The nature of Mark's Gospel is that it is hard-hitting, quickly covering essential incidents in Christ's ministry - so we see the same in the account of Satan's temptation assaults. The Spirit deemed it was necessary that the Son of God go to the wilderness and endure the allurements of the father of lies and embodiment of all wickedness. He endured and overcame each of Satan's attempts to destroy his Messianic ministry and as the Second Adam he triumphed where the first Adam had succumbed to Satan's urgings. Thus Christ can strengthen us and carry us faithful through times of temptation as we look to him.

In obedience to the sovereign command of God, John the Baptist preached the need for repentance, demonstrated in baptism. Jesus came from Nazareth and submitted to John's baptism in order to identify with sinners. The baptism of Christian believers is the initiatory rite into the Christian faith. We see a pattern in the Book of Acts in which those coming to salvation are marked by repentance, faith, baptism, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. The group of 12 men at Ephesus received a clarified and expanded presentation of the Christian message from Paul, thus engendering repentant faith in them, their taking of baptism, and their reception of the Holy Spirit - a pattern set for the church in all ages.

What edification can we find from the Bible's genealogical tables, especially the descendants of the profane man Esau- Esau is the father of the Edomites, the centuries-long enemies of Israel. In this sermon we learn two great truths- first, God always keeps his promises, even if it involves the development of an ungodly nation. Second, we learn from Acts 15-15-17, which quotes Amos 9-11-12, that the pagan Edomites became the key example In James' speech of an ungodly people to whom the Gospel of Christ came in mercy.

Jesus' day of baptism was a momentous event in redemptive history because his coming to the Jordan River was a deliberate action on his part, it was a submission to a baptism for sinners, he was plunged and lifted out of the water, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended on him, the Father declared that Jesus was his beloved Son, the Father expressed his pleasure in his Son, and the Trinity was plainly seen as the three persons of the one God were present and interacted together on that day at the Jordan River.

As one of the devout believers in Israel, aged Simeon's promise from the Lord that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ was fulfilled when the infant Jesus' parents brought him into the temple as they completed the purification rites as prescribed in the Law. Simeon picked up the baby and declared that in him was consolation, revelation, and glory. Simeon understood the reality of the incarnation in the full humanity of -the virgin who would bear a son- -Isa. 7-14-. Simeon's Song continues to be full of Messianic truth for the church today.

Psalm 100 is the only Psalm in the Psalter that is entitled -A Psalm for Giving Thanks,- and is therefore appropriate to consider for this Thanksgiving Sunday. It begins with the command to express God's goodness joyfully and unashamedly. We should approach Yahweh in worship with exuberant joy for who he is and for all his saving work. The foundations or reasons for worshipping him are three- he is absolutely good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness endures through all generations. This kind of worship is not dependent on the events in our ever-changing lives nor on the great challenges that lay before us, but is anchored in the kind of being God is. Thus in the ups and downs of this -vale of tears, - God remains constant, and so should our worship and rejoicing in him. Nothing must be allowed to rob us of this great comfort, nor

In this passage we learn of several important guidelines from the Apostle Paul as to how to go about prayer. We learn some important points about how to pray, who pray for, and what to pray for. Some specific suggestions on how to pray for the persecuted church around the world is a specific application that the preacher brings out from this text.

Here we see the theology of the cross in action. God does not work in strength but in weakness. This was demonstrated by Jesus being cast -outside the gate.- So we must embrace such weakness and endure hardship for his sake as we identify with Him and His people. In such we will see the hand of God at work.

As part of our 500th anniversary of the publishing of the 95 Theses we being a month long study of the 5 -Solas- with a study of Sola Scriptura. Here we see Paul laying out for Timothy the place of the scriptures in his ministry. Timothy was made wise for salvation by being raised up on the scriptures. Now his pastoral ministry is to be rooted in and flow from the truths of the scriptures.

A continuation of our Reformation 2017 500th Anniversary Celebration. We see here the primacy of Sola Fida, faith alone, as the means of uniting us to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There are two things that need to be understood in this passage- justification and that it is attained by faith apart from works of the law.