Gospel of Mark

JESUS!

/ The Pastor

A sermon, a message of hope or anything of the sort can never, ever just assume Jesus (not mentioning his name) because people will never assume Jesus. If your message is truly about the hope we have through faith in Jesus, then say it.

Say, write, proclaim, shout, sing ~ JESUS!

Don’t tip toe around Jesus and be bashful. Be unafraid and bold.

JESUS!

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:38, ESV]

You are sinful, but Jesus is not ashamed of you. I mean, just look at the cross. He did that FOR YOU. So you, don’t be bashful.

JESUS!
JESUS!
JESUS!

The Pastor -|—

Sermon Pondering ~ Following Jesus

/ The Pastor

Mark 8:31-38

Deny yourself
Take up your cross
Follow

Wow, this is not normal.

I like myself
I like my life
I like my stuff
So deny? Not normal.

And this cross business?
Carry mine?
That sounds like it could hurt. Again, not normal.

And then it gets even more not normal:
Want to save your life? Lose it.

Hmmm…

But what will it profit you if you gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?

Hmmm…

What will it profit me?
NOTHING

What will I actually get for gaining the whole world?
DEATH

But…

…if you lose your life for Jesus and for the sake of the Gospel you will save it.
(Actually, Jesus will save it through faith)

Die? Save your life?
YES

Follow Jesus?
ABSOLUTELY!!!

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Prayer in Preparation for the Word ~ Open our Eyes

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer that I wrote to be prayed before the sermon on Mark 8:22-30 (Jesus healing the blind man). It’s a prayer of faith; asking God to open our eyes to see Him. So may God open your eyes as you worship today and hear God’s holy Word proclaimed.

Let’s pray…

Oh God, You are holy and awesome and sovereign and worthy and wise. You are love. You are peace. You are hope.

Oh God, open our eyes so we may see; for you are the only one who can. You are the only one who can show us the truth. You are the only one who can show us the way. You are the only one we can ultimately trust with our lives.

Oh God, open our eyes.
Open our eyes to see your glory.
Open our eyes to see your beauty.
Open our eyes to see your love through the cross.
Open our eyes to see the truth that we may echo Peter’s confession and declare that Jesus Christ is indeed Your son.

And may we stand firm in our confession; not allowing Satan to get in between us and You. May we not find ourselves in the position to be rebuked as Peter was, but if we do, may we fall at Your feet in humble confession.

And so grant me wisdom, that only you can grant, as I unpack Your holy Word. May I be faithful, Oh God. Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O God, our rock and redeemer. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Good but short

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” [Mark 8:4]

Much like me, these disciples have good but short memories. In chapter 6 they witness the incredible miracle of Jesus feeding 5,000 men (add in the women and children who were there and you have close to probably 10,000 people). But numbers aside, this was an awesome miracle and display of God’s power through Jesus in which the disciples were amazed, but I wonder if they were really paying attention.

Now they are back in the wilderness with Jesus and have been there for three days with 4,000 people on some kind of retreat, as it were. Apparently there was no food committee because at the end of three days the people were hungry. But being the compassionate person Jesus is, he wasn’t going to send them home hungry, lest they faint on their way.

What shall we do? [of course Jesus knows]

Jesus, how can one possibly feed these people in such a desolate place?

Really? Did they just ask that question? Did they just wonder if Jesus is able to provide for a group of people much smaller than the one he fed earlier? Do they not remember the feeding of the 5000 (and then some)?

But we shouldn’t come down too hard on these guys because really, we’re no different. I mean, think about it. Aren’t there times you wonder if God will actually forgive you? Don’t you ever wonder at times if God is actually with you? Don’t you have moments of fear and anxiety over a situation, wondering if God will provide? Do you ever worry or doubt?

Of course you do.

And this is nothing more than sinful people forgetting about this awesome God of ours. You see, sin has a way of shortening our memories of the Gospel and therefore leading us astray. When we forget about God we turn inward and become selfish. When we forget about God we disobey and wander. When we forget about God his awesomeness and holiness becomes nothing more than a theological concept.

