Lake Deaton at Home

At Lake Deaton UMC we like to wear name tags. People wear name tags from our church or from whatever club they belong to that gives them a name tag. If you forget your name tag in your car or at home, there are disposable name tags (labels) to write your name. Visitors can also use these labels for a name tag for the day. Why do we do that? Mainly because it encourages us to get to know one another. Sometimes after looking at someone’s name tag several times; we can finally remember their name. Sometimes we wear name tags to remember who we are, lol. 

Our name is part of our identity, and we love when people take time to learn our names. In today’s scripture, Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” The crowds, the pharisees, and disciples have been seeing this rabbi teach, perform miracles, and break their ritual rules. The disciples respond that some thought he has a prophet, others thought he was Elijah and some even thought he was John the Baptist back from the dead. Peter then responds, “You are Jesus, the Messiah.” In the next verse when Jesus tells them how the Son of man will suffer, they cannot accept it. The Messiah they were expecting had nothing to do with suffering or with the cross. Over the next few days Jesus continued to explain to them that this Messiah would rescue the world by surrendering his life. Today, Jesus still demands his followers to pick up their cross and follow him, which means we may have to give up other things that take first place in our lives. As we get closer to celebrate Easter, let us reflect in how we can follow the master without our personal expectations of what we think our Messiah should do for us. Let’s begin today by praying the prayer of peace below after reading the scripture.

Scripture: Mark 8:27-9:1

Prayer of Peace: Jesus, I choose to follow your Way of Peace. Lead me to one person that I can love, give hope, and bring your peace to today. Amen!