MAC KIRK

Covenants- Given, Made & Received ? 1st Sunday in Lent Genesis 9:8-17 Psalm 25:1-9 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 In U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of Sea. Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'

---So we are getting ready for a trip, a journey to the Cross and beyond that will lead us to Easter Day , the Resurrection and Joy of Easter. How should we get ready? On a regular trip you think of things you need to do before you leave. Pay some bills, get the vet on line, etc.....fix up around the house so it does not look too bad while you are gone. This trip we are taking is a spiritual one so it may be good to do some outer work on our spiritual houses, but we will need to do some work that is interior as well. Look at what is going on in our lives and what we think may be important may not be so at all. The little interuptions could be more significant than we thought. Let us start paying attention to what we are doing outwardly and inwardly. The Day of Lent is almost upon us and we cannot leave for the journey without our bags packed and our destination planned. What are we going to be doing on our trip? What are we taking? What is important? A Bible verse a day? A tim

2 Kings 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-9, 2 Cor. 4:3-6--- Sunday before Lent or Last Sunday after the Epiphany “Lost and Hid” 2 Cor. 4:3-6 Last week we looked at the way we should present ourselves and saw the example of the Apostle Paul for us, who said he became all things to all so that some might respond to the good news of the gospel. “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak” I Cor 9:22 He said we should so run the race that we may obtain the prize, the incorruptible crown and to keep our bodies under subjection . This was all about our demeanor and conduct . This week we are going to look at what Paul talks about in his second letter when he lays out the condition of those to whom he was trying to speak to in 2 Cor. 4:3-4 “ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not , lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ , who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” This may

2nd Sunday before Lent- I Corinthians 9:24-27 “ And I do all things for the gospel’s sake” I Corinthians 9:23 As we prepare to celebrate Easter in about 60 days this Scripture in the last few verses of I Corinthians 9 about the commitment of the Apostle to the gospel talk about his total life in service to Christ. He lays down some of his own thoughts concerning his life and how Christianity is not just a belief but a way of life for him. “ Woe is me if I preach if I preach not the gospel.” 9:16 He then talks about a stewardship “intrusted to me” v. 17. I Corinthians 4:1 reminds us that we are “ stewards of the mysteries of God”. This certainly applies to not just pastors or leaders in the church but also all Christians. This word steward is from a Greek word which literally means to be the manager of a household. “ it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.” 4:2 We have been entrusted as Christians with the gospel , the good news of liberation of a