[From the version for families with children]

A few of the disciples are at it again—looking for high positions of honor in Jesus’s kingdom.  It takes a long time for these men to know that they are closer to Jesus when they serve others, than when they sit next to him in seats of privilege.  The privilege for us as Christians is to be invited to be part of Jesus’s loving community of service.  And as for recognition of honor: Jesus was crucified!  So if you love Jesus and want to serve him by loving and serving others, then it will mean a kind of death to our preferences to be looking for “Oscars” and “Emmys” for our Christian performance. 

Verse 44 is the ultimate reversal.  If you want to be first, you must be willing to be counted last!  But this is so good!  The more our pride dissolves, the more the brightness of humility can shine.  Think long and quietly about that verse and see how you can live it one day at a time.   

 Mark 10:35-45 

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Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

[From the original version]

Sarah’s barrenness was interpreted as a curse. Rather than trust in the Lord, she took it upon herself to tell Abraham to have relations with Hagar, Sarah’s maid, so that Abraham could have a son. Ishmael was born, and with it was begotten jealousy between the two women and their children, even to our own day. Modern day Arabs trace their ancestry back to Ishmael.

In chapter 17 we joyfully begin to recall the covenant that God made with Abraham. God introduces himself as El Shaddai, the name we translate as “The Almighty.”

God offers a covenant with Abraham. The sign of this covenant is circumcision—what comes forth in generative life is to be the gift of God and not simply the productivity of the flesh alone. May your heart be circumcised in a response to God’s abundant life.

Genesis 16—17

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The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

[From the original version]

Good news and bad news are mixed in this passage. The bad news: things are going to get worse as peoples rise up in rage against each other; the good news: the power of the Holy Spirit will be present as an inner strength of word and action against the power of darkness. Though the Temple would be destroyed in 70 A.D., and there would not be left a stone upon a stone, yet the New Temple of the presence of God, the risen body of Jesus, will be the sacred house where you can live now and forever.

Jesus likens this to a woman at the time of birth—pain as never before yet joy as never before. Each hour of this day is a time for you to deliver. What is the pain you need to experience so that new birth can happen?

Mark 13:1–13

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Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 10 to 16.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.