The Sign of Jonah

In this passage Jesus compares the people of the day to those of Nineveh - with the exception that the Ninevites actually listened to Jonah, whereas now even though he is greater than Jonah they refuse to repent and believe.

Jesus and the Prince of Demons

In today's passage we end up jumping way back in Mark - Luke and Matthew are in synch though. Jesus heals a man who is deaf, and by doing so causes stirrings amongst the Pharisees that he is empowered by Satan. Jesus points out to them how silly this argument is saying that If Satan is out to defeat himself then he could be successful at nothing. He also points out that some of them have been known to successfully cast out demons - and therefore by the same argument are they using Satan's powers too? Finally he tells them that every sin - except one can be forgiven, and that one is Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

The Lord's Prayer

I have come to the difficult part of this study as things jump around a lot and I am having to make decisions as to whether I should include passages that only occur in one Gospel (the Good Samaritan, and visiting Martha & Mary for instance). For right now I will skip the single occurrence ones and come back to them later. Today's study is most commonly referred to as the Lords prayer. It is probably the most well known prayer after,

"Oh My God!"

which is uttered almost universally throughout the English speaking world during times of stress whether they are believers or not .
The Lord's prayer is used often in the CofE, and I believe also in other more "traditional" churches However I have noticed it's lack of use in Baptist/Evangelical churches. I think this is because they want to ensure that people pray about what they mean, and mean what they pray rather than just repeating things verbatim. However I know from experience that this isn't always the way it works as I have become effective at praying without thinking, usually in short phrases. Interestingly if you pray with someone else enough you will recognise their standard phrases too.
Is this practice bad? Well the fact that someone is praying on a regular enough basis for it to become standardised is in some ways good, but overall it's not really helping with our growth. We need to remember that prayer is meant to be a dialogue (not monologue) with God, the creator of the Universe, and yet also our Father. As such it should be reverent, and yet intimate. If we spoke to our real Dads using the same words each time I don't think they would really look forward to our conversations - even though they would be happy to see us. So next time you pray, try and remember why you are doing so, and be real about it, and then hopefully it will be longer than three words .

Jesus Prayer of Thanksgiving

In this passage Jesus gives thanks that Good has decided to reveal himself to the humble and not the proud. He then goes on to talk of his symbiotic relationship with the Father, and how you have to know him to truly know the Father.

Jesus Sends Out His Disciples

This passage kinda ties in with the earlier one where Jesus chooses the twelve apostles. However this time the passage focuses more on the sending out of them. Luke actually manages to multiply by 6 as he sends 72 of them! However many were sent they are given the same instructions/skills.

• the authority to cast out evil spirits
• to travel without baggage
• When you enter each village, be a guest in only one home
• When you are invited into someone's home, give it your blessing.
• if a village won't welcome you or listen to you, shake off its dust from your feet as you leave.

They then went out and did so, and by the time they returned were very excited about the success they had had with casting out demons.