struggle going - going outside of our comfort zones to proclaim Christ to those who don't know. Those who are seeking. Those who are struggling. We would rather stay inside of our church buildings and homes instead of going out into the world and inviting to the table those who Jesus would invite, those with whom Jesus interacted in his life. 

    There is room at the table, friends. Room for people to come. Room for those who are seeking. Room for those who need the healing of Jesus. We just need to be willing to invite them to the love of a Savior. 

Follow Me Devo - Mark 2: 13-17

June 11th, 2017

Devotional

“The Gospel of Mark: Follow Me” - Mark 2: 13-17

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “He Taught Them” - Mark 2: 13

While this scene takes places early in Jesus’s ministry in the Gospel of Mark, crowds are already starting to gather around him. But I want us to pause this day and ask who was in this crowd who came to hear Jesus teach as it will help us more fully examine this text the rest of the week.

There are multiple groups represented in the crowd that day. First, we would have the disciples. By this point Jesus has already invited four of the disciples to follow him - Simon, Andrew, James, and John. They are probably in awe of this crowd that is starting to gather to hear the man who they are to follow. Then we have the folks who have either heard Jesus’s teaching in the synagogues or those who had heard about the miraculous healing taking place and want to be healed as well. Next, there are the religious leaders. Jesus is starting to get some notoriety, so they probably want to come hear Jesus for themselves to make sure he is teaching the right things to the right people. Lastly, we have those who just are attracted to the crowd. They may not know what all the fuss is about, but they are being drawn in.

To this mixed crowd, Jesus taught - seekers, believers, disciples, and skeptics alike. The problem with to many of our churches today is that we are only preaching and teaching one or two of these categories - chiefly the believers and the disciples. But we are also called to reach out to those who are skeptical, seeking, and may just be drawn in. 

Who do you identify with most in the crowd that Jesus taught?

How can we reach out, as the Church, beyond those who already believe and already are disciples to spread the Good News?

Prayer: Loving God, we confess that all too often we want you to reach out to people only like us. To teach those who already believe and follow you. But, when we accept your call on our lives, you ask us to reach out beyond, to those who do not yet know you or aren’t sure about you. Equip us for the crowds, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Levi son of Alphaeus” - Mark 2: 14

I love that today’s scripture says that as Jesus walked along he saw Levi son of Alphaeus and called to him to follow. Levi was probably rarely referred to by his whole name, his proper lineage. In fact, he was probably rarely referred to as Levi. Instead, he was probably identified by his discredited occupation, tax collector, or the names that people associated with it, including thief and swindler. But when Jesus looked at Levi, he didn’t see him as he was in the moment, but instead saw who he could be.

When I was in seminary I took a class inside of a women’s prison. The first rule was not to ask the ladies who were inside students what made them be in prison; if they wanted to share, they certainly could, but it was not our place to ask. So we got to know the ladies by their names, not what they had done or who they once were.

I’m not a big fan of when people start to identify people chiefly by their sins. Murder. Thief. Prostitute. When we do this, we miss seeing people like Jesus sees them and miss seeing that Jesus is calling them, too, to follow as disciples. 

Tell of a time that you missed seeing the beauty of a whole person, not just who they once were. What did you learn from this experience?

Prayer:  Lord, we confess that we often boil down people to their sins instead of their potential. Help us to see people as you see them Lord. Open our eyes and our hearts to see that you invite all people, regardless of their past, to follow you. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Sat Down to Dinner” - Mark 2: 15

In ancient Jewish culture one of the most intimate things that you could do with a person is share a meal. When you broke bread around the table together it symbolized that you cared for one another, that you were friends or family.Who you ate with mattered.

Who is Jesus eating with in this passage? “Many tax collectors and sinners”. Not folks that most people, especially religious people, would be caught eating with. Yet, it is exactly who Jesus came into contact with.

If you had to choose who you were going to eat with who would it be? Those that the world deems to be misfits or people who could make you feel more important? Jesus didn’t particularly care what other people thought about him eating with the misfits of society - it was exactly where he was called to be. And it is exactly those who have no other place in society that Jesus continues to open the table up to today, as he prepares for the heavenly banquet.

I often tell people that the Church and the communion table are not mine. I may serve at them, but they are God’s and we welcome all who God welcomes - which is everyone who is seeking to grow in their relationship with God. 

  Do we truly live as if the table is open to everyone?

Would you eat with those whom Jesus dined with? Why or why not?

Prayer: Lord, at times we act as if your table, the table of life and grace is closed. We act as if it is our to decide who is welcome and who is not. Reminds us anew who you ate with long ago and who you invite to be with you today, Precious Lord. Amen. 

