February 23rd, 2023

Day 2
Thursday, February 23
John 1:19-34
19 This is John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 John confessed (he didn’t deny but confessed), “I’m not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” John said, “I’m not.”“Are you the prophet?” John answered, “No.”
22 They asked, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied,
“I am a voice crying out in the wilderness,
Make the Lord’s path straight,[a]
just as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Those sent by the Pharisees 25 asked, “Why do you baptize if you aren’t the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered, “I baptize with water. Someone greater stands among you, whom you don’t recognize. 27 He comes after me, but I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps.” 28 This encounter took place across the Jordan in Bethany where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ 31 Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. 33 Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.”
Reflection
We love to name things. We enjoy order, categories, and knowing where and how things fit. Perhaps this comes from our God-given job all the way back in Genesis to name the creatures of the world. John came onto the scene, wild, outspoken, and not fitting into any categories the priests and Levites had. They show up asking for clarification. I can picture them, like us, scratching their heads and thinking, this man has an audacious message. How do we categorize him? How do we understand him? Let’s go and ask him, ask him to name himself in terms we understand. John couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.
Lent. Lent is about quieting our spirits. Spending time in the thinness of God. Praying, fasting, asking for signs and wonders. It is not an easy posture to hold. Our society does not praise quietness and slowness. We are a culture of hustle. We are a world of 30-second videos and instant posts. Lent calls us to something much more. Quieting our spirits, drawing near to God, and spending time in this spiritual thinness is audacious. If we can embrace this posture for the next 40 days, I do not believe we will be sad to see the fruit that will sprout and grow. Allowing, inviting, and welcoming God into our mundane, into our quiet moments, asking them to reveal signs and perhaps show us wonders, has the power to transform the coming year.
I am reminded of a particular time in my life when everything had turned topsy-turvy. I was walking through a separation in my marriage, and through that separation, it became clear that divorce was the next part of my path. I was devastated. My marriage had been a battle for me, one I had fought and was willing to fight for. It wasn’t a battle I wanted to lose. I wouldn’t have believed it was a battle God wanted me to walk away from. Yet, as I searched for God, for signs, for answers, during those painful months, I felt God draw incredibly close to me and whisper courage and strength. God came to me in the mundane moments of driving my kids to school. In the moments of laundry and dishes and crying on the floor. God came to me when I took a weekend to go camping and sat in the woods, the bright winter sky blue above me, the breeze swaying the pine trees, and as I sat on those soft pine needles, I felt that whisper tell me to keep going in the way I was going. It didn’t need to make sense, it didn’t need to look neat, pretty, or ‘how it should be’. I should just continue and follow God’s leading. It was audacious. It was exactly what I needed to do.
Draw close to God in this season of Lent, and let God whisper to you in the wilderness.
By A.R. Stanley
Thursday, February 23
John 1:19-34
19 This is John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 John confessed (he didn’t deny but confessed), “I’m not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” John said, “I’m not.”“Are you the prophet?” John answered, “No.”
22 They asked, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied,
“I am a voice crying out in the wilderness,
Make the Lord’s path straight,[a]
just as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Those sent by the Pharisees 25 asked, “Why do you baptize if you aren’t the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered, “I baptize with water. Someone greater stands among you, whom you don’t recognize. 27 He comes after me, but I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps.” 28 This encounter took place across the Jordan in Bethany where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ 31 Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. 33 Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.”
Reflection
We love to name things. We enjoy order, categories, and knowing where and how things fit. Perhaps this comes from our God-given job all the way back in Genesis to name the creatures of the world. John came onto the scene, wild, outspoken, and not fitting into any categories the priests and Levites had. They show up asking for clarification. I can picture them, like us, scratching their heads and thinking, this man has an audacious message. How do we categorize him? How do we understand him? Let’s go and ask him, ask him to name himself in terms we understand. John couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.
Lent. Lent is about quieting our spirits. Spending time in the thinness of God. Praying, fasting, asking for signs and wonders. It is not an easy posture to hold. Our society does not praise quietness and slowness. We are a culture of hustle. We are a world of 30-second videos and instant posts. Lent calls us to something much more. Quieting our spirits, drawing near to God, and spending time in this spiritual thinness is audacious. If we can embrace this posture for the next 40 days, I do not believe we will be sad to see the fruit that will sprout and grow. Allowing, inviting, and welcoming God into our mundane, into our quiet moments, asking them to reveal signs and perhaps show us wonders, has the power to transform the coming year.
I am reminded of a particular time in my life when everything had turned topsy-turvy. I was walking through a separation in my marriage, and through that separation, it became clear that divorce was the next part of my path. I was devastated. My marriage had been a battle for me, one I had fought and was willing to fight for. It wasn’t a battle I wanted to lose. I wouldn’t have believed it was a battle God wanted me to walk away from. Yet, as I searched for God, for signs, for answers, during those painful months, I felt God draw incredibly close to me and whisper courage and strength. God came to me in the mundane moments of driving my kids to school. In the moments of laundry and dishes and crying on the floor. God came to me when I took a weekend to go camping and sat in the woods, the bright winter sky blue above me, the breeze swaying the pine trees, and as I sat on those soft pine needles, I felt that whisper tell me to keep going in the way I was going. It didn’t need to make sense, it didn’t need to look neat, pretty, or ‘how it should be’. I should just continue and follow God’s leading. It was audacious. It was exactly what I needed to do.
