Mark doesn't waste words. He gets right to it.

We live in a day and age where words spill out a little bit like vomit. They just spew forth. And so many people have something to say. My email fills up with words; most of them hardly get a glance. We get emails. We read news reports. We take in radio talk shows and podcasts. So many words that most of them stop having any power at all.

But not Mark's. His gospel moves from one thing to the next without hardly stopping. The events and the doings of Jesus whiz by, and you'll miss it if you don't pause to pay attention.

Take the baptism of Jesus and his temptation that follows right on its heel. We get just three verses about Jesus' coronation, aka his baptism. We get just two verses about his temptation. One thing comes right after the other. Don't blink! You'll miss it.

But if you take a beat, you'll hear some powerful words. But these words aren't for you, at least not at first. The Father says something to his Son, take a listen. These words aren't for you, not yet. These words are for Jesus. The Father gives his Son an identity; he tells him who he is. He tells his Son how the Father feels about him. These words are not just information for Jesus; these words are transformational. They make the truth happen. Just like God spoke, and it came to be. Just like Jesus spoke, and the sea was calmed. The Spirit will speak, and the dead will be raised. It's the power of the word.

I've got more to say about God's work in your life as we come to worship, but I'll save those words for them, and I'll try to make them count. For now, ask this question: What did you come here to do? When you come to worship - what do you come here to do? That will be the ruling question for our conversation with God's Word. We'll be conversation partners, together with God's Spirit, to learn what God has to say to his people. We'll be looking at Mark 1:9-11.

Pastor Nate