The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 1:14-15"

      I am glad to be able to post the sermon this week. The snow and storm in my area turned out not to be as bad as expected. Instead of 12 to 18 inches of snow, we received about six inches. It has been very cold though. There are many people in the US south and southeast that had a lot of ice, and the power is still out. We all need to pray that these folks get the aid and the help that they need. 

     Starting a couple of weeks back, we started a new series where we are going through the Gospel of Mark. I am taking my time with this series so that we can really get into the life and message of the Lord Jesus. 

     Last week, we saw that Jesus was baptized by John. Jesus was affirmed by the voice of the Father, and the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him. At that point, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in order to prepare for His time of public ministry. 

     In our text today, we see that when John the Baptist was thrown into prison by Herod, Jesus went up to Galilee to begin His public ministry. The Bible says that Jesus proclaimed the good news of God and that He told the people that the Kingdom or reign of God was near. He called on the people to repent and believe the good news.

     Let's look at the meaning of these first words of the Lord Jesus. He proclaimed the good news of God. The fact that He the Messiah had come into this world was good news. The old ways and the old structures of power based on evil and unrighteousness were coming to an end. People having to be trapped in sinfulness and guilt were coming to an end. Jesus had come to tell people that God loved them and cared about them. 

    Jesus also told people the Kingdom of God had come near. Jesus during the time of His earthly ministry was going to be telling people about God's way of doing things in this world. The values of the Kingdom of God are vastly different from the values of this world system of domination. We don't see it in the Gospel of Mark, but Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount and Luke in the Sermon on the Plain record Jesus' teachings in detail about the values of the Kingdom of God. The overriding values of God's Kingdom are love, peace, goodness and justice. 

     Jesus showed us in His work and through His words what God values and that is what we are to value and strive for as those who are the followers of the Lord. We don't follow the way of the world that teaches might makes right, and that teaches the ways of greed and oppression. In another passage, Jesus said that He had come to preach to the poor. He came to preach release to the captive, and He came to bind the brokenhearted. He came to preach love for one's enemies and to care more about others than we care about ourselves. Jesus came and preached a message of radical forgiveness and mercy. He told us to love God and love our neighbor. And He taught us to care about the least of these. These are the values of the Kingdom of God. 

     Repentance was a key theme in the message of Jesus. He called on people to leave behind their old way of thinking and embrace the Kingdom of God. That is what repentance means. It means to change one's mind. Jesus called on people to change their minds about God and to change their minds about what God wants for them in this world. 

     In His preaching, Jesus called on people to believe in the good news. He called on the people to repent of their sins and accept His love and forgiveness. Since He had come into the world, everything was changed. He was the light that had come into the world, and the darkness did not and will never overcome the glorious light of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     The Lord Jesus is calling on us to repent and believe the good news today. We need to repent of our ways of oppression and violence. We need to repent of exploitation of the poor, and we need to repent of destruction of all that God has made. There are also many who need to repent of their sins and come to Jesus for salvation. They need to leave sin behind and accept Jesus as the Lord of their lives. Now as then, Jesus is ready to receive all those who come to Him in repentance and faith. I hope that you will come to Him and follow Him and do what He laid out today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying in regard to my health. I am doing better in some ways and not in others. Thank you. 

     Let us keep praying for those who are suffering as a result of natural disasters. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need. 

     Remember to keep praying for peace. I looked at a list of all the conflicts going on in the world right now, and it made me sick. Literally. Pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Yemen, the Sahel region, Congo, Central African Republic, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela. I am sure I left something off the list. Pray for peace. 

     About the situation in Minnesota. What a tragedy. Please pray that these aggressive ICE tactics will come to an end. Pray for the well being of those in this country who haven't hurt anyone and are just trying to make it in this world. Also pray for the families and friends of those who have been so needlessly killed in Minneapolis. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Sierra Leone and Indonesia. Pray that many will hear and respond to the love of Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week And An Update

 Update: I survived the big snowstorm. Others are having difficulties and need our prayers. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. 

Here are the verses:

Hebrews 4:16 -- "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Matthew 6:14 -- "If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." 

The Weekend Sermon -- Mark 1:9-13

     It is time for the Weekend Sermon. Thank you all for taking the time to read the message this week. I hope and pray that you are all doing very well.

