November 22, 2020

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for November 29th: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7,17-19; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37; Theme: First Sunday of Advent; Song: People, Look East UMH 202 Mark: The beginning of Advent always starts with the end – the second coming and works its way backward. The beginning of Advent always starts a new gospel to study. This year we will be looking at the book of Mark – the strangest of the gospels. Chapter 13 is a bit strange even for Mark. The Jewish temple has been destroyed, which causes a major crisis for believers. Not only does this event disturb a way of life, it disturbs a belief about God. The people are looking for some sense of direction in their faith. This chapter of Mark is known as crisis literature. It is found in both Revelations and the book of Daniel. It is a way of taking people’s mind off of what is happening in real time in their world – and getting them to think about God and the ultimate reality. Today, we are all too familiar with a world in crisis. We are encouraged to be alert in our world to see what God does to make things better. Corinthians: Paul spent much of his ministry writing letters to the churches that he established. Whenever they had a problem they looked to him for the solution. There were a lot of things going on in the Corinthian Church. Mostly, there were factions who refused to work together. Apparently, they also had different feelings about Paul. So Paul had to remind them that he worked for God. And that is the Spirit of God which held them together. God calls each of us into faith, and reveals the power of Jesus Christ to us. This verse is important in Advent because it tells us that the center of faith should be Jesus Christ. Questions: Where do you go for help in the midst of a crisis? How does a crisis make you more alert to what God is doing? How is Jesus the center of your faith? What does Jesus call you to do in the world?