Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / March 25 - Mark 9

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March 25 - Mark 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  And Bilbo turned and said it's a dangerous business, Frodo, going
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  out your door, you step onto the road and if you don't keep your
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  feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.
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  Hello friends. Yes, it's Sean here.
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  And today is Wednesday, the 25th of March, which is actually
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  Tolkien Reading Day. This is the day where people all
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  around the world are encouraged to pick up this literary genius
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  and read some of his work. Why the 25th of March?
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  Well, in the modern calendar, this is the day that Sauron was
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  defeated and Middle Earth was saved.
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  Yes, this incredible epic of good versus evil that JRR
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  Tolkien wrote to find a way to express his faith to a broken
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  world that desperately needed it.
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  And if you're listening on Spotify, there's actually an
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  audio book version which will blow your mind waiting for you
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  on Spotify. But that is enough of me
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  plugging someone else's work when we are here to read God's
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  work. Yes, friends, let us continue on
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  this way. We have just read Mark chapter 8
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  where Peter has proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah.
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  And then straight from there, Jesus begins talking about his
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  own death. And today we're going to see
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  Jesus transfigured, incredible healings, and again, more talk
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  of his death and the Kingdom to come.
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  This is Jesus getting to the heart of it and speaking so
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  clearly to his disciples about what's happening.
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  And friends, that's you and me. We are these disciples.
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  So let us go back in time and through the eyes of Peter live
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  these moments with Jesus as we read together Mark Chapter 9.
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  Jesus went on to say, I tell you the truth, some standing here
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  right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God
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  arrive in great power. Six days later Jesus took Peter,
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  James and John and LED them up a high mountain to be alone.
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  As the men watched, Jesus appearance was transformed and
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  his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any
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  earthly bleach could ever make them.
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  Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.
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  Peter exclaimed. Rabbi, it's wonderful for us to
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  be here. Let's make 3 shelters as
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  memorials, one for you, one for Moses and 1:00 for Elijah.
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  He said this because he didn't really know what else to say,
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  for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them,
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  and a voice from the cloud said, This is my dearly loved son,
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  listen to him. Suddenly when they looked
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  around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus
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  with them. As they went back down the
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  mountain, He told them not to tell anyone about what they had
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  seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
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  So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other
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  what he meant by rising from the dead.
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  Then they asked him, why do the teachers of religious law insist
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  that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?
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  Jesus responded, Elijah is indeed coming 1st to get
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  everything ready. Yet why do the scriptures say
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  that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with
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  utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has
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  already come and they chose to abuse him, just as the
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  scriptures predicted. When they returned to the other
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  disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them and some
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  teachers of religious law were arguing with them.
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  When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe and
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  they ran to greet him. What is all this arguing about?
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  Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd
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  spoke up and said, Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal
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  him. He's possessed by an evil spirit
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  that won't let him talk. But whenever this spirit seizes
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  him, it throws him violently to the ground.
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  Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes
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  rigid. So I asked your disciples to
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  cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it.
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  Jesus said to them, You faithless people, how long must
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  I be with you? How long must I put up with you?
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  Bring the boy to me. So they brought the boy.
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  But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a
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  violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and
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  foaming at the mouth. How long has this been
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  happening? Jesus asked the boy's father.
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  He replied, Since he was a little boy, the Spirit often
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  throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him.
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  Have mercy on us and help us if you can.
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  What do you mean if I can? Jesus asked.
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  Anything is possible if a person believes.
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  The Father instantly cried out. I do believe, but help me
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  overcome my unbelief. When Jesus saw that the crowd of
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  onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit.
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  Listen to you, spirit. That makes this boy unable to
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  hear and speak. He said, I command you to come
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  out of this child and never enter him again.
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  Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another
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  Violet convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead.
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  A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, He's dead.
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  But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and
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  he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone
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  in the house with his disciples, they asked him, Why couldn't we
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  cast out that evil spirit? Jesus replied, This kind can be
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  cast out only by prayer, leaving that region that travelled
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  through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know
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  he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his
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  disciples and teach them. He said to them, The Son of Man
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  is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.
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  He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the
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  dead. They didn't understand what he
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  was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he
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  meant. After they arrived at Capernaum
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  and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, what were
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  you discussing out on the road? But they didn't answer because
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  they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
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  He sat down, called the 12 disciples over to him and said
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  whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the
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  servant of everyone else. Then he put a little child among
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  them. Taking the child in his arms.
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  He said to them, Anyone who welcomes a little child like
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  this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
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  welcomes not only me, but also my father who sent me.
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  John said to Jesus teacher, we saw someone using your name to
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  cast out demons but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our
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  group. Don't stop him.
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  Jesus said No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be
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  able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is
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  for us. If anyone gives you even a cup
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  of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the
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  truth. That person will surely be
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  rewarded. But if you cause one of these
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  little ones who trust in me to fall into sin, it would be
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  better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone
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  hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin,
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  cut it off. It's better to enter eternal
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  life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires
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  of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin,
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  cut it off. It's better to enter eternal
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  life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two
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  feet. And if your eye causes you to
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  sin, gouge it out. It's better to enter the Kingdom
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  of God with only one eye and to have two eyes and be thrown into
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  hell where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.
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  For everyone will be tested with fire.
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  Salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavour, how do
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  you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of
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  salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.
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  Our Jesus, help us be your salt. Help us to season this world so
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  that it can have the incredible flavour of your Kingdom.
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  Help us put aside our own selfish ambition, our own ideas
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  and ideals, and help us to focus on you and your Kingdom.
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  Your Kingdom, where things of this world really are not that
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  important. And if something is dragging us
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  away from you, Lord, you tell us to drop it, to walk away from
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  it, and just to come back to you time and time again.
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  Because it's through you that we find eternal life.
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  It's through you that we find forgiveness of our sins.
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  It's through you that we are made right with the Father.
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  And so we come to you, our loving Saviour, arms open wide,
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  use us, transform us, save us. We love you.
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  And we pray all of this in your saving name, Jesus.
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  I'm in.