  

      For the last couple of weeks, we have been engaged in a series on the Gospel of Mark. The plan is to go chapter by chapter and verse by verse through this entire book of the Bible. 

      Last week, we looked at what Mark had to say about the ministry of John the Baptist. He was the one prophesied to be the forerunner of the Messiah. The Messiah was Jesus. John said that Jesus was mightier than he was, and He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

     In today's message, we are going to look at what are the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus according to Mark's account. In verse 9, we see that Mark tells us that Jesus went from Nazareth down to where John was baptizing and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. 

     Now, there are always those who ask why Jesus was baptized as He had no sin therefore He would not have needed a baptism of repentance as that was what John was performing. I believe that Jesus was baptized as it was His purpose to show us a perfect example of how we are to behave and what we are to do. Jesus was baptized in order to show us that we need to be baptized according to His later commandment that those who come to Him be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

     Another reason that Jesus was baptized has to do with what we see in verses 10 and 11. When Jesus came up from the water, He saw the Heavens opened. At the same time, the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him. The voice of the Father came from Heaven saying, "You are my Son whom I love, with You I am well pleased." 

     The baptism of Jesus was a visible proof with signs from the Father that Jesus was the Messiah. The Spirit came upon Jesus signifying that He was the Anointed One from God. Jesus was the Messiah prophesied of old. He had come to deliver His people. The power of the Holy Spirit was upon Him. Also, the Father signified that Jesus was the Son. This demonstrated that Jesus was divine as well as human. The Father said that the Son was pleasing unto Him. The Father verified the work of the Son. 

     Something else of great importance is shown to us in the baptism of Jesus. This is one of the great demonstrations of the veracity of the doctrine of the Trinity. At the baptism of Jesus we have the voice of the Father from Heaven. We have Jesus declared as the Son by the Father, and we see the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of a dove. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

     Now, after His baptism, the Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness. While in the wilderness for 40 days and nights, Jesus prepared Himself for the mission that was ahead. Part of that preparation was the temptation by Satan. Mark doesn't go into detail about the temptations like some other Gospels do. However, we know that Jesus overcame and did not succumb to any temptation. 

     Jesus, by being tempted, demonstrated that He is the one who is without sin. He could truly be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. Also, Jesus by being tempted was able to identify with us. He knew what it was truly like to be a human being. He knew and knows what we are going through that is why the Bible says that He is a great high priest who is touched by the feeling of our infirmities. 

     There is something else that I want to point out in this passage. Mark points out that Jesus was with the wild animals. I do not think that this is just a casual reference. When sin came into this world, all of the natural order was thrown into chaos. By saying that Jesus was with the wild animals, and they were obviously not harming Him, Mark was showing that Jesus is the one who brings redemption to the entire cosmic order. Jesus is the one who has come to set all things right and to return all things to the Edenic state. 

     After His time in the wilderness, Jesus was ready to enter His time of ministry. He set out to do what the Father had sent Him to do. Jesus came to redeem us. He invites you now to come to Him that you might have eternal life. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please pray that the storms won't be bad. I am having a lot of health issues and I am concerned about all this cold and getting to work and just making it through in general to be quite honest. Thank you for your prayers. 

     Please keep praying for peace. This whole business with Greenland is ridiculous. Pray that there is no military invasion of Greenland. Also, pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Israel and Gaza still need help and prayer. Syria needs our prayers. Keep praying about Venezuela. The world is a real mess right now. Pray that the leaders of this world will seek the ways of peace and the Lord's will. 

     Remember to keep praying that the flu and covid problems in the US will end. Also pray for an end to the measles outbreak in South Carolina. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Mauritius and Kuwait. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. Keep praying. 

     

Prayer Request

     There is a big winter storm being forecast. Pray that it is not as bad as predicted. For my area, they are calling for cold and 3 or more inches of snow. Please pray that it is not that bad. Thank you. 

Verses For The Week

      Romans 5:5 -- "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us."

     Psalm 31:24 -- "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 1:2-8"

      Thank you for joining me for the Weekend Sermon. I hope that all of you are having a good week and doing well. 

     Last week, we began a new series of messages on the Gospel of Mark. We just did a basic introduction and focused on verse one that presented Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. 

