Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / March 31 - Mark 12

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March 31 - Mark 12 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's the 31st of March, the very
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  last day of March. And it's great to have your
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  company as you have joined me to do this thing that we do that is
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  opening God's word and reading the Bible.
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  And I was made aware of some research very recently chatting
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  with someone and I've just looked it up and read about it.
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  And the Centre for Bible Engagement has done some
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  research that published mid last year that talks about the
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  benefits of reading your Bible each day.
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  And they found that if people read their Bible three times a
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  week, they have mild to moderate benefits.
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  Whereas if people engage in God's word 4 or more times a
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  week, it's this phenomenal change that happens in people's
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  well being. People are 60% less likely to be
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  spiritually stagnant, 30% less likely to feel lonely, 14% less
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  likely to feel anxious, or 31% less likely to feel discouraged,
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  and much more likely to have the sense of well being, to disciple
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  others, to share their faith with others.
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  Friends. This is not just something we do
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  because it's the routine that we do, but this makes a significant
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  change in our lives. That's what the literature tells
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  us, that listening to God's Word, reading God's Word each
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  day actually changes our hardwiring, changes our
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  experience of ourselves, our relationship with God and our
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  experience of life. So boy, if that is not
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  encouragement enough to to tune in everyday, I don't know what
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  is. This is good for us.
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  Our God and His relationship with us just does good things to
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  our human well being. Oh, how good is that?
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  You can read all about it at the Centre for Bible Engagement.
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  If you're interested, I'll I'll add a link in the show notes.
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  But that aside, we are continuing through this
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  incredible journey as Jesus is in Jerusalem heading toward that
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  biggest of weekends, the Easter weekend that is coming up at the
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  end of this week. So friends, buckle yourselves up
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  as we read this incredible chapter filled with phenomenal
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  moments of Jesus and what he has done for us.
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  So friends, let us settle in and read together Mark chapter 12.
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  Then Jesus began teaching them with stories.
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  A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a
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  pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout
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  tower. Then he leased the vineyard to
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  tenant farmers and moved to another country.
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  At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his
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  servants to collect his share of the crop, but the farmers grab
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  the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty handed.
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  The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him
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  and beat him over the head. The next servant he sent was
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  killed. Others he sent were either
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  beaten or killed until there was only one left, his son, whom he
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  loved dearly. The owner finally sent him,
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  thinking, surely they'll respect my son.
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  But the tenant farmers said to one another, here comes the heir
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  to the estate, let's kill him and get the estate for
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  ourselves. So they grabbed him and murdered
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  him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
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  What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?
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  Jesus asked. I'll tell you, He will come and
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  kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.
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  Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures?
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  The stone that the builders rejected has now become the
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  cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing and it
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  is wonderful to see. The religious leaders wanted to
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  arrest Jesus because they realised he was telling the
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  story against them. They were the wicked farmers,
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  but they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went
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  away. Later the leaders sent some
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  Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying
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  something for which he could be arrested.
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  Teacher, they said, we know how honest you are.
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  You are impartial and don't play favourites.
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  You teach the way of God truthfully.
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  Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
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  Should we pay them or shouldn't we?
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  Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said why are you
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  trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin and I'll
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  tell you. When they handed it to him, he
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  asked whose picture and title has stamped on it?
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  Caesar's they replied. Well then Jesus said, give to
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  Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to
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  God. His reply completely amazed
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  them. Then Jesus is approached by some
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  Sadducees religious leaders who say there is no resurrection
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  from the dead. They posed this question.
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  Teacher Moses gave us a law that if a man dies leaving a wife
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  without children, his brother should marry the widow and have
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  a child who will carry on the brother's name.
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  Well, suppose there were seven brothers.
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  The oldest 1 married and then died with our children.
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  So the second brother married the widow, but he also died with
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  our children. Then the third brother married
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  her. This continued with all seven of
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  them, and still there were no children.
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  Last of all, the woman also died.
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  So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection?
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  For all seven were married to her.
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  Jesus replied, Your mistake is that you don't know the
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  Scriptures and you don't know the power of God.
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  For when the dead rise, they will neither marry or be given
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  in marriage. In this respect they will be
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  like the angels in heaven. But now as to whether the dead
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  will be raised. Haven't you ever read about this
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  in the writings of Moses? In the story of the burning
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  Bush, long after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had died, God said to
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  Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
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  Jacob. So he is the God of the living,
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  not the dead. You have made a serious error.
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  One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening
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  to the debate. He realised that Jesus had
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  answered well. So he asked of all the
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  commandments, which is the most important?
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  Jesus replied, The most important commandment is this.
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  Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one and only Lord,
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  and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all
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  your soul, all your mind and all your strength.
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  The second is equally important, love your neighbour as yourself.
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  No other commandment is greater than these.
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  The teacher of religious law replied, Well said teacher, you
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  have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and
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  no other, and I know it is important to love him with all
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  my heart and all my understanding and all my
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  strength, and to love my neighbour as myself.
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  This is more important than to offer all the burnt offerings
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  and sacrifices required in the law.
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  Realising how much the man understood, Jesus said to him,
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  You are not far from the Kingdom of God.
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  And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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  Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple, he asked,
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  Why do the teachers of the religious law claim that the
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  Messiah is the son of David? For David himself, speaking
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  under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, The Lord said
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  to My Lord, sits at the place of honour at my right hand, until I
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  humble your enemies beneath your feet.
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  Since David himself called the Messiah my Lord, how can the
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  Messiah be his son? The large crowd listened to him
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  with great delight. Jesus also taught.
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  Beware of these teachers of religious lore, for they like to
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  parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings
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  as they walk in the marketplaces.
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  And how they love the seats of honour in the synagogues and at
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  the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat
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  widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by
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  making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be
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  more severely punished. Jesus sat down near the
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  collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped in
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  their money. Many rich people put in large
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  amounts. Then a poor widow came and
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  dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to
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  him and said, I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given
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  more than all the others who are making contributions, for they
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  give a tiny part of their surplus.
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  But she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live
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  on. Our Lord, you are wise beyond
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  our reckoning and our understanding.
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  And when people through these challenges to you, you just cut
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  through to the heart of the truth and delivered that back to
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  them. And Lord, even today, sitting on
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  your resurrected throne, you see truth, you know truth, and you
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  are truth. Jesus, thank you that You not
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  only have saved us, but you continue to walk through life
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  with us, sharing your wisdom with us through your Spirit.
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  And Lord, that wisdom is the wisdom that draws us back to you
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  and back to the Father in love and faith.
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  Our Lord, I pray that you sharpen that lens in our daily
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  lives that everywhere we look, we would see your Kingdom and we
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  would see your Kingdom priorities.
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  And that when we act, we would do so with that lens of eternity
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  firmly planted in the forefront of our minds, that this life,
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  this life is to love you and to love one another, to care for
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  each other and to point all back to you, our wonderful saving
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  God, who is the most important thing in heaven and on earth.
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  And so we love you, and we praise you, and we pray all of
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  this in your wonderful name, Jesus, Amen.