Mark 1:19-20

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What about Zebedee?

Luke 5:11

So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus does not call his disciples in the midst of their failures.

Luke 5:10 KJV

…”And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

With this fuller narrative, Luke helps explain what Matthew and Mark meant by Jesus’ words, “I will make you fishers of men”  (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17).

Acts 2:41

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Three main verbs anchor Luke's summary statement in 2:41, telling the outcome which followed Peter's sermon...

Acts 2:40 NKJV

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Here is a heavy-duty word for a serious claim to facts.  He grounds his sermon in the witness of history and in his own eyewitness account of what took place, corroborated by his fellow apostles who saw the same things.

1 Peter 3:21

 “…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What does he mean?

 

Matthew 28:18-19

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Baptism brings new converts into identification with Jesus: they re-enact his death, burial and resurrection through this ritual.

Matthew 3:15

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What did Jesus mean?

Mark 1:10

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Mark will later use the same verb to describe the tearing of the curtain in the Temple after Jesus' death on the cross (15:38), a word choice followed by Matthew (27:51).

Numbers 11:27-29

A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”  But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Here is Moses, instructing young Joshua to relish the thought that one day Yahweh might make the Spirit the continuing portion of God's people and not just an occasional experience.

John 1:31

"I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This might seem to suggest that John had no prior acquaintance with Jesus before the baptism. However, the force of the word "know" needs to be taken into account. The Greek is helpful in this regard. The verb is oida, "to know, understand, perceive," used in the pluperfect (that is, past perfect) tense.

Luke 9:23

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 25^th/26^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Notice the word “daily,” implying that the Christian life must not come in fits and starts but in consistent, reliable, and faithful obedience to the One whom himself was devoted to the will of God. That will be the focus of this Lenten series.

Daniel 9:4

I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments…”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 11^th/12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

…Daniel prayed out of the depths of the Hebrew Scriptures which he knew so well.

Daniel 9:3

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 11^th/12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We have to assume that Daniel was a careful reader of Jeremiah, and therefore he knew that the exile was due to Israel’s grievous sins against God.

Daniel 9:1-2

In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 11^th/12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Reading Scripture prompted Daniel to pray. This is an important observation from the text.

Romans 11:2-4

God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-- how he appealed to God against Israel: "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (zebub)

From Background Notes [BN] for February 11^th/12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God’s answer did not accept the premises of Elijah’s request, namely, that he was the only righteous man left in Israel.

Jeremiah 33:3

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 11^th/12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Such a variety of “call” and “answer” language tells us that God’s response to what we ask is not easily scripted or predicted.

Ezra 10:1

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 4^th/5^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This is a moving portrait of a faithful high priest, interceding for God’s people…

Ezra 9:15

LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 4^th/5^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

His prayer of intercession appeals to the righteousness of God — that dynamic quality in God that wants to make things right once again, and not leave, in this case, His broken people, yet a broken people.

Ezra 9:10

But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands…
 
From Background Notes [BN] for February 4^th/5^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This intercession begins with real contrition. That’s a good word to use in conjunction with certain forms of intercession. To be contrite is to show remorse for sins committed.