Community Church

By Johan Dodge

Reverend

As I write this on Jan.13, there are days of potential and planned unrest between my writing this and your reading it. I do not know what will happen within the country in the interceding days, but I do know the Gospel message of Jesus. This week, we will be looking at the Gospel of Mark, specifically at Jesus calling his first disciples. Jesus didn’t go about the normal practice of rabbis in his day. Normally when a rabbi graduated rabbinical school, they would yoke themselves to a rabbi and then eventually they would start on their own and gather disciples of their own. Jesus doesn’t go to the rabbinical schools to look for disciples; he goes to the sea and calls fishermen to become his disciples. Fishermen, would have been rabbinical school dropouts who had gone back to work with their fathers. All boys went to rabbinical school until they either graduated or they flunked out. There was no shame in flunking out, it just meant they would go and take ups the trade of their fathers. What does stand out is Jesus going to this group of young men and inviting them to become his disciples and follow him.

It can be helpful for us to know that Jesus can show up in our lives just when we think we have everything figured out. Jesus can show up and upend everything we thought we knew. At issue in the Gospel this week is the question of authority — who has it and what does having authority mean?

To join Community Church on Sundays for live worship at 9:50 a.m.Tune into Facebook live @communitychurchleisureworld.

To join the virtual fellowship, call the church office or email leisurewccsue@yahoo.com. Those who don’t have a computer or Facebook can call (562) 431-2503 and listen to the weekly message beginning Sunday evening.

As always, if you are in need without another way to address it, you may call the church office to leave a message at (562) 431-2503.