Pastor Percipia

     For full message, see link at bottom  Christmas is a challenge. What kind of a challenge? Depends on who you're talking to.   For some, the challenge of Christmas is to make it even better than last year, more spectacular tree, bigger turkey. Better everything.   For some the challenge of Christmas is to just stay silent when you see Aunt Murgatroid put ketchup on her turnip for the 30th year in a row.   For some the challenge of Christmas is that it is the first year without him, or without her.   Christmas throws everything into sharper contrast. It makes us more aware of what's right in our lives and what's wrong in our lives, whether it's family dynamics, grief, brand new little babies, your love life (and whether you have one), what's in the fridge (and whether you have a fridge). Every colour, every shape, every emotion, every relationship can be more intense at Christmas. Advertisers know this. Doctors and counselor...

     For full message, see link at bottom Each year through the season of Advent, we take time to remember the people to whom these events actually happened: Mary and Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, the magi, and Herod. This year, alongside the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love, we're also looking at the people who recorded the events for us. People who wrote them down and passed them on in the books of the Bible that we call the Gospels – a word that translates ‘good news.’ The four Gospels are named after the people who we understand wrote them: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.   We don't have direct claims of authorship for most of the Gospels. Matthew didn't write, “this is Matthew's account of the gospel.” Mark didn't include a copyright claim. Our understanding of who wrote what comes us from very, very early in church history.   For example, Matthew’s authorship was attributed in around the year 140 AD by Bishop Papius, who recorded th...

   For full message, see link at bottom Mark ’s Gospel is not where we tend to hang out at Christmas time. Mark has no angels, no shepherds, no wise men. And, to be frank, not a lot of peace. Mark s tarts his story of Jesus ’ life by dropping us in the middle of the action , and he ends with a cliffhanger —he skips the opening credits and starts the movie in the middle of a car chase. We don't know who anybody is . W e have to figure out who the characters are , and who to root for . T hen he shifts f rom event to event . He includes some of Jesus ’ teachings in his Gospel , but Mark focuses most on the things that Jesus did : how H e lived H is life as a man in the world.   But having taken time to do some reading about Mark and about his Gospel — about his account of Jesus ’ life and ministry, I started to catch a glimmer of how peace fits into Mark 's account of “ the good news of Jesus Christ . ” I landed on three questions. “ What i...