Draw close to God in this season of Lent, and let God whisper to you in the wilderness.
By A.R. Stanley
Recent
Inside Voice - Week Three Discussion Guide
September 23rd, 2023
Inside Voice - Week Two Discussion Guide
September 16th, 2023
17 Memorable Moments at The Gathering // M-Note 9.16.23
September 15th, 2023
Inside Voice - Week One Discussion Guide
September 9th, 2023
The Gathering's Golden Birthday (17 on the 17th) // M-Note 9.8.23
September 8th, 2023
Archive
2023
January
February
Explore - Week 1Explore - Week 2Explore - Week 3Explore - Week 4God is Leading Us Forward // M-Note 2.3.23SENT: Week 1 Discussion GuideSomething To Try This Weekend // M-Note 2.10.23SENT: Week 2 Discussion GuideWe're Doing Something Big! // M-Note 2.17.23SENT: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 1Lent Devotional Day 2Lent Devotional Day 3SENT: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 4Lent Devotional Day 5Lent Devotional Day 6Lent Devotional Day 7
March
Lent Devotional Day 8Lent Devotional Day 9Celebrating BEYOND // M-Note 3.3.2023Who Is Jesus: BONUS Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 10Lent Devotional Day 11Lent Devotional Day 12Who Is Jesus: Week 1 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 13Lent Devotional Day 14Lent Devotional Day 15Lent Devotional Day 16Lent Devotional Day 17The Evening Service is BACK!!! // M-Note 3.10.23Lent Devotional Day 18Lent Devotional Day 19Who Is Jesus: Week 2 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 20Lent Devotional Day 21Lent Devotional Day 22Lent Devotional Day 23The Most Important Sunday of the Year // M-Note 3.17.23Who Is Jesus: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 24Lent Devotional Day 25Lent Devotional Day 26Lent Devotional Day 27Lent Devotional Day 28Lent Devotional Day 29Lent Devotional Day 30The Power of Easter and Invitation // M-Note 3.24.23Lent Devotional Day 31Who Is Jesus: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 32Lent Devotional Day 33Lent Devotional Day 34Lent Devotional Day 35Lent Devotional Day 36Lent Devotional Day 37You Can't Miss This Part // M-Note 4.1.23Lent Devotional Day 38
April
Lent Devotional Day 39Lent Devotional Day 40Who Is Jesus: Week 5 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 41Lent Devotional Day 42Lent Devotional Day 43Gathering Easter Top 10 List // M-Note 4.6.23Lent Devotional Day 44Lent Devotional Day 45Easter Sunday: Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 46Feeling Burned Out? // M-Note 4.14.23Burnout: Week 1 Discussion GuideBurnout: Week 2 Discussion GuideIntersection of Policies & Prayers // M-Note 4.22.23Do More Of This To Avoid Burnout // M-Note 4.28.23Burnout: Week 3 Discussion Guide
May
July
August
Categories
Tags
1 Kings 3
1 Kings
1 Timothy
2 Corinthians 9:5-7
2 Timothy
Belden Lane
Beyond Simple
Celebrate
Change
Christ
Commit
Confidence
Denee Bowers
Devotional
Discussion Guides
Distractions
Divine Love
Doubt
Easter
Ephesians
Equity
Evangelism
Explore
Five Shared Practices
Focus
Frederick Buechner
Fresh Take
Friends
Generosity
God
Gratitude
Hebrews
Holy Ambiguity
Holy Spirit
Hope
Humanity
Identity
Inside Voice
Isaiah
Jesus
John 21
John
Joy
Kids
King Solomon
Lectio Divina
Lent
Life
Limitations
Longing
M-Note
Matt Miofsky
Matthew
Nadia Bolz-Weber
No Filter
Open
Parables
Parenting
Patience
Paula D'Arcy
Paula D\'Arcy
Paula D\\\'Arcy
Paula D\\\\\\\'Arcy
Paul
Privilege
Proverbs 1
Proverbs
Psalms
Purpose
Questions
Redeem
Rejoice
Righteousness
Sabra Engelbrecht
Second Chance
Self-Love
Struggle
Success
The Bible
The Church
The Gathering
Timothy
Uncertainty
Untethered
Vision
Weird
acts
adulting
advice
challenge
commitment
creation
deconstruction
deconstruct
faith
finances
fitness
forgiveness
forgiving
foundation
freedom
give
growth
kelley weber
love
meister eckhart
money
mystery
new life
opportunity
reconstruction
reconstruct
redemption
relationships
responsibility
simplify
sin
social
thomas merton
transition
truth
willingness
willpower
will
young adult
No Comments