Dwell in the Word Mark 3:13-21
Alright, so, as we land in verse 13 here, we're seeing a little bit different passage that we're looking at here today. But what do we have? We have a continuing of a particular theme that is that Jesus is the one with authority and now he is going to give that authority to his disciples. And we also see that Jesus has a huge following. This is a continuing, overriding, repetitious theme that's coming out of the text as we read through Mark.
Dwell in the Word Mark 3:1-12
As we watch the story of Jesus here in the Gospel of Mark continue unfold, we get to an interesting story where the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus. He enters a synagogue on the Sabbath and there's a man there with a withered hand. And are the Pharisees concerned about this man and Jesus being able to heal him? No, they're concerned about catching Jesus doing this work of healing on the Sabbath day. Now, we have sort of had the idea of Jesus and the Sabbath introduced to us already in the Gospel of Mark, because Jesus and his disciples were picking grain, remember?
Dwell in the Word Mark 2:23-28
And so here we arrive in another passage that establishes the authority of Jesus. So, we know this story. This is rather well-known. If you've ever decided to read the Gospel of Mark, even if you didn't get all the way through, you probably got to this story, and it has some phrases that we know. So, what is happening here is the disciples are walking on the Sabbath day and they're going through some grain fields and they're hungry. Now, there was a provision in the law that said that people who were hungry, they couldn't just steal, but it wasn't stealing to pluck some heads of grain in order to eat.
Dwell in the Word Mark 2:18-22
As we arrive here in verse 18 of chapter two, we're seeing a theme continue to develop this idea that Jesus has come and something new is happening. Now Mark, as he is writing us this gospel, as he is telling this story, he's putting a story, the previous story that we read on Monday about Jesus eating. He's tying this story in with that story in a sense this idea that they've just been reclining at the table and eating. And now there's a question about fasting.
Dwell in the Word Mark 2:13-17
Here we find one of the better known stories from the early part of Mark, the Calling of Levi, or the Calling of Matthew. Well, what happens here? Jesus goes out and he sees this crowd and he walks by Levi and he's sitting at a tax booth. He was out collecting taxes and Jesus said to him, Follow me. And what does Matthew do?
What does Levi do? He rises up and follows Jesus. He does something. He gets up and goes after Jesus. He hears the call from Jesus and he follows him.
Dwell in the Word Mark 2:1-12
As we have seen already in just one chapter of Mark, this book, this gospel, is clarifying and helping to define who this Jesus the Messiah is. We've seen the authority that he has that he's able to heal, that he teaches in a way that the other people do not teach. He teaches with authority. And so we see that Jesus has returned home. He's returned to where he started out this whole ministry at, and people are coming and looking for Him, and what does he do?
Dwell in the Word Mark 1:40-45
Another story of something that Jesus is doing, and another story that is telling us about his authority to do his ministry. Now, this is a different one because it involves cleansing a leper. We see that Jesus does something that's rather outlandish. For us, we might jump over it because we just don't think this way. But when Jesus heals him, he touches him. That would have been outrageous. You weren't supposed to touch a leper in fear that you yourself will become ritually unclean.
Dwell in the Word Mark 1:29-39
As I start out today, I know that you know what I'm going to say first. The words immediately are here again. Right away, we see this idea of the urgency, the continued idea that the message of Jesus is of utmost importance. It is primary. And so, what is happening in this passage that is so important that we understand? Why did Mark include this in the Book of Mark? Well, Jesus goes to the home of Simon and Andrew, and they find that Peter's mother-in-law is ill.
Dwell in the Word Mark 1:21-28
So, as we start in the Gospel of Mark, we are seeing some themes develop and they're happening quickly. I've already pointed out the theme of the word immediately, the urgency of the preaching of Jesus, this idea that the kingdom of God is at hand, that this is going to be the message and we must get it out. Well, we see that again here. And if you're watching on video, I have highlighted in green the word immediately. Again, immediately.
Dwell in the Word: Mark 1:14-20
As we start out here we see the first words of Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand Repent, and believe the gospel. This is important. This is what we are meant to see here in Mark's gospel, everything after this is going to be related to this message, right?
Dwell in the Word: Mark 1:1-13
As we start out in Mark's gospel, we get a sense right away of what we're going to be looking at and how the story is going to be told. As we look at verse one, it says, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So we have three things here that I want us to really see before we move on to some other stuff in this reading. First, the beginning, this is the start. This is the telling of the story of Jesus, very important thing to understand. Now, it isn't like some of the other gospels.
January 17 Sermon: A Cave in Machpelah
Sometimes the greatest thing that we have is hope. When things are bad, it is often the only thing that we have. At no point in the human experience is this more apparent than when we encounter death. Whether this is the loss of a loved one or coming face to face with the inevitability of our own demise, all we really have is hope. Will we see our loved one again? Is our final breath the end of us?
