One thing have I desired of the Lord... that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life...Psalm 27:4
It’s Monica’s final sermon as Bethel’s intern, and she reflects on Jesus’s description of discipleship in Mark 8 in light of the end of her time with you all. It has been a crazy, wonderful, blessed year and a half here at Bethel, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way! The readings are Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 and Mark 8:31-38. The prayer at the end is from This Grateful Heart by Alden Solovny.
Photo by Intern Monica
Pastor Russ' message is "Water, Wilderness, Wild Beasts and Waiting Angels" as he weaves together the stories of Noah and the Ark with Jesus' baptism and temptation in the wilderness at the onset of his ministry. Animals play a role in each of the stories as we begin our Lenten journey together.
Photo by Lucas Dial on Unsplash
February 11th was Transfiguration Sunday when we remembered Jesus' clothes becoming dazzling white on the top of a mountain found in Mark 9:2-9. Pastor Russ' message is "Five Mountaintops and a Valley" as he takes us up vital mountains well known in the Bible. There are life lessons to learn atop these hills. Listen as we close out this Epiphany season and begin our journey of Lent.
Photo by Akshat Vats on Unsplash
We’re over a month into 2024, and we’re still in the first chapter of Mark! This gospel packs a whole lot of action into very few verses and shows us that Jesus was a very, very busy man. So what did Jesus do when things got overwhelming? Something that Intern Monica knows that she – and probably all of us – need to remember to do from time to time. The readings are Isaiah 40:21-31 and Mark 1:29-39.
