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(Gn.9:8-15;\xa0\xa0 Ps.25:4-9;\xa0\xa0 1Pt.3:18-22;\xa0\xa0 Mk.1:12-15)\xa0 \u201cI set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.\u201d In times past God made a covenant with Noah and his sons once they had come from the ark \u201cthat the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings,\u201d that they and those who would descend from them, indeed all races of men, should experience such devastation no more.\xa0 And the sign of the rainbow He has given \u201cfor all ages to come,\u201d that His covenant shall not be forgotten. This promise is a reassuring one, even if not by water but by fire we know this earth shall yet be destroyed.\xa0 But a greater promise than this certainly we have, one for which this covenant is but a shadow.\xa0 For now we have \u201cJesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.\u201d\xa0 Through His resurrection from the dead He now shines in the firmament more brightly than any rainbow, and indeed in Him all races of men meet again and find their hope, not only that they shall not be destroyed from the earth, but that they shall know everlasting salvation in heaven.\xa0 Even \u201cthe spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark,\u201d have this word preached to them. \u201cThe kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\xa0 Yes, the salvation of the Lord has been set firmly in our hearts, even as the rainbow God set in the heavens.\xa0 He has remembered His \u201clove\u201d and \u201ccompassion\u201d which \u201care from of old\u201d and in His \u201cgoodness\u201d has fulfilled them in His only Son.\xa0 Though Jesus has had to suffer death for our sakes, yet death is remembered no more as we gaze upon His resurrected form \u2013 as the bow after the rain, so does His glory shine after the death of this flesh.\xa0 And though the flood \u201cprefigured Baptism,\u201d yet Baptism in the name of the Lord and into His death and resurrection is so much more, for \u201cit is not a removal of dust from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience\u201d with which we are blessed now. And so, brothers and sisters, let us find the \u201clife in the Spirit\u201d to which our Savior, come from the desert of our sin, now leads us.\xa0 Let us fix our eyes upon His resurrection glory, even as we experience the death of the body. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Miracle" (second half) from Listening to the Lamp, ninth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let your kindness and compassion be fulfilled in our midst this day; let us turn from our sins to walk with Jesus on the way to you. YHWH, your Son has come to suffer and die and be raised to new life that we might be led from our sinful state to union with you in Heaven.\xa0 Truly, your kingdom has walked among us in the Person of Jesus; truly, your kingdom is now at hand.\xa0 Like a bow in the clouds is His resurrection from the dead \u2013 let us keep our eyes fixed on Him that truly we shall enter your reign. You are of compassion, LORD, and your love is from of old.\xa0 It is this love you would share with the humble, and so you call us to follow in your ways.\xa0 By repentance we shall come to you, and that we might receive this grace your Son cries out to our souls.\xa0 Let us follow Him on the way of the Cross that the new day shall be ours. Your promise of eternal life is our treasure, LORD, our hope in a fallen world.\xa0 And you are faithful to your promise \u2013 in Jesus we shall never be destroyed.