Volume 2 Issue 14

NOTICE OF SABBATICAL

Dear Friends,

“Then they come to Capernaum, and on the sabbath day he went right to the synagogue and started teaching. They were astonished at his teaching, since he would teach them on his own authority, unlike the scholars.” (Mark 1:21-22 SV)

I have long believed that the most striking characteristic of the historical Jesus must have been his authenticity. Every gospel attests to the ways that Jesus’ authority shown from within as opposed to being a reflection of something outside of him.

I also believe that those who are called to that special form of discipleship commonly referred to as the ministry should attempt to be as authentic as is humanly possible. This requires that, in order to be faithful to the example set by the Master, the minister locates that inner moral compass which points the way.
Being all too human, I find myself needing to reexamine my place in the scheme of things, and to recalibrate my inner compass to verify that I am moving in the direction of true spiritual North. This has traditionally been regarded as sabbatical, a reverential period of rest and renewal.

This website will remain “open” during my sabbatical, most particularly the Bulletin Board. From the beginning, the mission of Growing in Christ has been to serve as a forum for the theological dialogue it attempts to stimulate. My homiletical monologue has not to date inspired widespread debate, but I truly hope that in its absence the stage will be set for such sharing to begin.

I thank the friends who flattered me with their suggestion to archive my sermons, and I especially thank Matt Piper for knowing how to do that. As you may already know, these can be accessed at the bottom of the Sermon page. I will be as interested as anyone to see what changes there will be in my “preaching” when I realize that the sabbatical has ended.

So, for the present, I commend this ministry to the care and safekeeping of those who compose it.

In Christ’s Peace,
Mark