Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / March 25 - Mark 11

Transcript

March 25 - Mark 11 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  How life friends. Yeah, it's shown here, you know
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  that. Lovely to have you company.
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  Thanks for inviting me into your day.
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  It is a Monday the 25th of March and we are in the final week as
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  we lead into the Easter weekend. This is the beginning of what
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  many people call Holy Week as we will have money Thursday, Good
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  Friday leading to the glorious Resurrection Day of Easter
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  Sunday. This is the last week of Lent.
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  If you have been giving up something then well done you are
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  almost at the end. You can get that chocolate slash
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  coffee slash eating lunch slash lollies slash YouTube whatever
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  it is that you have given up over the last well number of
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  weeks. You are almost at the end.
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  I really do pray that the the time that you get back, the
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  moments where you just wish you could do that thing, your heart
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  can be turned in gratitude to our amazing God for what He does
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  for us this week. And then of course, Friday being
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  Good Friday, we are not going to escape to the Psalms.
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  But you will find that as we continue in Mark, we will land
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  on the Good Friday reading this Friday.
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  So shout out to Pete and the team that put together the
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  timing of our reading programme to absolutely nail it.
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  Well done. So that's enough said, isn't it?
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  Let us get into it. Let us go back.
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  Let us be a fly on the wall. No, let us be a disciple
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  following our Lord as indeed we are as we see Jesus enter into
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  Jerusalem. For this final week reading
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  together, Mark Chapter 11. As Jesus and his disciples
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  approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethpage and
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  Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on a
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  head. Go into that village over there,
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  he told them. As soon as you enter it, you
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  will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever
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  written. Untied.
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  And bring it here. If anyone asks what are you
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  doing, Just say the Lord needs it and we'll return it soon.
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  The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street,
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  tied outside the front door as they were untying it.
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  Some bystanders demanded. What are you doing untying that
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  cult? They said what Jesus had told
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  them to say, and they were permitted to take it.
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  Then they brought the cult to Jesus and threw their garments
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  over it, and he sat on it. Many in the crowd spread their
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  garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy
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  branches they had cut in the fields.
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  Jesus was in the centre of the procession and the people all
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  around him were shouting praise God blessings on the one who
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  comes in the name of the Lord, blessings on the coming Kingdom
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  of our ancestor David, praise God in the highest heaven.
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  So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the temple.
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  After looking around carefully at everything, he left because
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  it was late in the afternoon and he returned to Bethany with the
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  12 disciples the next morning. As they were leaving Bethany,
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  Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full
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  leaf, a little way off, so he went over to see if he could
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  find any figs. But there were only leaves
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  because it was too early in the season for fruit.
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  Then Jesus said to the tree, may no one ever eat your fruit.
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  Gain. And the disciples heard him say
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  it. When they arrived back in
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  Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out
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  the people, buying and selling animals for sacrifices.
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  He knocked over the tables of money changers and the chairs of
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  those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the
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  Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, The scriptures
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  declare my temple will be called a House of prayer for all
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  nations, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.
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  When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard
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  what Jesus has done, they began planning how to kill him.
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  But they were afraid of him because the people were so
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  amazed at his teaching. That evening, Jesus and the
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  disciples left the city. The next morning, as they passed
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  by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed that it
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  had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had
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  said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed.
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  Look Rabbi, the fig tree you cursed has withered and died.
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  Then Jesus said to his disciples, Have faith in God.
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  I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, May you be
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  lifted up and thrown into the sea, and it will happen, but you
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  must really believe it will happen, and have no doubt in
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  your heart. I tell you, you can pray for
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  anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will
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  be yours. But when you were praying, first
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  forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your
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  Father in heaven will forgive your sins too.
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  Again, they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the
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  temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of
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  religious law and the elders came up to him.
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  They demanded, by what authority are you doing all these things?
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  Who gave you the right to do them?
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  I'll tell you by what authority I do these things if you can
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  answer one question, Jesus replied.
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  Did John's authority to baptise come from heaven or was it
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  merely human? Answer me.
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  They talked it over among themselves.
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  If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why.
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  We didn't believe John. But do we dare say it was merely
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  human? For they were afraid of what the
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  people would do because everyone believed John was a prophet.
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  So they finally replied. We don't know.
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  And Jesus responded. Then I won't tell you by what
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  authority I do these things. Jesus, your mission was so clear
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  to you, you had your eye on this week The whole way along.
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  In fact, from the beginning of time you knew that this would be
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  your destiny. But still you chose that.
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  And here we see your invitation to your disciples that you
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  invite them to pray, pray for the things of your Kingdom, and
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  that with their faith you will answer their prayer.
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  You invite us to be a part of this work of sharing your good
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  news and growing your Kingdom. Ah, what an amazing invitation.
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  Jesus. We are so humbled that you, the
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  the God of the universe in human form, invites us into being a
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  part of your mission. Our Lord.
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  This week, as we walk toward that hill on Calvary, just draw
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  our hearts to you. Shape us.
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  We can be your hands and feet in the world that we live.
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  Draw us ever closer to knowing the incredible depth of your
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  love for us with what you do for us.
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  This week we are so grateful and we love you, and it's in your
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  name that we pray Jesus. Amen.