Kids Korner: Baptism & Temptation (Feb. 18th)

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Read Mark 1:9-13 with your family.

The Gospel of Mark doesn’t give us story details like the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. We read the outline of a story, and then move on. The Gospel of Mark is very fast.

In this scripture lesson we have both Jesus’ baptism and then Jesus going out to the desert to be tempted.

One of the things many new Christians do is get very excited about doing all sorts of things with their church community, and then they usually get tired or frustrated and quit both the activity and their faith community.

This story shows us that taking our time to think more about what we believe and why, is a better way to grow as a Christian before we get involved in all the activities of our church.

Faith doesn’t just happen at baptism and then it’s there for life. Faith is something we have to keep practicing so it can grow.

Ash Wednesday Reflection – February 14, 2024

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Pillars of Lent

Matthew 6  When you do good deeds, don’t try to show off. If you do, you won’t get a reward from your Father in heaven.

2 When you give to the poor, don’t blow a loud horn. That’s what show-offs do in the synagogues and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

3 When you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know about it. 4 Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you.

5  When you pray, don’t be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

6 When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private and will reward you.

16 When you go without eating, don’t try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward. 17  Instead, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then others won’t know you are going without eating. But your Father sees what is done in private, and he will reward you.

19  Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. 20  Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

Sunday Reflection – Transfiguration Sunday, February 11, 2024

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Recorded 2021

Seeing Moses and Elijah with Jesus

Mark 9 2  Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him. They went up on a high mountain, where they could be alone. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. 3 And his clothes became much whiter than any bleach on earth could make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 But Peter and the others were terribly frightened, and he did not know what he was talking about.

7  The shadow of a cloud passed over and covered them. From the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to what he says!” 8 At once the disciples looked around, but they saw only Jesus.

9 As Jesus and his disciples were coming down the mountain, he told them not to say a word about what they had seen, until the Son of Man had been raised from death.

Kids Korner: Transfiguration (Feb. 11th)

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Read Mark 9:2-9 with your family.

When Jesus lived, 2000 years ago, the Hebrew people believed that Elijah (their greatest prophet) would return to earth and help end the suffering under the Roman occupiers. They also saw Moses (the giver of the laws of their religious tradition) as the greatest person in Hebrew history. So imagine these men who had been awaiting Elijah and respecting Moses their whole lives, seeing both of them with Jesus.

It was incredible. They didn’t know how to act. Peter got his voice back first suggested making special huts for all of them so they could keep the experience to themselves. Peter, James and John believed Elijah was back for good, and Moses was there to teach them, and they realized Jesus was as important as both men.

This is when the disciples finally start to understand that there is something very, very special about Jesus beyond his healing and teaching people.

Imagine then when God said Jesus was who to follow while Elijah and Moses disappeared again.

The disciples were given a new message by God: don’t look to the people of the past, but look to Jesus who was right there with them, to show how God wanted everyone to take care of each other and understand God’s love.

Lent 2024

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Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, this year falling on St. Valentine’s Day, February 14th.

How to Lent with Kids and How to Lent for Teens are resources for parents and teachers alike, showing how to make a difficult and often confusion season more relevant for the younger people in our homes and faith communities. Each page has several videos explaining how the three pillars of Lent: giving, prayer, and fasting, along with Bible readings, can be adapted for children and teens.

Our five week Lenten study this year will look at the children of the Bible. They are often hidden in plain sight and are rarely the focus of our worship services or Bible studies. Over five weeks from February 21st until March 20th, we will dig deeper into these stories, the culture and social expectations of the day, and what we can learn about God’s promises shown through their lives.

Sunday Reflection – February 4, 2024

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Making the Community Whole

Mark 1 29 As soon as Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went home with Simon and Andrew. 30 When they got there, Jesus was told that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 31 Jesus went to her. He took hold of her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she served them a meal.

32 That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus. 33 In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house. 34 Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.

35 Very early the next morning before daylight, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. 36 Simon and the others started looking for him. 37 And when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.” 39  Then Jesus went to their synagogues everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.

Kids Korner: Serving and helping Jesus (Feb. 4th)

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Read Mark 1:29-39 with your family.

The Gospel of Mark moves fast. We aren’t even out of chapter 1 and already Jesus has been performing healings and teaching so much he has already become well known.

This story starts with Peter’s mother-in-law who was very sick. Jesus asked her to ‘rise up’, the same word used at the end when Jesus dies and is then resurrected, or rises up. The people who heard this story in the first century would have made that connection quickly.

And then we read that she ‘served’ Jesus and the other people in the house. One of the poor choices of the early Bible translators was how they turned the Greek word for ministry into ‘serving’ for all the women, and then made it seem like they were serving food. For men, they always treated ‘serving’ as ministry.

Women were doing ministry too. They were not serving food. Peter’s mother-in-law was also a disciple of Jesus and helped Jesus with his ministry. Women and men worked with Jesus to spread the good news that Jesus had come to share.

Sunday Reflection – January 28, 2024

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First aired in 2021

The Unclean Spirit

Mark 1 21 Jesus and his disciples went to the town of Capernaum. Then on the next Sabbath he went into the synagogue and started teaching. 22  Everyone was amazed at his teaching. He taught with authority, and not like the teachers of the Law of Moses. 23 Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit in him entered the synagogue and yelled, 24 “Jesus from Nazareth, what do you want with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are! You are God’s Holy One.”

25 Jesus told the evil spirit, “Be quiet and come out of the man!” 26 The spirit shook him. Then it gave a loud shout and left.

27 Everyone was completely surprised and kept saying to each other, “What is this? It must be some new kind of powerful teaching! Even the unclean spirits obey him.” 28 News about Jesus quickly spread all over Galilee.

Kids Korner: Be silent (Jan. 28th)

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Read Mark 1:21-28 with your family.

This is the first story of healing in Mark’s Gospel. One of the curious things about this story is how the unclean spirit knew who Jesus really was, but none of the people around Jesus understood that he was the Messiah.

Jesus didn’t want any of the people around him to know until he was ready to tell them, so he told the unclean spirit to be quiet. Jesus did that a lot throughout the whole Gospel of Mark.

There was so much to teach his disciples that Jesus needed time to share everything. If they knew who Jesus was right away, they might not have listened and learned the way they did. Sometimes people are so overwhelmed by how important a person is, or how famous, that they don’t listen to what is being said. Jesus didn’t want that to happen.

Sunday Reflection – January 14, 2024

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Peter, Andrew, James and John

Mark 1 14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. 15  He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!”

16 As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake. 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” 18 Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

19 Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. 20 At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.