Watch

TEXT: Mark 6:1-29

Luke 16:31
“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Mark 16:14
“Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”

Hebrews 3:12
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

When your head is filled with doubt, your heart becomes hard, you stop believing and start drifting away God.

I. THE REJECTION OF JESUS

I Peter 2:6-8
“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

Cold hearts of unbelief will freeze the work of God.

II. A MESSAGE OF REPENTANCE

The problem facing many churches and Christians today is not an absence of God’s power it’s an abuse of God’s power and a misunderstanding of God’s purpose.

When we take God at His word we experience His power at work!

III. A GUILTY CONSCIENCE REVEALED

Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

The conscience is a God given indicator of right and wrong.

The only way to keep your conscience clear and clean is to first make sure it has been cleansed!

Hebrews 9:14
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

1. You may have been rejected by people but God through Christ will receive you!
2. Church we have a responsibility to use the power and authority given to us for the purpose it was intended.
3. What is my conscience revealing to me?

Text: Psalm 121

The journey of faith must be seen through the lens of a pilgrim mentality and not that of a tourist.

A living God has given us a lively hope so that we might pursue holiness.

Deuteronomy 6:10
“And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

I. THE LORD IS OUR ALL SUFFICIENT HELPER

Psalm 42:5
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

What and who you look to will determine the direction of your life.

The mountain of self leads you to the valley of discouragement.

II. THE LORD IS OUR ALL SUSTAINING KEEPER

The promise is that God will not necessarily prevent problems from happening to you but He will preserve you through them.

Jude 1:24, 25
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

We will always battle sin but we will never have to fight for our salvation!

Quote:
“No man can keep himself, he’ll surely fail. If left to ourselves we’ll go to hell. Only Jesus can save us from our sins.” Charles Spurgeon

We can sleep soundly because we know God is awake!

In every season of life God will be there to protect and preserve His people.

As we journey through this life may never get the answers we are looking for but we do have the assurance that God loves us.

Romans 5:8, 9
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Quote:
“He has not led me so tenderly thus far to forsake me at the very gate of heaven.” Adoniram Judson.

Heavens greatest help, Jesus, went to a cross and rose victoriously from the grave securing our soul for all of eternity!

TEXT: Mark 5:21-43

Quote:
"When pain and suffering come upon us, we finally see not only that we are not in control of our lives but that we never were.” Tim Keller

The despair and disappointment of a life filled with suffering and pain is what drives us to seek the Saviour.

Quote:
“Faith in Christ is the only thing to save you from despair.” C.S. Lewis

I. FROM DISEASED TO DAUGHTER

Quote:
“Despair is commonly the prelude to grace.” R. Kent Hughes

In our moments of despair we come to the place where God will begin to do some of His deepest work in our soul.

The biggest issue plaguing people today is not social, physical, or financial; it’s realizing that their life is being ravaged by sin and the only solution to this problem is found Christ.

Jesus knows our story and calls us out of the shadows to show the world that our life has been forever changed.

II. FROM DEATH TO LIFE

Quote:
“Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.” Tim Keller

A delay by God must not be interpreted as a denial from God.

II Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight:”

The answer to every fear must always be met with faith!

1. Don’t allow your weak faith to stop you from reaching out and trusting Jesus.
2. The touch of God in your life is the one thing that will sustain you through the suffering and struggles.

On the cross Jesus lost the grip of His Fathers hand so that we would never have to experience the horror of losing the Fathers grasp on our life.

Faith and trust in Christ always results in us experiencing a new life that is worth living!

TEXT: Mark 4:35-5:20

Proverbs 18:21a
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue:”

Proverbs 25:11
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

Proverbs 15:23
“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”

Proverbs 10:19
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”

Hebrews 1:1-3
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Jesus spoke with authority!

I. JESUS DEMONSTRATES HIS POWER AND CONTROL

The creator displays his authority over creation.

Colossians 1:16, 17
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Every cosmic speck of dust is under the command and control of Jesus.

II. JESUS ISSUES A CHALLENGING QUESTION

The greatest danger to our life is not the external uncontrollable forces that work against us; it’s a heart of unbelief that damages our faith in Christ.

Jesus took the storm of eternal justice and knowing this means we can face all the temporal storms with the assurance that he loves us and is in complete control of our life.

“God is God, and since he is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere else but in his will and that will is necessarily, infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.” Elisabeth Elliot

The greater lesson here is not that God will keep you from all the storms of life but that God will be faithful through the storms of life.

III. JESUS MAKES A CONFRONTATIONAL CALL

Ephesians 6:12
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Jesus is not only stronger than the storms around you He is stronger than the “demons” inside you.

If you want to experience the power of God at work in your life you will have to submit yourself to His authority over your life!

IV. JESUS GIVES A COMMISSION

All true believers have a desire to be around Jesus!

Sharing the Gospel should never be wrapped around how awful we were but how awesome Jesus is!

When Jesus speaks He not only calms the storms in our life, He sends us back out into the waves of the world with a message of hope.

TEXT: Mark 3:7-4:34

Popularity always comes with a very high price and it never delivers what it promises.
Jesus mission was not to be popular but to save people!

Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Mark 8:36, 37
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Jesus cares about the state of our physical wellbeing but he is far more concerned with the condition of our soul.

I. CHRIST UNDER PRESSURE

A. Commune with God.

Psalm 16:11
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

B. Connect with others.

C. Carry out the mission.

II. PEOPLE AND THEIR OPINIONS

Does following Jesus embarrass you?

The key to loving your family and having a loving family begins with loving and obeying Christ.

People’s opinions of us do not matter near as much as our obedience to Jesus does.

III. TWO IMPORTANT PARABLES

Parables called for a personal response by the hearer.

The reason many do not hear the message is not because there is something wrong with thier hearing it’s the heart that is the problem.

Matthew 5:14-16
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The purpose of the light is not to make us popular but to help people come out of the darkness and receive the life and light of Christ.

TEXT: Mark 2, 3:1-6

In the end religion always has to get rid of Jesus because the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets us free while religion enslaves us.

I. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN LIFE

The main problem in all our lives is never our suffering but our sin.

The deepest issue is not that of a healthy body or longer life but for our soul to be made whole and our life to be transformed.

The forgiveness of sin is the only way for our discontentment to be healed!

II. THE PHARISEE IN ALL OF US

“When your 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.” - Winston Churchill

The call of Jesus to Matthew reminds us that He sees past our labeled life and leads us to new life in Him.

Jesus didn’t call the church to isolate itself from the world or to assimilate itself into the world but to infiltrate and influence the world with the Gospel.

No one is so bad that they cannot be saved and no one is so good they need not to be saved.

III. THE ONLY PLACE REST IS TRULY FOUND

Jesus didn’t come to improve our old nature He came to provide us with a new nature!

“Religion stresses holiness over grace. Irreligion stress freedom over holiness. Christianity is freedom through grace that leads to holiness.” - Tim Keller

The rest we seek on a day off is a taste of the deeper divine rest we need in Jesus!

Matthew 11:28-30
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

IV. THE PASSION AND POWER OF JESUS

Healing people not only confirmed the power and passion of Jesus but when he forgave sin and in turn confronted the religious leaders He was showing the priority and purpose of His mission.

Am I in collision with Jesus or in cooperation with Him?

Being in a relationship with Christ means that we are resting in Him, rejoicing in Him, and reaching out to those who don’t kow Him!