The great Christian hope is that the grave is not the end and we not only hope in this we confess it when in the words of the Apostles’ Creed we acknowledge that we believe in the resurrection of the body.
December 20 Sermon: Made Known
News travels fast, doesn’t it? There are all kinds of ways that information can reach us these days and most of it is instant but even with our multifaceted forms of communication the truthfulness of what we are hearing can still be in doubt. In fact, we often receive some news and we are apprehensive to pass it on because we aren’t sure if it is true. You may get some information from multiple sources but you are still hesitant to share the news.
December 13 Sermon: He is Faithful
One of the draws of sports are the moments when the issue is in doubt and someone has to step up in a big moment. We love to see the clutch three pointer, the single to drive in that runner on second in the bottom of the ninth, and the long field goal that splits the uprights as time expires. If you are like me though you’ve been burnt before. The person at the plate has struck out and ended the game. The kicker that was reliable all season misses a chip shot field goal in the playoffs, and that last second shot hits off the back of the rim and bounces away as the buzzer sounds. As painful as some of those moments can be I think we like the tension that it creates.
November 15 Sermon: A Shameful Thing
With the holidays coming up it causes us to think about family doesn’t it. We go back to memories of gatherings when we were younger. While we tend to focus on the good memories it is likely that these get together’s exposed some of the issues in our families. You put a bunch of people in a confined space and mix in variables such as lost sleep or discussions on politics or religion and you had the potential for some fireworks.
While I’ve been stuck at home for the last week I have been re-watching one of my favorite sitcoms: The Middle. If you are not familiar with the show it is a lower middle class family in the middle of the United States and each episode we were invited into the lives of a regular family of five trying to make ends meet.
November 1 Sermon: Divine Rescue
There have been a lot of themes that have developed for us as we have been in the book of Genesis. We are familiar with the stories but if we weren’t there are narratives that would have us on the edge of our seat. Creation followed by rebellion against a holy God but even though they deserved punishment, God showed mercy. We see the first offspring of this couple who should be the one who will be in the line to the promised messiah but instead of being holy he murders his own brother. We see an unrighteous world and the people of the promise are being polluted by sin and so God is going to destroy the world but he keeps one of the promised ones safe from the waters of the flood. We’ve even seen recently how Abraham was in some sticky circumstances usually because of his own sin but still God rescues. It is what he does.
October 4 Sermon: The Intercession of Abraham
In an episode of my favorite sitcom the main character purchases a large television for himself. His logic is that the size of your TV should match your age so he wanted to have one that would last him for a few years. This purchase tapped out his bank account quite a bit so he has to start telling his closest friend, who has a tendency to mooch from him, that he can’t lend him any money. He also doesn’t want to tell this friend that he has a large TV because he doesn’t want to have him stopping over at all hours to watch TV with him.
As is customary with television comedies this leads to confusion and the friends starts to tell others in their small community that his friend is poor.
September 27 Sermon: Child of the Promise
There are things that happen in the course of our lives that we would define as unbelievable. Whether it is running into someone you haven’t seen in 20 years at a place that is hundreds of miles from where either of you live or hitting that hole in one on the par 3 at your favorite golf course we all have had those things that just seem to be impossible and yet they happen. If you expand beyond your own experiences and even the sphere of friends and family to what we can see on the news or posted somewhere on social media we see even more things that are unbelievable. Whether it is someone working meticulously to finally make a trick shot or someone performing a stunt or magic trick on one of the many televised talents shows we have probably uttered the phrase “that’s unbelievable” many times. In fact, with the barrage of media that can come at us at any time in our modern time, I’m betting you might have said “that’s unbelievable” in just the past few days.
August 23 Sermon: Deliverance
We’ve all been in a position where we have to make an important decision. We weigh the options in our heads and try to do what we think is best. Inherently, we end up making decisions that are selfish. We usually look for what brings us the most happiness or what we think will benefit us the most. In most cases, there might not be anything wrong with that approach but there are times when making an important decision with our eyes on looking out for ourselves and what selfishly desire can create serious problems. I’m sure we have all been in a place where we were given and option and even though we didn’t want to come across as selfish we jumped at the opportunity anyway.
August 16 Sermon: Abram's Lie
In our lives we come across obstacles that put us in a position to decide whether we are going to trust God or rely on ourselves. This happens for us not only in the big things that come at us in this life but they are also frequent in the small things. When the temptations of life come before us will we believe that what God has promised us is enough? Are we going to believe God’s law and trust that his truth is what is best for our lives? Each temptation is a crisis of faith.