Devotional from Pastor Dave January 3, 2024

Happy new year! This week is a time of new beginnings. It’s not just the start of a new year. It also may be the start of attempting to live according to some new year’s resolutions you’ve envisioned for yourself. It is also the start for me, and maybe for you, too, of a plan to read through the Bible this year (we are sharing the reading plan on our website and in our worship bulletins and church communications). This Sunday will also be the start of a new sermon series as we will follow the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark all the way through Easter.

As I’ve been reading the beginnings of both Genesis and Mark this year, I’ve noticed some similarities between the two books that I hadn’t seen before. Genesis, of course, has the creation stories, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the temptation posed by the crafty serpent, the story of Noah and the flood. And Mark describes the preparatory ministry of John the Baptizer, the baptism of Jesus, his temptation in the wilderness, and the beginning of his public ministry.

But both Genesis and Mark have the term “beginning” at the start of their stories (“In the beginning…” and “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ…”). Both have stories involving water (the creation of the earth, the flood, baptism in the Jordan River). In both the Spirit of God is present, hovering over the waters at creation and descending on Jesus at his baptism. Both have doves. Both have Satan’s temptations. And in both, God’s voice speaks.

I find myself grateful this week for this unexpected opportunity to see connections across two different biblical books that I wouldn’t have seen had I not embarked on these new beginnings.

What new beginning are you embarking upon this new year?

What is something you hope for as you set out on this new beginning?

How might you be open to unexpected discoveries along the way?

May the blessings of God be with you, with all of us here at Signal Crest, and with the world God has made as we set out together on the new beginning of 2024.