{"id":809477,"date":"2021-01-25T09:58:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T14:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/?post_type=bible_study&#038;p=209477"},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:17:43","slug":"bible-study-lent-1-b-february-21-2021","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-lent-1-b-february-21-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Lent 1 (B) \u2013 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/lent-1b\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RCL: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/L1-2021-Bible-Study-Graphic-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-209479\" width=\"512\" height=\"268\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Genesis 9:8-17<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The covenant that God establishes here is an unusual covenant. Most covenants are between two entities, with the more powerful one promising protection and provision and the less powerful one promising fealty. Here, however, God establishes a covenant with not just Noah, but with \u201cevery living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.\u201d Noah is merely a stand-in entity; God makes this promise to the billions and billions of creatures, both human and animal, who will call Earth home. Further, despite the fact that the first flood was the consequence of humanity\u2019s evil, God requires no promises from humanity in this covenant. God will never destroy the earth by flood again, even though humanity is still sinful and will forsake God again. The rainbow is God\u2019s pledge to us of this unusual covenant: a sign visible to all generations that God will remember God\u2019s abundant promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What kind of a God makes a one-sided, everlasting covenant with humanity? What aspects of God\u2019s character does this passage highlight?<\/li><li>God promises to remember this covenant through the rainbow. What does it mean for us as humans to remember this covenant?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Psalm 25:1-9<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGod is God. I am not God. That is a very good thing.\u201d Early in my development as a Christian leader, a mentor encouraged me to tell myself that regularly. The Psalmist here has a clear understanding of his position before God, as he cries out in trust and faith, a position which we can imitate today. We entrust our souls to God; we trust God for justice for the wicked; we trust God to teach us truth; we trust God to remember God\u2019s compassion and love but to forget our sinfulness; we trust God to show us God\u2019s paths of love and faithfulness so that we may walk in them. We cannot do any of these things for ourselves; we are wholly dependent on God. In each act of trust, we remember our place before our God who loves us and offers us forgiveness, which we accept in humility and gratefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In what ways in your own life have you seen evidence of God\u2019s guidance, love, and faithfulness?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1 Peter 3:18-22<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the days of Noah, the sinful world was buried in a flood, and by God\u2019s grace, Noah and those with him were saved in the ark \u2013 saved both from the waters of the flood and through the waters of the flood as the ark floated on them. Today, we experience salvation through the waters of baptism. We are buried with Christ in the waters, and through Christ\u2019s suffering, death, and resurrection, we are forgiven for our sins and granted a clean conscience before God. Christ\u2019s ascent into heaven and his victory over all authorities and powers assure us that this is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In baptism, God makes promises to us, the same way that God made a covenant with Noah after the flood. God is faithful to God\u2019s promises, and this faithfulness helps us to keep the promises we make in our baptismal covenant, to be faithful to God and to respect the dignity of all human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What encouragement can we find by remembering our baptism and baptismal covenant?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mark 1:9-15<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness, surrounded by wild animals and tempted by Satan. However, before he enters the wilderness, he is baptized and given a concrete reminder of his identity as God\u2019s Son and God\u2019s Beloved, which must have been a comfort and encouragement to him during his ordeal. When he returns, he is ready to begin his ministry by proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This mirrors our experience in Lent. As we begin our forty days of fasting and repentance, the lectionary readings remind us of our baptismal identity. We are God\u2019s children and God\u2019s beloved, and God\u2019s promises of forgiveness will sustain us during these forty days. After Lent is over, we will proclaim Jesus\u2019 resurrection and God\u2019s kingdom during the season of Easter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">May we find comfort and hope in the promises of our Savior during this season of repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How did Jesus\u2019 baptism and testing prepare him for his ministry?<\/li><li>How do our baptisms and seasons of repentance ready us for ministry?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-99c1e0cc-14dd-4390-9ff7-bc09b8502f73\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Lent-1B-Bible-Study-English.docx\">Word &#8211; Lent 1 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Lent-1B-Bible-Study-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-99c1e0cc-14dd-4390-9ff7-bc09b8502f73\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-cb409817-090d-4f0a-9a36-bd61286a80a0\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Lent-1B-Bible-Study-English.pdf\">PDF &#8211; Lent 1 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Lent-1B-Bible-Study-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-cb409817-090d-4f0a-9a36-bd61286a80a0\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-blue-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RCL: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15 Genesis 9:8-17 The covenant that God establishes here is an unusual covenant. Most covenants are between two entities, with the more powerful one promising protection and provision and the less powerful one promising fealty. Here, however, God establishes a covenant with not just Noah, but&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201223,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,1963,52,1953],"tags":[301],"class_list":["post-809477","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-lent","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-1b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":1963,"label":"Lent"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":301,"label":"Lent 1B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/809477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/809477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951916,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/809477\/revisions\/951916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}