Thursday: “Why Does He Eat with Them?” - Mark 2:16

Predictably, the religious leaders were displeased by the choice of company Jesus kept. They weren’t the right people. Jesus wasn’t eating in the right places. So they turned to the disciples and asked ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’. 

You can almost hear the questions beneath their question can’t you? Why did Jesus choose them over us? Isn’t he worried about what other people are going to think? Doesn’t he know that keeping such company will make him unclean? But everything encompassed in their original question isn’t directed at Jesus, who could explain to them exactly why this was the place he was called to be. Instead, the religious leaders directed their questions to the disciples, who were probably just as confused as the religious leaders.

Are we people who have that ancient question asked of us as well? Do people look at us and ask essentially why we are hanging out with the people that others deem undesirable and avoidable? Because if we aren’t, if we are only associating with people who can help us advance or those who are like us, we may be missing the point of Jesus’s ministry.

How can you reach out to different people with the love of Jesus Christ?

Prayer: Lord, you call us to be your Church and to reach out beyond ourselves in order to share your love with the world. Lord, sometimes we need a little push to get going. Sometimes, we would rather be comfortable. And sometimes we join in with the religious leaders asking “why them?” of other people. Help us to love with your love, the love that breaks down barriers and restores souls. Amen. 

Friday: “I Have Come” - Mark 2: 17

I used to dislike going to doctors. Growing up my brothers and I seemed to be prone to strep throat, so going to the doctors outside of wellness visits, was all to often for a throat swab that would make me gag. However, as undesirable as that situation may be, I also knew that when I was sick I needed the doctor and medicine to make me well.

Jesus, in today’s scripture passage reminds folks that he is the Great Physician. While, yes, up to this point he had healed many people from physical and mental burdens, they were only a glimpse of what the heart of his ministry is about - healing sin sick souls. 

Here’s the thing about going to the doctor though: you have to realize that you are in need of healing to go. You have to realize that something is wrong and want to be made whole in order  to seek out a doctor’s care. So it is with Jesus. Jesus came for sinners, came for those with sickness in their heart and soul, but we have to realize that we are in need of Jesus and in need of his healing in order to come to him. 

How do we realize that we are in need of Jesus? How can we share this message in our community?

Prayer: God, we are in need of Jesus. We are in need of his healing. Help us to fully realize and claim that Jesus came into the world to heal our sin sick souls and then send us out to share that message anew. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel of Mark: Honor Me” - Mark 7: 1-23

Family Activity: Play follow the leader with everyone getting a chance to be both a leader and follower. Do you prefer being the leader or the follower? Why? How can we be excited to follow Jesus?

Wait for the Gift

      Sometimes as a church, we live like the Gospel was the end of the message instead of the beginning. What I mean by that, is that we fail to live into what happened in the book of Acts as a modern church. We selectively forget that we are gifted with the Holy Spirit, that breathed gifts upon the disciples and helped create the early church.
      As believers, we are each given gifts of the Spirit. Gifts that help us collectively introduce people to the saving love of Jesus Christ and walk with folks as they grow into deep spiritual intimacy with God. But, we have to chose to use the gifts we are given. We have to make ourselves amenable to God so that we can continue to be the church - serving Christ in the world.
    The problem is, at times, Christ calls us to step outside of our safety zones and use our gifts in mighty ways. And sometimes we simply choose not to do that. We choose to go our own way or bury our gifts, pretending they aren't there.
     Brothers and sisters, let us not quash the gift of the Spirit. Let us let it soar so that the message and ministry of Jesus Christ may reign amongst us! Amen!

The Seven Next Words of Christ: Wait for the Gift Devo

June 4th, 2017  

Devotional

“The Seven Next Words of Christ: Wait for the Gift” -Acts 1:1-11

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Theophilus” - Acts 1:1-2

The Book of Acts is composed by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, starting another letter to Theophilus, lover of God. The general premise is that the gospel told chiefly of the works of Christ and his life, while the book of Acts speaks about the formation of the church, the body of Christ. But notice what the author starts this account of the church by telling – the ascension of Jesus.

The sermon series we have been engaging about The Seven Next Words of Christ is based off of a book bearing the same title by Pastor Shane Standford. Pastor Stanford states that we lose something when we don’t focus on the accession of Jesus. We forget where we come from. We forget Jesus’s power and we forget what comes next. 

Have you ever missed the point when God was trying to revel something new to you? What was that experience like?

What have you previously learned about the Ascension? Would you consider the Ascension to be important to your faith life?

