Our journey though the Gospel of Mark has finally brought us to Passover in the upper room—the final hours before Jesus would be captured, beaten, mocked, flogged, and crucified.

For the disciples, no amount of denial could take away the underlaying fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that they would face without Jesus being by their side. For Jesus, the crushing emotional weight of what was about to happen caused His soul to be exceedingly sorrowful.

Nevertheless…Jesus was obedient to the will of God. He looked beyond the shame and suffering of the cross to a greater joy that allowed Him to endure it all (Hebrews 12:2).

Watch or listen to our study from Mark 14:12-36 as we paused and considered the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

In Mark 14, we read how the religious rulers sought to manipulate people and events to achieve their desired outcome—which was to get rid of Jesus. 

And yet—even though their cunning was in direct opposition of Jesus, there is no doubt that God was in control of what was going on.

In the midst of all of this, we read of a beautiful moment of personal worship of Jesus. It was a moment that shocked many who saw it, and yet blessed Jesus immensely.

Watch or listen to our study from Sunday as guest speaker Pastor David Guzik led our time considering this moment we discover in Mark 14:1-11.

In Mark 13, there are things Jesus says that speak to what the apostles would go through. There are things Jesus says that speak to what tribulation saints will go through. And there are things Jesus says that speak to what we are going through right now.

To each, Jesus gives the same instruction—take heed. Pay attention! Read the Bible. Talk to God—ask Him how He wants you to function in your daily responsibilities, in your workplace, and in your relationships. Talk to Him about everything. 

If you have made Him the Lord of your life, you are a part of His kingdom. He loves you and wants to use you. He has radical things for you in the smallest bits of faithfulness that will ripple on into eternity that you might never know about until you are with Him for all eternity. 

Trust Him. Love Him. Serve Him. And actively wait for Jesus in the meantime, for He is returning soon!

Join us Sunday at 10am as we worship the Lord and continue our study in the Gospel of Mark. We gather in-person at 912 W. St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN; online at https://live.refuge.mn; and on the radio at http://refuge.fm or 96.1 FM (in the St. Cloud area).

​God wants your heart.

He doesn’t desire automaton obedience, or a willingness to go to the penalty box when you mess up. You can do that without having a relationship with God. 

He wants YOU. 

He wants to walk in fellowship with You. He wants to walk in love with you where obedience and sacrifice aren’t even on the forefront of your mind. He desires a fellowship of love, because love fulfills the law. Loving God and loving your neighbor—on these two hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:40).

Jesus wants genuine worshippers with no agenda other than simply loving the Lord and loving neighbors out of the overflow of fellowship with Him.

Are you trying to earn His favor? Are you making vain attempts to garner His affection? Stop—there is nothing you can to do that could make Jesus love you any more than He does right now.  Come to Him. Walk with Him. Abide in Him.  Love Him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then enjoy fellowship with Him now and for all eternity.

Join us Sunday at 10am as we worship the Lord and continue our study in the Gospel of Mark. We gather in-person at 912 W. St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN; online at https://live.refuge.mn; and on the radio at http://refuge.fm or 96.1 FM (in the St. Cloud area).

God wants to enjoy the fruit of our fellowship with Him. It angers Him when people pretend to be His people, but have no fruit or heart for Him, His representatives, or His Son Jesus.

We see this truth in the context of Jesus’ words and actions in Mark 11:12-12:12. We witness a series of actions and hear words of Jesus that show and tell us that God is angered when fruitless sinners pretend to be His people and yet have no heart for Him. In their pretension, they even end up treating those who truly are His people and His own Son Jesus poorly.

If you find yourself pretending to follow Jesus, but without the fruit of His fellowship, don’t make the same mistake the religious leaders of Jesus’ day made. They heard His warning, but did not heed His call to come to Him. Their mistake was walking away from Jesus when they didn’t like what He had to say. But Jesus won’t turn anyone away who comes to Him. He wants fruitful fellowship with you. Come to Him today!