So what does one do? More fish oil to improve your memory?

Not exactly.

Rather you spend time with God every single day.
~ Keep His Word in front of you.
~ Set your mind on the things that are above.
~ Surround yourself with other believers.
~ Make sure that the Gospel is being proclaimed to you on a regular basis.
~ Ask someone to listen to your confession and pronounce the Gospel of forgiveness to you.
~ And, of course, read your Bible and pray.

Do these things and more on a regular basis to help with short-term Gospel memory loss. But be careful and don’t lose the sense of wonder. The disciples may have forgotten about the feeding of the 5000 but they had a chance to be amazed all over again. Don’t let familiarity with the Gospel take away the wonder.

Be amazed that God, through Jesus Christ, would forgive a sinner like you.

May you bask in the glory of God. May you remember his love and compassion. May you always know the hope of the resurrection through faith in Jesus.

And may God bless your day 🙂

In Jesus name, Amen!

The Pastor -|—

Food for the dogs

/ The Pastor

The sermon text for this morning is Mark 7:24-30 (The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith) and the following is the prayer I wrote to precede the message. Let us pray together…

God of glory and wonder, we seek you this morning as dogs unworthy of even a morsel of your grace from your holy banquet table.

We scavenge this life for self-fulfilling food while ignoring the fact that you have sent Jesus to give us the bread of life. We ravage others of dignity through selfish pursuits.

But holy God, you don’t turn your backs on us. You don’t withhold the glorious morsels of your grace. You don’t treat us as the dogs we are.

Rather, you wait for us and offer your forgiveness.

Loving God, may we curl up in the arms of your grace and bask in the glow of your love. May we be filled with the Bread of Life and may we find all we desire in you. Heal us of pride. Restore us to Life. Strengthen us to live a life of repentance.

All glory to you, holy Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May this Lord’s Day bring glory to God as you offer your worship and praise; and while doing so, I pray that the Word take root in your hearts. May faith be created or strengthened. May you be send forth to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. And may you be at peace as you cling to the hope of the resurrection.

God bless you this Lord’s Day and beyond.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor  -|—

Defiled and cleansed

/ The Pastor

The opening prayer for the sermon today on Mark 7:14-23.

Holy Father, we are defiled. We are unclean. We are sinful. And the depths of our sin is so deep we can not and will not even think about it. We even have the mistaken notion that we can do something about it. We look at the sin in the world and think we can stop it or at least reign it in through legislation or rules. But the fact remains, sinful people can not stop sin; only the holy, which is you. And so we are thankful that the holy, Jesus, died and rose that our defilement might be taken away and thus making us restored in your eyes.

Oh God, grant us the faith to be honest with ourselves; that we may run to you for help. Grant us ears to hear and a heart to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Loving God, we praise your holy name as we lift our voices in worship and hear Your Word proclaimed. Through Jesus Christ our LORD we pray, Amen.

May God bless your day.
May your worship bring glory to God.
May your faith be strengthened to serve Him.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

A wretched mess

/ The Pastor

[14] And he (Jesus) called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he (Jesus) said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” [Mark 7:20-23]

This is the sermon text for Sunday in the Gospel of Mark sermon series I am preaching. And as I read and re-read and pray about this text I am thinking…

Stuff that goes in our stomachs does not defile us since it enters NOT the heart. So what is entering our hearts that is defiling us? What kind of images are we seeing? What things are we hearing? What is messing up our hearts to a point that it spews out the crap in verse 21? And since we ARE defiled (for we are all sinners) that means we are unclean and separated from God. 

Wow…what a wretched mess we are. Who shall save us from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

Praise be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yup…I think this text will preach 🙂

The Pastor -|—

Crazy

/ The Pastor

I’m preaching on Mark 3:20-21 & 31-35 this coming Sunday (June 8).  It’s the text where Jesus’ family comes looking for him because they think he is crazy; lost his mind; gone off the deep end.