Prayer: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we try to place your power and glory between the cradle and the cross and by doing so we forget what comes next. We forget the powerful words that you spoke to your disciples after your resurrection and we forget how you encouraged them to wait for the birth of the Church. Help us, O Lord, to reclaim the power of your Ascension, and all of the glory it ascribed you, as part of our faith story. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Forty Days” - Acts 1: 3

Forty is an important number of days in the Biblical narrative and shows a season of preparation. Jesus was in the wilderness, praying, for forty days before his ministry started. Noah was on the ark for forty days and forty nights. The Israelites wandered in the dessert for forty years before reaching the promised land. In the church, the season of Lent to prepare us for Easter is forty days (minus Sundays). 

Jesus took forty days to prepare his disciples after his resurrection before retiring to heaven. He used this time to continue to teach them, to prepare them for what is to come as they go forth to be the hands and feet of his ministry. 

What could forty days prepare you to do? What if you took forty days to simply read your Bible? Or pray to God for wisdom? What if you tried a new spiritual practice for forty days? What is God preparing you to do?

Where does the number forty appear in scripture? Why is it important?

Prayer: Lord, we praise you that you prepare us for what is to come! And we thank you for taking forty days after your resurrection to prepare your disciples for the birth of your church. Continue to prepare us, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “ Not to Leave Jerusalem” - Acts 1: 4-5

This is not the first time that Jesus spoke about what was to come, spoke about the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, even today, Christians often find the Holy Spirit hard to understand or capture in words. 

The Holy Spirit gifts us to serve the body of Christ and the world in the name of Jesus. The gift of the Holy Spirit would give birth to the church. In Acts 2, directly after the Ascension, we find the Spirit appearing like tongues of fire and enabling the disciples to share the Gospel in languages that they had not studied or known. 

That same Spirit dwells inside us when we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What gifts has the Spirit given you and what power has the Spirit urged you to share with the world? 

Why did Jesus tell the disciples not to leave Jerusalem?

What would the disciples have been reminded of as Jesus refers to John the Baptist?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit - even when we do not fully understand. Lord, by the power of the Spirit, help us use the gifts you have given us to step out in faith and share the Gospel like the early church so long ago. Amen. 

Thursday: “It is Not for You to Know” - Acts 1: 6-7

“It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. The disciples were missing the point again. Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God and the power they will be receiving, as a gift of the Spirit, to enhance that Kingdom, and they are talking about the world as they see it - restoring Israel.

Jesus just lays it out for them - sometimes the things that we are most concerned about, aren’t the things that its for us to know. In other words, God is in control. We can either get on board and follow God as faithful servants, or we can continue to miss the point as we dwell on other things. May we be people, who trust God with the authority of Heaven and Earth, and serve God as faithfully as we can, even if we don’t have all the answers because they are not ours to have. 

Tell of a time when God has responded to you saying that it is not for you to know. What was that experience like for you? Did you find it easier or harder to trust God after receiving this response? 

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we do not like to hear the word “no” in the many forms it presents itself. We don’t like being told that it is not for us to know when we ask about the future. But in receiving this answer we are invited to trust you more fully and to put the world into your hands, so we do do this day. Amen. 

Friday: “Why Do You Stand Looking Up Toward Heaven?” - Acts 1: 8-11

Jesus’s last words were to tell his disciples that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit, then he was lifted up into heaven as they watched. He was long gone, as they continued to gaze up into heaven, perhaps wondering when he was going to come back down, when two men in white robes asked them why they were gazing up, since Jesus has now ascended.

Sometimes we spend a lot of time looking up, when God is trying to get us to look out. We keep trying to guess when the Lord is coming back or say that the world is such a mess that the best solution would be for Jesus to return, when Jesus is trying to get us to to look and go out, outside to tell our neighbors about his love. Out to tell the Good News. Out to serve the widow and the poor and the orphan. Out to be part of the solution. Out to be the Church. 

What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? How will this gift affect the disciple’s future?

Why do the “white-robed men” question the disciples about looking into the sky?

What is the best gift you have ever received? What made it special?

Prayer: Lord, propel us out. Out into the world that we sometimes fear. Out into the chaos and brokenness that our neighbors experience daily. Out to be your hands and feet and to build up your Kingdom for the sake of the Gospel. Use us, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel of Mark: Follow Me” - Mark 2: 13-17

Family Activity: At camp, one of my favorite things to do is “Highs and Lows” but we call the Highs - God Moments. Start engaging conversation with your family about where you saw God at work today or how you experienced the love of God!