Sermon - Mark 1 21-28 - RIC Sunday

<p>First, I want to just say a quick “hi” to all of you out there. While I certainly wish that we could be worshipping in person, I am thankful for technology and the people who operate it (thanks Ken!) so that we can still gather virtually each Sunday. I miss seeing you every week during worship, choir rehearsals, or other events. Just a note that to be 100% safe, I recorded my parts of the service at home ahead of Sunday, so while you are watching this on Sunday morning, I’m watching it right with you!</p> <p>Now, taking a quick look at our old testament reading from today, it focuses on prophets and God providing prophets for the people as they get ready to go into the promised land. God wants to make sure that God’s people are given guidance as they go into land that has many rituals around false gods. Because of this, there needs to be a true voice to guide them as they build their community around God’s plan. We learn what makes a good prophet, which is someone who speaks the truth about God and shares God’s message. So, while we don’t officially declare prophets in these modern times, we can sort of view anyone who declares the truth about God and the love for all people as a type of modern prophet.</p> <p>Moving to the new testament reading, at a quick glance this may seem like a message about being careful about what we eat or do not eat or how we behave, but the message is bigger than that. We have to remember that this was written to the church in Corinth to give them guidance for their community. What I take away from this passage  isn’t about strict laws about our behaviors or actions. This is about being aware of our actions and how they impact our community. As children of God, freed by Christ, we are commanded to build up our community to ensure that everyone can know and experience God’s love for all. So what we should and should not do is not dictated by a certain list somewhere, but by the outcomes. We need to look at our actions not as the actions themselves but by how they impact our communit