Two Poles – It’s about Jesus and The Lord has a Mission

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Continuing the mid-week series started Ash Wednesday we are working our way through the Holy Week account in the gospel according to Mark. Below is the compressed devotion coming out of the fuller text. Please join us looking at The Mission of Holy Week.

Text: Mark 14:1-2 (“But not during the feast…”)

We like to think that we are in control. The Chief Priests and the teachers of the law wanted to kill Jesus, but they wanted to do it on their terms and in their time. “Not during the feast, or the people may riot.” How did that work out? We like to think that we are in control, but we are only in control as much as we are following the will of God. It was God’s will to endure the cross for our sins. It is God’s will that we should make disciples. He gives us his Word. He places us in situations. He wants us to walk in the good works he has planned out in advance for us to do. We can refuse. We can book passage to Tarshish. But big whales often get in the way of those trips. We can rebel. We can look for ways to kill the Spirit that lives within us. Unfortunately, that often works. Our hearts become hard. We no longer hear the Word. The better path is one of prayer and study and trial. We pray and we study to be able to discern the path God wants us to walk. We intentionally look for those God wants us to disciple. Discipleship can be a trial. It does not always work out. Our disciples can refuse and rebel just like we can. But do we want to find ourselves in the feet of the chief priests working against God?

Ash Wednesday Sermon – Mark 13:24-31

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Text: Mark 13:24-31

Wants, needs and our one real need – Jesus Christ. The text always intringued me. It is not just the bad stuff or just the fallen world that passes away. The best stuff also passes – heaven passes away. It is all headed for the ashes. Everything except the Word of God Jesus Christ. Good news – in baptism you have become the body of Christ. You are made a new creation. The Ashes of Ash Wednesday are redeemed in the resurrection of the dead. Baptism is your guarantee. So, if you receive the ashes, remember that baptism.