September 8 (Mark 1:1-8)

  📍  

Good morning, Christ's Center.

It's Monday, September the eighth, and we're starting a brand new daily devotional podcast series. We've done this a couple of times in the past as we've gone through a book of the Bible or a specific theme, and we're doing it again. And this time we're going through the Book of Mark.

We're going to be preaching through it and some of the home groups are also gonna be going through it. The youth will be going through, so it's gonna be the book of Mark for the next 10 weeks. It's gonna be great. It's not a long book, so most of these readings will actually be fairly short, and then we're gonna do a variety of things. Some days, I'll do a devotional, or one of the other pastors will do a devotional. Some days we'll have a time where we'll we'll sit and discuss what we're seeing in the passage.

Uh, and then sometimes we'll ask questions. You know, where do you see yourself in this story? So we're gonna do a lot of different things for this podcast, and you'll hear a lot of voices from the congregation.

But we're gonna start the way we always start. We're gonna start by preparing our hearts and asking the Holy Spirit to join us.

This is Carly Davis. Mark one, one through eight, Christian Standard Bible, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, as it is written in Isaiah, the prophet. See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way, a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the Lord.

Make his path straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins.

John wore a camel hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed. One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever watched a State of the Union address? Well, if you aren't familiar, the State of the Union only happens once a year. In February, the president gives a speech to the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court Justices. It's this highly anticipated event where the president is going to lay out his agenda for the upcoming year.

Now, no matter who's in office, you can count on a couple of things. You can count on the president's supporters cheering loudly and his opponents. And being even more vocal, there's going to be a lot of energy. Uh, it's gonna be a big night, but right at the beginning of the night when the chamber is full of congressmen and judges, the whole place comes to a hush as one particular man arrives.

This man is not a publicly elected official. He's not a celebrity on the cable news circuit. He's the sergeant at arms. And on this night, he has one primary duty to announce the arrival of the big guy, and when it's time he yells into the chamber. Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States, this is kind of what John the Baptist is doing in the scene.

Like the chamber of elected officials, the people of Israel, had waited a long time for this moment. For them, it was hundreds of years. They had seen a blur of violent rulers and cruel emperors, and somehow they had survived it all in hopes that the big guy was eventually gonna show up on the scene.

And here at the beginning of the book he's come and ahead of him here is John the Baptist, the sergeant at Arms making the announcement at the Jordan River. Mr. Speaker, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Now for this entire book, we're gonna watch the chamber, so to speak, breaking forth in cheers.

And cheers as Jesus Christ, the son of God enters the scene to announce his agenda for his new kingdom. As we read through the book of Mark, let's see if we can read it with fresh eyes to regain a bit of that anticipation. Because this man will this, this kingdom will utterly transform the world. So let's ask Jesus to transform us again as we read afresh.

Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus for coming to earth. Thank you for the honor that we get. Just like John got to announce your arrival . Help us now as we read these words again, as we read this book again, reveal yourself to us afresh, and we'll give you praise and honor and glory for it.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. We'll see you guys tomorrow.