Lenten Reading March 12, 2016

Reading Guide for Lent

Each day read the Gospel passage for the day and the Psalm passage for the day (you can read them all at once or do one reading in the morning and one in the evening) and use the reflection questions to help process the passage.

The 28th day of Lent

Saturday March 12^th, 2016

Now that we have finished one biography of Jesus, the Book of Luke, we will turn to a second account – the book of Mark.  Mark was written by a disciple named Mark who was a close associate of Peter, one of the closest 12 followers of Jesus.  Marks “Gospel” is full of the stories that Peter told Mark.  We will finish Mark on Easter Sunday.

Gospel Reading:  Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

4      Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ²He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

¹⁰When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables ¹²so that,

“ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

¹³Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

²¹He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²²For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

²⁴“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵Those who have will be given more; as for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³²Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm

³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The Holy Bible : Today's New International Version. 2005. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Psalm Reading:  Psalm 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

²When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands,

and I would not be comforted.

³I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.

⁴You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

⁵I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

⁶I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

⁷“Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

⁸Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

¹⁰Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

¹¹I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹²I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

¹³Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as great as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

¹⁵With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶The waters saw you, God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

¹⁷The clouds poured down water,

the heavens resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

¹⁹Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.