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January 13, 2010
SMLC Midweek Devotions
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Our Mission
Invite others to hear the gospel and together grow as faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
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In this issue:
January 17th Lessons and Gospel
Weekly Devotions
Quote of the Week
Chuckle of the Week
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January 17th Pastor Dave Farley preaching: "Godyssey: A Divine Invasion"
Lesson of the Day: Acts 19:1-7 Paul in Ephesus
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the inland regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' They replied, 'No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.' Then he said, 'Into what then were you baptized?' They answered, 'Into John's baptism.' Paul said, 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.' On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied- altogether there were about twelve of them.
Gospel of the Day: Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, 'The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'
The Baptism of Jesus
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.'
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Weekly Devotions by Laurie Christopher
Was it on a Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM that Jesus truly began transferring our sins from us to Him? Some would say that the instant he was roughly seized in the Garden of Gethsemane is when He became a carrier of our sins. But, what prepared this sinless Lamb of God to suddenly bear a "googleplex" amount of sins on our behalf?
Certainly coming into our world as a dependant infant was humiliating for this revered Son of God. But, did that prepare Jesus to bear our sins? To grow up as a human being, like one of us, when He originally created us and our world must have been unthinkable. Yet, He willingly took on the task and remained sinless. He knew of our worldly challenges because He faced them daily. Perhaps, developing from an infant to a toddler to an adolescent and finally, to an adult helped to prepare Jesus. But, He did all of this while never committing a sin Himself. He watched others sin and He felt the effect of those sins first hand. He even burned with the anger of righteous wrath. Would that He could have cleansed that sin right then and there by "holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar." (Is 6: 6) But, He never felt what it was to commit a sin personally.
What could prepare anyone to have been perfect and then suddenly feel guilt and shame and remorse? "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" (Mark 1:3)
John's purpose was to prepare us so that we could meet our Lord Jesus. John's baptisms were performed publicly similar to the tradition that Gentiles practiced when announcing their conversion to Judaism. The difference, of course, is that John was pointing to the Messiah who would cleanse sin from all of us. How would our sins be cleansed? "John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." (Mark 1:4) We had to repent.
Of what? We had to repent of our sins and that's where John's role was pivotal in helping people to understand what a sinful nature is and why we need redemption. We can all easily identify the sins we know we've committed and feel sorry for what we did or left undone. But, what about the sins we don't even know we've done?
There is One who not only knows what we've done but can also intercede on our behalf and repent for us. John's role as the one who prepares the way takes a further step in getting Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, prepared to assume the sins of the world. Forgiveness requires repentance and so Jesus repents for us.
John wasn't fully aware of the part he was to play. "John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.'" (Mat 3:14, 15)
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have been present at that moment when suddenly and dramatically the heavens ripped apart and "the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased'"? (Mark 1:10, 11)
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Quote of the Week
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." Anonymous
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Chuckle of the Week
Boneless Chicken
The food in China can be a challenge for newcomers. One example is that chicken is often served "cleaver style," leaving the meat and bones chopped up together, making it difficult to eat.
Years ago, I went with a group of newcomers to a nice hotel to eat some hamburgers and normal Western food. One lady in our group, Marie, wanted to eat chicken without needing to spit out the bones, so she ordered "boneless chicken."
The waiter, whose English was quite good, could not imagine what Marie wanted. She was very insistent, saying, "I want boneless chicken. Chicken with no bones!"
After more confusion and more insisting, the waiter finally said he understood, wrote something down, and returned to the kitchen.
After about 15 minutes, our orders started coming out to the table. Marie's food was the last to arrive, and when the poor waiter placed her dish in front of her, we all laughed out loud. It was a plate of fried eggs.
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Invitation for a Friend ~ Please clip & deliver!
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St. Matthew Lutheran Church
10390 SW Canyon Road
Beaverton, Oregon 97005
(503) 644-9148
Sunday Services at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 a.m.
Childcare available during all three services.
Visit us at: http://www.stmatthewlutheran.org/
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