Gospels-Acts
Luke 7:36-50
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The God of the Second Chance
Have you noticed how everything today has to have a positive spin to it? No matter how bad something is you have to find a positive way to express it. So you no longer get fired you get downsized, or rightsized. You go through delayering, or smartsizing, or redeployment, or workforce optimization, and so the euphemisms go on. No-one does things that are evil any more, they’re simply the victims of a bad upbringing or are psychologically challenged. We no longer tell lies. Instead we ‘misspeak;’ or we ‘exaggerate’ or we ‘exercise poor judgment.’ ‘Mistakes were made,’ we say. Promises only matter if they were “core promises”. And of course I’ve already used the term ‘spin’ which really means ‘deceive or deceit.’ As for sin, it’s such an outdated concept that we never use it except as a joke.
So why is that? Why are we afraid to admit that we’ve done something wrong? Is it because we’re ashamed? Is it because it reminds us that we’re not perfect? Does it damage the self-image we’ve tried to create for ourselves?
In the story we’ve just read, there’s no pretending that the main character is a good person. In fact the whole point of the story is that she’s a terrible person. Yet that doesn’t stop God from loving her and forgiving her. In fact it’s her admission of her sinfulness that makes all the difference to her.
Jesus is invited to eat at the house of a Pharisee, named Simon. Simon, being a Pharisee, is an extremely upright man. Nothing untoward would ever come out of his mouth; no behaviour that could besmirch his reputation; no failure to keep God’s laws would ever be laid at his door. He’s very sure of himself.
Mark 1:1-8
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangolo
The Beginning of the End audio (2MB)
Have you ever played that game where someone says a word and you think of the first word that comes to your mind?
We’re going to play it now, so please find a partner … and when I call out a word I want you to share with the person next to you the first word or image that comes into your head …
Blue …. Apple …. Beach
Word associations tell us something about our experience of the world and our view of the world. The opening of Mark’s gospel, “the beginning of the good news” is absolutely full of word associations with the Old Testament …
So here’s a little bible quiz, I want you to try now with your partners. When I say a word from Mark chapter 1, I want you to see if you can think of what the immediate associations would be from the Old Testament …
Ready? (if you don’t know, just guess)
Mark 1:14-39
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- Written by: AdamCetrangolo
Jesus Brings Good News audio (4MB)
Mark 1:14-39
On the 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final cease fire on all war fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night. The Act of Military Surrender was signed on May 7 in France, and May 8 in Germany. In England the headline in the Daily Mail newspaper declared: "VE-Day—It's All Over." In London more than a million people celebrated in the streets. Winston Churchill appeared with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the balcony of Buckingham Palace before the cheering crowds.
I understand that in Australia we saved the biggest celebrations until 15 August 1945 when Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced the end of hostilities with Japan with the words: "Fellow citizens, the war is over." I know that there are people in this congregation who can remember VE- and VJ-Day. Some of you may even remember hearing those words. What it was like to finally hear those words, "Fellow citizens, the war is over"?
Mark 1:16-34
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus’ Chooses his First Team Members audio (4MB)
Jesus begins his ministry with this clear announcement: “The time is fulfilled.” That is, it’s complete. Time’s up. We’re at the end of the line. Notice that John, the one who’s like Elijah, has finished his ministry. Mark wants to make it clear that the time of the Old Testament prophet is over. Now a new era, a new message has arrived.
I wonder, if you were here last week, did you notice that it was after John was arrested that Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. Was that bit of information put in just so we’d understand when this happened or is there more to it than that? One of the things you discover reading Mark is that he’s very good at giving us pointers to things in Jesus’ life that are significant, We saw that two weeks ago with the word associations that Heather pointed out at the start of Ch1. And I think the same applies here.
You see, John is the last of the Old Testament style prophets. He represents the old covenant that’s now passing away - being replaced by a new covenant. Jesus represents a new order in God’s Kingdom. When he says “the time is fulfilled” the word he uses has the idea of completed, come to it’s conclusion.
So he comes proclaiming the good news of God, the news that announces a new deal for God’s people. We’re not told the contents of the good news yet, but that’ll become clear as we read through the gospel.
And it’s as though Mark’s saying that even as Jesus begins his ministry the work’s already as good as finished. Jesus, the Messiah has come and God’s plan hurries to its intended conclusion. It’s as though Jesus’ coming is part of a single event: his incarnation, his death and his resurrection all flow together into the one moment in history when everything comes together.
But if that’s the case then Jesus’ coming means that this moment, right now, is the appointed time, the time of decision. And so Jesus begins preaching to the crowds just as John had, “repent, and believe in the good news”.
Mark 1:32-45
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Why Jesus Came audio (3MB)
It’s easy to get carried away when things are going well in our ministry isn’t it? We can get caught up in the excitement of ministry and think this is what it’s all about! And if we have enough success we might even be tempted to so focus on that particular area of ministry that we forget the essentials of what it is we’re actually here for. [Matt Redman example] Sometimes we need to stop and remind ourselves exactly what it is we’re aiming for in whatever ministry we’re involved in. We need to stop and check in with God to get our bearings again. That’s what we discover Jesus doing in this passage today.
But first let’s think about the context of the passage. Mark begins his gospel with a series of encounters where Jesus’ power and authority is made very evident. People looking on are amazed at what he says and what he can do and evil spirits have to be told not to say who he is. Yet at the same time there’s the puzzle, as we’ll see in a moment, of the disciples’ inability to understand who it is they’re dealing with.
The passage begins and ends with scenes of Jesus healing people.