As we leave the darkened sanctuary (nave) in silence on Good Friday, we return to OUR world and time to color and hunt eggs, prepare meals, press outfits, maybe Spring cleaning or watching baseball (yes I know) we must not leave the experience of our Good Friday service completely behind.  Think about what the disciples were thinking and feeling all those years ago.  They didn't know what we know.  They didn't have a flickering candle showing a glimmer of hope. 

What is it like to be that hopeless?  Have you ever felt abandoned by God?  What did you do?  Do you think God abandoned you on purpose?  Was it an accident?  Was it to teach you a lesson?  or something else?

Jesus really slams Peter in today's Gospel reading.  He calls him Satan because he is "setting [his] mind not on divine things but on human things."  (Mk 8:33)  If that's what he says to Peter, his right hand man, what does he say to us?  What are the things that our minds are on instead of divine things?  For that matter what divine things does Jesus want us to be setting our minds on? 

Here's one possibility...I recently posted a response to Kirk Cameron's statements about marriage being "defined by God."  The negative response has surprised me (mostly because I posted it at glaad.org with a link to my fb page).  One recent poster accused me of being on  a "witch hunt" and attempting to "bash others."   I have had to focus very intentionally on how God wants me to respond.  Even still my responses are far from perfect and I often find myself agitated.  If I only focused on myself and the words people are saying, it would likely get "ugly."

How do we set our minds on divine things and not

Jesus was recharged for the most important part of his ministry at the Transfiguration. 

What charges you for ministry in this world?
What was one of your most memorable mountain top experiences?
How do you carry the charge from the mountain top into the world below/around you?

Jonah told the people of Nineveh, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!...When God saw...how they turned from their evil ways" God pardoned the people and the city was saved. (Jonah 3:4, 10)  First John, then Jesus proclaim, "the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news." (Mark 1:15)

What do you think is "the kingdom of God [which] has come near?"

Which comes first repentance or forgiveness?

Jonah argued with God and avoided God's call.  Simon and Andrew/James and John "immediately left their nets/father and followed [Jesus]." (Mark 1:18, 20)

When do we drop/have you dropped everything to answer God's call?

What things or circumstances cause us/have caused you to argue with God's call?

God speaks to us all the time, calling us by name.  Yet few if any of us claim to have actually heard the voice of God.  Often we miss God's call...unless there is some one or some thing that can point it out to us.  Samuel had Eli to explain that God was speaking to him. 

Who/what has pointed out the voice of God in your life?

What is God calling you to do at this time in your life?

Epiphany means revelation.  Just as the star of Bethlehem revealed the Christ child to men of the non-Jewish world, we are called to reveal Christ to those who don't know him in our world today.  There are no requirements to receive the gift of God's love.  It is freely given to ALL!  Yet with the gift, there is an expectation to respond.  We respond by living as Christ wants us to live.  Through us the Holy Spirit reaches others. However, it is clear that just living the "good Christian life" is not enough in the world in which we live!  Church and God are no longer the priorities they once were.  So passively living like a "good Christian" does not reach people as it once did.  Now it is about individual personal relationships with others.  Now it is about shining like the star of Bethlehem in an ever darkening world.

How has Christ been revealed to you in your life? 
What does God expect of you as a recipient of the Greatest Gift ever Given?
How have you revealed Christ to others in your world?