     In our message for today, we turn our attention to John the Baptist. John was someone who was foretold in the Old Testament. In our text for today, we have one of the places that tells us about John. Isaiah said that there would be someone who would come before the coming of the Messiah. He would be a messenger that would tell the people that they needed to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah. Another place where we see a prophecy of the coming of John the Baptist is in the book of Malachi. We are told that Elijah would come. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophetic word. 

     John, as we know from the Gospel of Luke, was Jesus' cousin. He was the child of Elizabeth who was Mary's cousin. When John was still in his mother's womb, he recognized the mother of the Lord who was herself carrying Jesus in her womb. 

     John the Baptist was an interesting person. He dressed in a camel hair garment with a leather belt. His diet consisted of wild locusts and honey. He appeared on the scene by the Jordan River, and there, he began to proclaim his message. First of all, he preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

    People came out to hear what this new preacher had to say. John called them to repent of their sins and turn their lives and their thinking around. That is what it means to repent. In essence, it means to change one's thinking about God and what God requires. It means leaving behind the way that seems right to us and embracing the way of the Lord. 

    The people when they heard this message, confessed their sins. Subsequently, they were baptized. This demonstrated the washing away of sin and the beginning of a new life. 

    In order to truly follow the Lord Jesus, we have to be willing to admit that we are sinners and need a Savior. Part of coming to know Jesus is to confess ones sins and ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins. We then ask Him to be our Savior and the Lord and master of our lives. 

    Following conversion, a new believer follows in baptism. Jesus taught that a person should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

    Baptism does not save. It is the outward sign of an inward work. For the Christian, it symbolizes that we are buried with Christ and we arise to newness of life in Him. Our sins our washed away, and we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Baptism is a testimony to the world that we are identifying with Jesus. We are committing ourselves to following Him and His way of life. 

    Now, John the Baptist also told us about Jesus. He said that one was coming after him that was more powerful. When this one would come, He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

    As we will see as we continue our study in Mark, Jesus is the one that was the one more powerful. Jesus was the Messiah. He was the one who came to show people the way and to redeem the world from sin. In another Gospel, John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

    Jesus came to tell people that the Kingdom of Heaven had come. He came to show us the way to have life now and eternal life to come. He came to redeem us and to set all of creation back to the way that it existed before the fall. 

    When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, those gathered in the Upper Room received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

    When a person comes to faith and trust in Jesus, that person is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. We receive the Spirit who is our comforter. The Spirit convicts of sin, and the Spirit points us to Jesus. 

    I hope that you have put your faith and trust in the Risen Lord. If you have, I hope you will follow in baptism as the Lord commanded. Then, go and tell others about the Lord. Tell people that Jesus has come and they can be reconciled to God. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I am feeling some better, and I thank the Lord for that. Please keep me in your prayers. 

    As you are aware, the situation in Iran is tense. Let us pray for a peaceful transition to a democratic government for that nation. 

    Please continue to pray that the United States, my country, will not try to take over Greenland by force. There is no way that this can be justified. 

    Let us continue to pray for peace in other areas of the world that are in conflict. Pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Myanmar. Pray that peace and good things will come to Venezuela. 

    Keep praying for those suffering as a result of natural disasters. Pray for those in California and Washington affected by flooding. Pray for those affected by winter storms in Europe. 

    For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Libya and Mongolia. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue our study in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

A Happy Day

     Today is the day all those years ago now when my friend Toby came into my life. I was still a young man when he came to live with me. I will never forget the day when we went out in the snow to look at a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Toby. 

     When we pulled up in the drive, Toby was out running around in the snow. I loved him at first sight. 

     He came to live with me when I was at one of my lowest points. I had been in an abusive religious environment and was very depressed. Jesus knew this, of course. He also knew Toby wasn't being treated the right way. So, the Lord Jesus caused it all to work out just right so that the two of us could be together. 

     Toby changed my life. Because of him, I kept going. I came to realize how much the Lord Jesus loved me. That day when I met Toby was the second best thing that ever happened to me only surpassed by coming to know the Lord Jesus. I thank Jesus every day for my friend Toby. 

     I've told a lot of people that my life is about Jesus, Jazz and a corgi. Don't have any idea what my life would be without them. Thank you Lord.