Tell It On The Mountain

WOW! It's Friday and the Week is coming to and End. Here is some food for thought as you reflect over your week. He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. —Mark 3:13 I was surprised to see a nationally distributed news article commending a group of teenage snowboarders who hold weekly church services on a Colorado ski slope. In the Summit Daily News, Kimberly Nicoletti’s story captured a wide audience with her account of teens who love to snowboard and to tell how Jesus changed their lives. Undergirding the teenagers is a Christian youth organization equipping them to demonstrate God’s love. It’s easier to do things yourself than to train others, yet Jesus poured Himself into a dozen disciples through whom His work would reach the world. In the midst of the pressing need of people clamoring to be healed, He climbed a mountain where “He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out” (Mark 3:14). One of those snowboarders in Colorado said of her discipleship training: “I’ve never been able to build relationships with family or friends; I’ve kept them at arm’s length. [The program] showed me God’s love. It opened me to reach out to people.” Experiencing Jesus’ love and being in company with Him and His followers, we find courage to act and speak in ways that honor our Lord. —David McCasland Let us go forth, as called of God, Redeemed by Jesus’ precious blood; His love to show, His life to live, His message speak, His mercy give. —Whittle Witnessing isn’t a job to be done but a life to be lived. Bible in a year: Numbers 1-3; Mark 3 Insight The selection and call of the 12 disciples (Mark 3:13-15) is told in greater detail in Matthew 10:1-42 and Luke 6:12-16. Significantly, Luke tells us that Jesus spent time alone with God “and continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12) before He named His disciples.