Verses 20-21 have the family seeking Jesus in order to “seize him”. An interlude is then inserted in the story where the scribes are accusing Jesus of working for Satan (the text for June 15).  The family intervention then picks up at verse 31 where they are at the door asking for Jesus to come out.

Considering what Jesus is doing one can understand, somewhat, what the family is thinking.  Jesus is challenging the authority of the day and quickly bringing condemnation on himself and those who are following him.  If Jesus were in his right mind he would abandon what he is doing in order to preserve his life.  It doesn’t make sense to knowingly bring harm upon oneself, hence the family intervention.

And when you think about, it is kind of crazy that Jesus would do what he did for sinners like you and me.  He willing endured a horrible flogging and crucifixion.  Jesus hung on a cross; suffering for hours before finally dying.  And Jesus did that for a people who daily turn their backs on him.  But Jesus did all of this that we may know forgiveness and therefore life everlasting.

Crazy

I think that is why I sometimes have a hard time believing Jesus actually did what he did for me.

But then I find myself thankful that faith is not something that can be contrived intellectually because it doesn’t make sense.  Faith in what Jesus did is something that comes from God through the Holy Spirit.  The truth of Jesus is revealed to you and me through pure grace.  And even though (and because) I am a sinner Jesus offers forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

This doesn’t make sense to the world and hence they accuse Jesus (and Christians) of being crazy.  But the crazy thing for me is not trusting Jesus because eternity is nothing to be trifled with.

So call me crazy but as for me and my household we will follow this “crazy one”; Jesus Christ.

The pastor -|—

Holy rest: A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God; gracious and merciful…

Through Jesus Christ we find rest for our souls.
Through Jesus Christ we find peace for our hearts.
Through Jesus Christ we find hope for the future.

And this is all despite the fact that we are unfaithful to you, O God.

Almighty God, the depth of your love is unsearchable and the wideness of your mercy is unimaginable and the joy of your peace surpasses all understanding.

Oh Lord our God, how we desire to see you face to face and to soak in your majesty.  How we desire to behold your beauty and gaze on you for all eternity.  How we desire to sing with all your saints a song that never ends.  Mighty God, you are worthy of all worship, praise and honor.

May we rest in your promises on this Sabbath Day and forever more.

In Jesus name I pray,  Amen.

May this Sabbath Day be more than just rest from a busy week, but rather, resting in the promises of Jesus.  In the words of Jesus: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)

Enjoy your rest; now and forever more 🙂

The pastor -|—

The End :)

/ The Pastor
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”
[Mark 13:32-37]

In just over a month we will know for sure if the Mayan calendar will do what calendars are supposed to do…start over for a new cycle.

Mayan calendar

That’s right…Dec 21, 2012 is coming up and that is the date the Mayan calendar ends and the date some have falsely predicted that a cataclysmic event will end the world.   I for one don’t think the Mayans had some special revelation from God about the “unknown day or hour” Jesus talked about in Mark 13, but if they did…GREAT!  Bring it on 🙂

What I find intriguing, though, is the number of people that are concerned about this possible end of the world.  And some of these people are Christians.  Why are you worried?

As a Christian this should not be scary but rather exciting.
As a Christian you should not fear the end but rather embrace it.
As a Christian you should not ignore the end but watch and wait.

[Once again…I believe I will wake up on Dec 22 and finish Sunday worship prep]

You see…the essence of our faith in Christ is that we will be reconciled to God and live in Paradise for ever.  Jesus died and rose so that sins would be forgiven and all of creation be restored.  But for creation to be restored, this one must end.

Scripture tells us over and over again that Jesus will be returning to bring us home.  Revelation tells us of a place where tears, sorrow and death are no more.  And if the end will bring an end to death and sin…then bring it.  I can hardly wait.  Our hope is centered on Jesus who will return us to where we are meant to be.

So in the mean time wait with hopeful expectation, share the Good News and praise God always and forever.

See you later…one way or another 🙂
edh -|—