FIRST READING
Psalm 25:1-7,8-10
To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, let no one who [a]waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4 Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
OPENING SONGS
SECOND READING
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
SERMONETTE
Rainbow’s Promise
Greg Williams
From the PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT …
Do you remember the first time you saw a rainbow?
Rainbows are iconic, universal, showing up in legends and stories throughout history. Despite years of pollution and our increasingly busy lives, rainbows still make us stop … and look up.
The first recorded rainbow appears in Genesis 9, just after the flood recedes. Noah walks out into the steaming earth and hears the voice of God:
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Genesis 9:13-15 (NRSV)
This is what is called by theologians “The Noahic Covenant” — one of several agreements that God made with Israel — and by proxy all the world.
And here we see this strange imagery of the rainbow. “I have set my bow ….” This word “bow” is the same Hebrew word as the bow of battle. To the original readers, the bow would have been a common sight in battle. It meant war and death.
But for God to “set his bow” meant that war was over, that the struggle was over. This is the sign of the rainbow in the clouds, turned away from us, a bow at rest.
That rest is what we remember when we see it. and it reminds us of all of life. As violent as the storm might be, the rainbow will be there — the power of the thunder and rain turns to beauty and color. That’s all that’s left standing.
The covenant reminds us that a devastation like a flood won’t destroy us again. God will not destroy us and start over; He will work with us and through us to accomplish redemption. He works through each storm in our lives to make beauty and light come through.
Instead of ending history, he works within it. And instead of starting over with humanity, he became one.
He set his bow in the sky. He set his covenant that he will always work with us and within us on our relationship with him. Let’s remember this promise when the storm comes.
I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life
- OFFERTORY SONG
- PRAYER OF THANKS FOR THE OFFERING
Mark 1:9-15
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up [a]from the water, He saw the heavens [b]parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit [c]drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel [d]of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [e]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
SERMON
The Heavens are Torn
INTRODUCTION
A. Today is ther first Suday of Lent — the first Sunday in the Lenten season, the season of Easter preparation.
B. During this season, a lot of our friends (and some of us) may give up/abstain from certain foods or activities … but our focus should really be on personal reflection and repentance.
C. Repentance, we know, is about looking back and reviewing things we have done in the past … but do we know what repentance is all about? What exactly are we to repent of?
D. We can get an idea (actually, more than an idea) in Mark 1:9-15, our text for today.
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:9-15 NIV)
WHAT DO WE NOTICE?
Only 7 verses … but it covers 3 different events in Christ’s life.
The last time we looked at this passage (or part of it) … our focus was on the baptism of Jesus and the fact that He didn’t need to be baptized for repentance … so His baptism must have been for our sakes (on our behalf).
Today, I want to focus on the third part of the passage — the beginning of Christ’s Galilean ministry … and, more specifically on what He said.
“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”
- Preaching was Jesus’ main job.
- The focus of Jesus’ ministry was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Jesus was a preacher who did miracles … not a miracle-worker who preached.
- Jesus was a preacher and He brought the message of God’s rule on earth, though not in the manner that was popularly expected or desired. Most people wanted a political kingdom that would replace the oppressive occupation of the Romans.
“The time has come,”
- There are two ancient Greek words that can be translated time.
- One is chronos, meaning simple chronological time.
- The other is kairos, meaning “the strategic opportunity, the decisive time.”
- Jesus used this second word when He said, “the time is fulfilled.”
- His idea was, “The strategic time for the kingdom of God is now. Now is your time of opportunity. Don’t let it pass you by.”
“The kingdom of God has come near.
- Contrary to the expectations of most people in His day, Jesus brought a kingdom …
- of love, not subjugation;
- of grace, not law;
- of humility, not pride;
- for all men, not only the Jews;
- to be received voluntarily by man, not imposed by force.
Repent and believe the good news!”
- Repent: When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, He wanted people to know what entering that kingdom was like. They could not enter the kingdom going the same way they had been going. They had to change their direction to experience the kingdom of God.
- i. Some people think that repentance is mostly about feelings, especially feeling sorry for your sin. It is wonderful to feel sorry about your sin, but repent isn’t a “feelings” word. It is an action word. Jesus told us to make a change of the mind, not merely to feel sorry for what we have done. Repentance speaks of a change of direction, not a sorrow in the heart.
- ii. Repentance does not describe something we must do before we come to God; it describes what coming to God is like. If you are in New York, and I tell you to come to Los Angeles, I don’t really need to say “Leave New York and come to Los Angeles.” To come to Los Angeles is to leave New York, and if I haven’t left New York, I certainly can’t come to Los Angeles. We can’t come to the kingdom of God unless we leave our sin and the self-life.
- Believe When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, He wanted people to know what it was like to live in the kingdom.
- The kingdom Jesus preached was not just about a moral renewal. It was about trusting God, taking Him at His word, and living a relationship of dependence on Him.
- i. The ancient Greek word Jesus used for believe (pisteuo) means much more than knowledge or agreement in the mind. It speaks of a relationship of trust and dependence.
- ii. “There are many people who believe the Gospel, but they do not believe in it. It was an appeal not only to accept it as an intellectually accurate statement; but to rest in it, to repose in it. It was a call to let the heart find ease in it.” (Morgan)
CONCLUSION
A. Repenting and believing are not necessarily two different actions … one can repent of unbelief by believing.
B. We can repent by believing differently about Jesus Christ — by changing our minds about Him and His mission and what He has accomplished.
C. Here’s something to consider: What we must believe is NOT what the persons Jesus was speaking to, at that time, were exhorted to believe … for He had not yet died and been resurrected.
D. What we need to believe … what YOU need to believe … is that by His death and resurrection, we … and you … were reconciled to God.
E. Notice what Paul said in one of his letters to the Corinthians …
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not [d]imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
F. When Paul told his readers to “be reconciled”, it was kinda like what Jesus was saying when He said “believe the Gospel”.
G. God wants us to know that, in Christ, He has already done everything that is necessary for us to be in a right relationship with Him … That is very good news … That is the Gospel, I believe, Jesus Christ would want you to believe.
PRAYER
CLOSING SONG
BENEDICTION