{"id":3116,"date":"2009-01-25T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-25T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:16:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:16:29","slug":"a-sermon-about-sermons-sermon-talkback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/a-sermon-about-sermons-sermon-talkback\/","title":{"rendered":"“A Sermon about Sermons” Sermon Talkback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermon Talkback<\/strong>\u2014January 25, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon about Sermons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark 1:14-20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflections on the Inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama\u2014Are you more hopeful? What makes this new president different from others? What do you expect in the coming weeks, months and years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning of a New Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark\u2019s gospel begins with God\u2019s word in Isaiah as an introduction to John the Baptist and we can imagine that the \u201cgospel of Jesus Christ\u201d has been a long time in the making. By Mark 1:14, we are prepared to understand the main character of this gospel, Jesus himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            When<\/strong>\u2014Jesus\u2019 ministry starts \u201cafter John was arrested\u201d (1:14). John\u2019s arrest foreshadows those who follow Jesus. Judas\u2019 betrayal leads to Jesus\u2019 arrest. Jesus\u2019 followers will be \u201chanded over\u201d to the authorities in the future (13:9, 11, 12). Therefore, arrest or betrayal is something that unites those who prepare for the coming of God\u2019s kingdom. In vs. 15, Jesus proclaims \u201cthe time is fulfilled\u201d meaning that salvation history begins and the Kingdom of God is \u201ccoming near.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Where<\/strong>\u2014Mark describes Jesus as coming \u201cfrom Nazareth to Galilee,\u201d in verse 9, so here in verse 14, the preaching is taking place in Galilee. Galilee becomes the \u201chome\u201d for Jesus and his disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            What<\/strong>\u2014Mark describes what the purpose of Jesus\u2019 ministry or what he will do. Reminiscent of John\u2019s proclamation, Jesus calls others to repent and believe in the gospel. This gospel, or \u201cgood news,\u201d has been attributed to God (1:14) and to Jesus (1:1). In addition, Jesus calls disciples (Simon, Andrew, James and John) in the midst of their current jobs as fishermen to perform more important work\u2014fish for people. Jesus claims that he has come \u201cto call not the righteous but sinners (2:17), and he often calls disciples to him for particular teaching, or he summons the crowds to him for similar announcements. Discipleship is not easy but fraught with difficulty on many sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Who<\/strong>\u2014While the prologue has already given Jesus his introdution with his baptism, it is in this passage that Jesus becomes the main actor in the narrative. Previously, John, God (as a voice from heaven), and the Spirit had maintained that role (1:9, 11, 12). With Jesus as the central figure, Mark moves to introduce these four called disciples: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John. These disciples are given private privileged opportunities to see the Son of Man (13:3, 24-27, 32-36). While this privacy is surely part of mark\u2019s broader theology about how God is working in secret to produce an incredible harvest (4:3-8, 26-29), such secretive actions consistently single out these disciples as the ones who are to be the most responsible for God\u2019s revelation of the kingdom through Jesus. Unfortunately, they are also the ones who fail most spectacularly. James and John ask Jesus for a seat on his right and left (10:35-37) in the eschaton. Finally, Simon Peter is certainly one of the closest to Jesus, but also puts him at significant risk for failing (14:29, 54-72), even if he is redeemed at the end (16:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Why<\/strong>\u2014The question of why Jesus came, lived, and died among us is the most important of all and will be answered as we move into Lent and toward the passion of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question for Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is Christ calling you to respond to his invitation to serve him today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon Talkback\u2014January 25, 2009 A Sermon about Sermons Mark 1:14-20 Reflections on the Inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama\u2014Are you more hopeful? What makes this new president different from others?Continue reading“A Sermon about Sermons” Sermon Talkback<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-3116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermon-talkbacks","tag-mark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3117,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116\/revisions\/3117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}