SCRIPTURE: Mark 1:9-15
TEXT: 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” THEME: Believe the Good News. INTRODUCTION What we believe sets the course of our actions. If we believe the world is flat, then we will not venture too far for fear of falling off of the surface of the world. If we believe love is more powerful than fear, then it sets our course in different directions confronting the powerful in our world. If we believe there is a God then we live with a consciousness that guides us. If we believe in Jesus then there is Good News that shapes our lives. SCRIPTURE In the Season of Epiphany, the lectionary readings from the Apostle Paul had us asking question about the Good News. As we enter the season of Lent, we will be looking at the Gospel readings from the book of Mark and John. Today we have the familiar passage of the baptism of Jesus, but asking, “What is the good news found at this event?” One of the first observations of this text is that God comes to us and not the other way around. God comes to us in Jesus. Jesus comes from Nazareth to Galilee. As Jesus comes out of the water the heavens tear open and the Spirit (the power of God) descends. This is a God initiative as the Kingdom of God comes near (to us). The Good News is that we don’t have to do anything to be good enough for God to come, we already are. The Good News is that this is an act of love not merit. God comes to be near to us. The Good News that is that God is not silent but still speak. The Good News that God is active and not passive about us or our world. “You are my Son, the Beloved.” God is not embarrassed to call this bag of flesh ‘Son’, and more than that ‘loved’. The Good News is that as far as God is concerned, we are loved and our adoption into the family of God is possible. The Good News is that the heaven is torn open. That thing that kept heaven and earth separated now has a rip in it and the first thing to come through is God’s Spirit. The Good News is the just Holy Spirit of God is set loose in our world. The Good News is that a rip only gets bigger and the mix of heaven and earth will only become more profound. The Good News is that the Spirit is moving, even driving Jesus into the wilderness. A place without distraction. The Good news is that Jesus is real and deals with the temptations we deal with that are contrary to the will of God. The Good News is that the wilderness is dangerous but survivable. The Good News is that as we are tempted but there is help, angels wait, the Spirit empowers, Jesus is our example of love and God desires the very best for us. The Good News is that God’s timing is immediately. Jesus comes, God is near, the Spirit drives and Time is fulfilled. The Good News is that the reign of God has come near. God’s rule in our world increases a little bit more each time anyone repents and believes. The Good News is that no matter where we are in life’s journey we can turn towards God. The Good News is that we can begin to believe all or part of the Good News to begin our journey of faith with God. APPLICATION How do we live the good news of the Good News? Our relationship with Jesus is like any other relationship we have. It influences the way we live. We need to spend time to connect with each other. Communication is very important which includes listening as well as talking. There are things we don’t do because of Jesus. As well as there are things that we do because we believe in Jesus. We don’t need to be perfect or have a lot of faith, considering this is the beginning. Consider praying for someone that you know because they are sick. Consider singing a spiritual song or hymn when you are in a funk, or bad mood. Consider eternal life, now realizing that when we die, we live. Then our investments are in relationships with each other and not in material goods. Consider the needs of other and the resources we have and how God might want us to used them. At the Hawaii’s Conference Leader’s Event, I was amazed at what the pastor of Hauula Congregational Church was doing, caring for the poor of his community, dealing with housing, feeding the poor, connecting them with the social services they need. He is doing exactly what we did by asking who the fallen travelers were in our neighborhood and how do we use the resources we have in the way that God would want them used. We start off with a theory to try, live, experiment with then modify, adjust, discover, revise and improvise. This is how we become Good News; this is how the church becomes Good News. CONCLUSION What’s good about the Good News of Jesus? It is about God’s love for us. It does not begin with our sin being a problem. It begins with Jesus coming, with God coming, with heaven ripped open for us and the Spirit coming to us. It begins with God loving us, our goodness and being accepted. Just believing this much is a game changer because we can begin living, just as we are, God loves us. This is good news to live, by loving ourselves, loving God and loving others.
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