Devotion Week of February 19 2012

SERMON NOTES:
Prayer Requests Y Pray for Ankur Chopra as he struggles with personal issues, as well as high fever while in India. Y May people come to understand how loved and precious they are. Y Pray for Kevin & Nancy Amundsens brother-in-law Harold Martin who was diagnosed with cancer and will be having 35 radiation treatments. Y Tom Umscheid, the husband of Pastor Pauls cousin, who is going through cancer treatment in Rochester. Y Pray for John Thiessen as he undergoes chemo for his ureter/kidney/lymph-node cancer. Y Pray for Melanie Vosdinghs mother, Rochelle LeTourneau as she recovers from open heart surgery. Y Pray for Sharon Hines as she continues chemo on her lung and liver cancer. Y Carter Olson, age 7 who is undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer and has 3 more months to complete. Thank-you for prayers already received; prayers are working! Carters recent MRI shows no cancer re-growth! Y Pray for Jennifers sister Rebecca Klein as their family go through divorce. Y Pray for Angelicas friend Ann, a friend and colleague, who is
receiving treatment for breast cancer. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL.
DEVOTION
This week we are going to study and learn about significant passages in Markthe first gospel that was written. The following six passages are important ones in Mark. If you have time, consider reading the 16 chapters of Mark this week. It would probably take about a hour to do so. Please E-mail comments or questions to pastor@colpres.org. Enjoy!! Monday, February 20 Read Mark 1:1-13 The first verse of Marks gospel is very significant. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark didnt begin the gospel with Jesus birth. Jesus mother and her husband dont play a big role in this gospel. Mark started the gospel with Jesus as an adult. He described Jesus entry into the world as the beginning of the good news or gospel. The good news to Mark was that Jesus had came as the Messiah to change the course of history. Being the Messiah, though was quite different to Mark than how people were expecting a Messiah in Jesus day.
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How do you think of the Messiah or the Christ? What does it mean to you to say that Jesus is the Messiah? As you pray today, talk to God about this understanding. Tuesday, February 21 Read Mark 1:12-20 One distinguishing feature of Marks gospel is the use of the word, immediately. It is used 27 times in Markmore than in any other gospel. Often Mark used it to outline the story that he shared. When the word was used it was like a breaksomething different was coming in the future. It also had the sense of urgency. Mark was not messing around when he wrote this gospel. He believed that the entrance of Jesus into the world changed the world. There was an urgency to the message of Jesus that Mark wanted people to receive. Sometimes as main-line Christians we dont have this sense of urgency. Our faith is part of us, but we dont live it with a passion. Most of us have probably had a bad experience with someone who was pushy with their faith. The urgency of Mark was not to be pushy. He wanted to communicate that something very special had happened with Jesus. As you pray today, think yourself about how special you view Jesus? With what urgency do you live your faith. Mark would want us to center all of our life around our understanding of Jesus. This was urgent!! Talk to God today about the urgency of your own faith. Can you be urgent without being pushy? Wednesday, February 22 Read Mark 8:27-9:1 This story is the half-way point of Mark. This story divided Mark in half. Up to this point Jesus had healed people and performed many miracles. After this story he didnt
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heal as many people or perform many miracles. Suddenly Jesus shared one of his prime missions. He was going to go to the cross, die and be raised. The people who would be disciples would take up their own cross and follow Jesus. This story shares a different understanding of suffering. Suffering wasnt something to be avoided and prevented at all costs. In fact suffering was something that was part of following Jesus. People werent called to intentionally hurt themselves, but they shouldnt be surprised if suffering was part of their journey. How do you view suffering? Do you think of it as a punishment from God? Do you wonder if youve done something wrong and thus are suffering? Do you think of suffering as a normal part of following Jesus? This is one of the hardest lessons of following Jesus. As you pray today, pray for a clear understanding of suffering. Thursday, February 23 Read Mark 9:9-13 Another distinguishing part of Mark was an idea called The Messianic Secret. In Mark Jesus frequently told his followers not to tell others what they knew and saw. In this passage Jesus didnt want Peter, James and John to know that he was transfigured before themuntil Jesus had been raised. People have written thousands of pages about this ideaso its impossible to fully capture it in a very short devotion. One of the reasons Jesus did this was a timing issue. Jesus didnt want the world to know he was the Messiah until after he was raised. At that point he wanted the entire world to know. If people knew he was the
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Messiah before then, it would have ruined his message. This secret didnt mean that we arent supposed to be quiet about our faith. Jesus wants us to share our faith with others. The Messianic Secret doesnt mean that we are secret about our own faith and beliefs. As you pray today pray that you can become comfortable in sharing your faith. Pray that we at Chain of lakes become skilled at sharing our faith. Friday, February 24 Read Mark 14:53-65 In this passage Jesus finally reveals his identity to others. As he was before the High Priest being accused of blasphemy Jesus was asked if he was the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed one. Jesus replied by saying, I am. This simple declaration was a death sentence for Jesus. Jesus was no longer silent about his identity. Many still didnt understand the type of Messiah Jesus was. Jesus didnt come to overthrow the Romans. He came to establish a long-lasting kingdom in the world. Some people tried to overthrow the Romans. As a result Jerusalem was almost destroyed and the Temple was burned. Though that event was memorable it is not remembered like the death and resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus had responded with violence he probably wouldnt have been remembered. As you did on Monday think about what does it mean to you to say that Jesus is the Messiah. What does it mean for our new congregation? These are important questions for our faith journeys. As you pray today, have a conversation with God about what it means for our community and
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for you personally to say that Jesus is the Messiah. Saturday, February 25 Read Mark 16:1-8 The shorter ending of Mark has confused people for centuries. A longer ending was added. The ending has Jesus followers experiencing terror and amazement not saying anything to anyone because they were afraid. If Jesus followers had not said anything to anyone, the church would never had been started. Its as if Mark was challenging the people reading this Scripture to speak up. As you pray today, pray that the church can have an urgency in speaking up about Jesus.

Devotion Week of February 19 2012

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