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Lent 3

Caesarea Philippi Mark 8- New International Reader's Version 31 Jesus then began to teach his disciples. He taught them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught them that the elders would not accept him. The chief priests and the teachers of the law would not accept him either. He must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke clearly about this. Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him. Mark 8- New International Reader's Version He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me. 35 Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me and for the good news will save it. 

God is Able, Repent For His Kingdom Is Near

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Epiphany #5 Up the Mountain God Moments •Profound •Deep •Personal •Life-changing Your God Moment … •How old were you? •Where were you? •What was going on in your life at the time? •What happened? •How did it affect /change you? Mark 9- New International Reader's Version What do we learn about who Jesus is ??? And if He is that, then how do we respond?? 2 Kings 2 - New International Version God Moments When we are in God’s presence  … something changes … deep in us. God Moments … so that you can go forward and do what He wants you to do next God Moments … given as a strengthener or precursor to something God wants you to do for Him Your today God Moment … What have you realized about Him today? And what are you going to do now? Your today God Moment What will I do? What will I say?

Out & Stop Mark 1- New International Reader's Version What in you …needs OUT? 1 Corinthians 8  - New International Reader's Version

Run and hide ...... or follow??? Jonah 3 - New International Reader's Version Jonah 3 - New International Reader's Version

Readings Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Samuel 3:1-20 John 1:43-51 Who Knows YOU? Yada – to know (Heb.) I knows YOU - God I Yada YOU - God Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Psalm 139:13 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:16 - Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:1 - You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. Psalm 139:2 - You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:3 - You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Psalm 139:4 - Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. Psalm 139:14 - I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Matthew 2:1-12 1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,     are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler     who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. The wisemen · The wise men sought out Jesus and worshipped Him – even at great cost. Closing: Every single person in here today is under the guilt and bondage of our sinfulness toward God. We deserve judgement and we know it. It is a debt we can never pay and yet Jesus, who is God in human flesh says I have come to pay it. I give my life to pay the price for our sins. When we experience this forgiveness and freedom through the death of Jesus, we discover that for the rest of our lives, and for the rest of eternity, Jesus works for us.. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” — meaning, through all our pleasures and all our pain, Jesus is working to bring us to everlasting happiness in the presence of the all-satisfying God.

Advent 1

MMC Podcast Episode 65 The Birth of Jesus With Jean Geerthsen.

MMC Podcast Episode 64 with Rev. Jim Ramage.

ARE YOU READY.

Judges 16:15-22 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. 17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him. 20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

What is most important? Past. Juan Carlos Ortiz Matthew 22:34-40 - Common English Bible 34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. 35 One of them, a legal expert, tested him. 36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”   Love God with every fibre of your being (heart, mind, being) AND Love people the same way you love yourself. Where would you think you do this the best?? Where would you think you struggle the most with this??? Matthew 22:34-40 - Common English Bible 37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”  

To Whom Do We Belong MATTHEW 22:15-22 MSG 15-17That’s when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in, to ask, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don’t pander to your students. So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”18-19Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” They handed him a silver piece.20“This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”21They said, “Caesar.”“Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”22The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads. ROMANS 12:1-4 MSG 1-2So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.3I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.4-6a In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

Reminder about past weeks Sermons Jim: Nike reference – what we do when God doesn’t just do it? -Who actually does what God Wants? Alex: -Check yourself before you wreck yourself God’s plans about us doesn’t change, our actions of greed, are the ones that drift us away from God.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself

When the Outsiders get IN … Matthew 21 - New International Reader's Version 28 “What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “ ‘I will not,’ the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son. He said the same thing. The son answered, ‘I will, sir.’ But he did not go. 31 “Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. You saw this. But even then you did not turn away from your sins and believe him. When the Outsiders get IN … Jesus asks - “Who are IN?” Those who DO what God wants Matthew 7 - New International Reader's Version 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants will enter. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord! Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we drive out demons in your name? Didn’t we do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them clearly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who do evil!’ 24 “So then, everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He builds his house on the rock. 25 The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. But it does not fall. It is built on the rock.  26 But everyone who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. He builds his house on sand. 27 The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. And it falls with a loud crash.” 28 Jesus finished saying all these things. The crowds were amazed at his teaching. 29 That’s because he taught like one who had authority. He did not speak like their teachers of the law. Jesus says that those who DO what God wants are … … like people who build their lives on a rock God’s plan is to get Outsider IN Will you help people who are in-between?

When things don’t go our way … we won't go to church we won’t sing those songs we won’t pray we won’t do what we know God wants us to do we rebel Jonah 3 - New International Reader's Version 10 God saw what they did. He saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would. Jonah 4 - New International Reader's Version 1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong. He became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord. Here is what Jonah said to him. “Lord, isn’t this exactly what I thought would happen when I was still at home? That is what I tried to prevent by running away to Tarshish. I knew that you are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don’t want to destroy them. 3 Lord, take away my life. I’d rather die than live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had left the city. He had sat down at a place east of it. There he put some branches over his head. He sat in their shade. He waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God sent a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy he had the leafy plant. 7 But before sunrise the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed the plant so much that it dried up. 8 When the sun rose, God sent a burning east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head. It made him very weak. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather die than live.” 9 But God spoke to Jonah. God said, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” Jonah said. “In fact, I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant. But you did not take care of it. You did not make it grow. It grew up in one night and died the next. 11 And shouldn’t I show concern for the great city of Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people. They can’t tell right from wrong. Nineveh also has a lot of animals.” When things don’t go our way … will we … keep trusting God? do what He says? go where He wants? God has a sovereign plan He knows who you are ‘Cause He made who you are You are the one … He wants to (and can) use