Paul
10,000 Reasons
Open Up The Heavens (Floodgates)
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
Mighty To Save
Beautiful

Maria
Corn booth is coming up
Sign up and help raise money for kids and youth ministry
Uganda trip could use more suitcases and supplies, medicine, etc

Jon
Mark 1
Journey covenant
Pastor Jim’s wife has a twisted intestine
She’s in ICU, it’s not looking good
The next 48 hours a crucial
I’d like us to be I agreement to pray in solidarity for God’s intervention
For God to be present

Corporate prayer

If I hear anything, I’ll keep you up to date via email
Going to fill in there next Sunday

Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. Simon and those with him tracked him down. When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!” He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons. (Mark 1:35-39 CEB)

Near the end of the apartheid movement in Africa, a group of divinity students asked Bishop Desmond Tutu how he kept pushing through the oppressive system
His answer
One, I cannot imagine a day without this time of quiet contemplation
Two, knowing that what I do is right
Looking at Jesus, we see a really rapid pace
Mark seems to think we need to race through the life of Jesus
We continually we see words like immediately
V.12 immediately driven to the wilderness
The wilderness is a major place of transformation in the Bible
Jesus comes out of the wilderness and starts calling followers to transformation (follow me and I’ll make you…)
Christian idiom
I feel like God has me in the wilderness
I don’t know what God is doing
Jesus invited us to follow Him and I’m going to make you into something
This same person who speaks with clarity and import
And then he found me, and calls me to follow Him
This is our creed, a core part of our believe, that He wasn’t just a good teacher
Everything needs to be re-oriented around His authority and His leadership
Maybe instead of running from it or filling it with busyness, we can learn to lean into it, to learn from that quiet, still voice
Go back to v.32 and Mark talks about the WHOLE CITY being at the door
All this pressure and big needs coming at Him, and we see Him, in the morning, we see Him pulling away
Maybe that’s His real home, where he feels most safe and can hear the quiet, still voice
This message was burned into me in the desert, I have to go declare it despite all these pressing needs
At this point, we’ve had no content from Jesus’ sermons, just that the religious and demonic leaders did not like it
Jesus operated with a great deal of discernment of saying yes and saying no, when to stay and when to go
He’s engaging with people when they’re with Him
He operates in this realm of always knowing
Doesn’t let the tyranny of the urgent dictate His actions
Jesus is always pushing us forwards
Now how in the heck are we supposed to discern yes and no?
How are we supposed to get to that place?
Where we have this burning thing inside that overflows with discernment
Desmond Tutu had this discernment, this rightness burning inside him and the quiet meditation every day helped with that
If we do not find these sacred spaces in our lives, how are we ever going to be able to discern what God wants from us?
Creating space and not always having to fill it up
I wonder if creating space…
They’re your kids, I wouldn’t know what’s best for them
If we do not find sacred spaces, we’re going to be competing with all these different voices
I wonder if it’s our responsibility to help them discern the voice of God
What might it look like for us to engage them and stop competing with the rush and finding more things to do so that our kids don’t get bored
Are we following Jesus and learning how to discern that still small voice?
Or looking for the next buzz?
Even as a man of the cloth, I need this quiet time or I don’t make it through a week
There is a lot that comes at me
We all need to do that, carve that space out
I’ve seen too many leaders burn out because they didn’t carve that time out
Jesus might have been a little busy, but He still finds time to commune with God in private
Colossians, Jesus holds all things together
What things? ALL THINGS
I can trust that He is up to something in the life of my family
Lord Jesus help me to not always be on the defensive but operate in grace and peace and truth
But me back together because You hold all things together
Parents, can you share with people some of the things that you’re doing with your kids that’s working?
To dialogue with others
I’m reluctant to share the things that work for me, but if you want to know, I’ll gladly tell you