Longings

Mark: The Peter Interviews

Have you ever had the opportunity to hear from someone who was an eyewitness to an important historical event? My grandmother, who was born in 1903, left her family a journal she kept during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. During high school, a friend’s father told me what it was like during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Then, years later, parents of a student Kathy had during her time teaching English in Japan, shared with us their experience when the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Finally, a friend told me what it was like on September 11th, 2001, when, seated at his desk across the street from the World Trade Center, he heard an explosion, and looking out the window, saw smoke pouring out of one of the towers. 
 
While It’s great to read about an important historical event, it’s even better to talk to someone who was there. In the New Testament, there are four biographies of Jesus. Each tells the story of Jesus’ life from a different perspective. The shortest and earliest of these, and the one I often recommend to those who’ve never read the Bible before, is Mark. Full of action, with few editorial comments, it reads like a good newspaper. 
 
What I find fascinating is that, according to tradition, Mark, the author of this biography, got much of his information directly from Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter had a front-row seat during Jesus’ time here are earth. It’s thought that Mark interviewed Peter extensively to capture the most important events of Jesus’ life, into a short, compact biography. 
 
In the next couple of months, we’re going to look at the final section, chapters 14-16, of this biography. Here we have an account of the last few days of Jesus’ life, a story shared directly with Mark by Peter. So join us online or in-person.

Blessed Mary, Mother of God

Confused about Mary? You’re not alone. Some have placed her on a pedestal, others have treated her with neglect, while the rest aren’t quite sure what to do with her. That makes her one of the most misunderstood characters in the Bible. 
 
It’s understandable. After a starring role in the Christmas story, Mary makes just a few cameo appearances along the way. In response, some have rushed in and filled the gap with a confusing mixture of exaggerations and legend. While others, worried they’ll give her too much attention, have let her fade into the background. 
 
Sure, some have taken things with Mary too far. But equally true is that others have not gone far enough. From now through the end of January, we’ll be looking at the life of Mary; not just the Christmas part we’re so familiar with, but her entire story. Along the way we’ll separate legend from fact and uncover the story of this remarkable woman and the extraordinary role she played in the life and ministry of Jesus. 
 
Mary was a great example of faith and faithfulness. She carried Jesus to birth, then raised him. She heard him teach, watched him heal, and never doubted he could do the miraculous. She was fiercely loyal to Jesus all the way to the end. She never deserted him, even when Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, and the rest fled and went into hiding. So she was there when he took his last breath, and again on Sunday morning when he rose from the dead. 
 
But her most important legacy was her simple faith. Was Mary devout? Probably. Was she pure in heart? Sure. But that wasn’t the point.  
 
You see, God didn’t chose her because she aced the Messiah Mommy ACT. Mary was convinced this great honor had come to her by the sheer grace of God. That is why, after the angel left, she sang not about how great she was, but how great was her God. 
 
The same is true with us. God is still showing up, telling people everywhere, us included, “you are highly favored,” and inviting us to respond in faith.
            
John Sommerville - Senior Pastor

The Acts of the Apostles

The automobile tycoon Henry Ford once famously said, “history is more or less bunk.” Why look back when you can look forward? Get busy making history rather than reading stories of those long dead and gone? 
 
Fair enough, except that sometimes the stories of the past are the very thing that inspires us for the future. A man named Luke had a front-row seat during the early days of the Christian church. Like an investigative reporter, he had already captured the story of the life of Jesus into a biography we now have in the New Testament.
 
But Luke had a second book in him, a book about the early Christian church. The church grew, Luke believed, by the will and purpose of God in fulfillment of promises God made years before. His is an encouraging story, of how from a handful of Jesus followers in a single church, this movement spread beyond geographic, ethnic and racial boundaries. The message, that salvation is found in Jesus, raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, changed lives and communities everywhere it went. And the catalyst for all this change, Luke believed, was the power of the Holy Spirit, the gift Jesus left with the church when he ascended into heaven.
 
It’s an inspirational story and raises interesting questions for us today, none more important than this: How can we, at City Church, capture today something of the confidence, enthusiasm, vision, and power these early Christians and their leaders had? It’s a question we will explore in the weeks to come.

The Twelve

At the end of the Old Testament are twelve relatively short books that pack a punch. Sometimes called the Minor Prophets, these books are both harsh and hopeful. 
 
Harsh because these twelve folks spoke up when they saw something wrong. And often what they saw made them mad. Called prophets, their main job was not, as many believe, to predict the future. Sometimes they did, and when their predictions came true it made people pay attention. But that was not their main job. Instead, their primary role was to speak to the people on God’s behalf. And speak they did; against the people’s idolatry, unrighteousness and injustice.
 
All this doom and gloom made them appear cranky. But what many don’t know is that they had a surprisingly hopeful vision of what is possible; the life we all want to live if we could only see it. 
 
During a period of just under 400 years, they told the people to repent, change their ways, and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. But the people refused. 
 
It must have been tempting to give up, but the prophets kept speaking up. The tragedy is, that for all their powerful rhetoric, the prophets were ignored, even shunned. That is until their warnings came true. While the cranky side of the prophets’ message gets much of the attention, it was the hope they pointed to that led people to preserve their important message. And that’s why we still have these books today. 
 
During the months of July and August, we’ll be looking at five of these prophets. We’ll spend a week each on four – Habakkuk, Haggai, Joel, and Micah. Then in August, we’ll take an in-depth look at the surprisingly up-to-date perspective of a man named Amos. Whether in person or online, join us in the weeks to come as we look to these wise mentors to challenge and encourage us with an ancient message still relevant today. John Sommerville – Senior Pastor