There is a vast difference between being a religious ruler and a servant-leader. If anyone had every right to be a religious ruler, it was Jesus. And yet, the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve; not to save His life, but to lay it down as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

Jesus’ example shows us what servant-leadership looks like. It’s His example that we should all want to follow as His disciples—not just in the church, but especially in the home.

Watch or listen to our study of Mark 9:36-10:16 as we learned about the revolution Jesus initiated from religious rulership to servant-leadership and the blessing that comes to us if we do as He did.

What does it mean to be greatly used of God? How does Jesus view and define greatness? How does someone become great in His kingdom?

These are questions we all want answered. And when we don’t know the answers, we tend to argue about it—just like the disciples. But we don’t need to quarrel and squabble—Jesus answers these questions for us.

He tells His followers that true greatness is found in being a servant and in serving. Being great means serving those who have no ability to bless you back and who can’t make you feel important.

Watch or listen to our study of Mark 9:30-37 as we learned one of the most important lessons we could ever learn.

There is a cosmic battle taking place in the heavenly realm. It is the battle for the hearts and minds of men, women, and children. It’s a battle for cities and nations. And ultimately, it’s a battle for the right to rule this planet.

But it is not a physical battle—and it cannot be fought or won physically. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

So what’s our part to play in this battle? How can we fight by faith for the kingdom of God? Watch or listen to our study from Sunday as guest speaker Peter Warren explains the weapons of our warfare, the tactics of the enemy, and the victory we have in Jesus.

Join us Sunday at 10am (central) 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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God. Which might seem odd in light of the transfiguration we studied last week. 

If there was one event that would make for an amazing central event, Christ's appearance in radiant glory to three of his disciples would certainly be a top contender.

But it was at the cross where Christ was exalted. In Philippians 2 we learn about what Christ was thinking as He came to serve, suffer, and save. Watch or listen to our study from Sunday as guest speaker Pastor Nate lead our time in Philippians 2:5-9.

​Join us Sunday at 10am (central) as we worship the Lord & study His word. We gather in-person at 912 W. St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN; online at https://live.refuge.mn; and on the radio at 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

In Mark 9 James, John, and Peter have a mountaintop experience. In their time with Jesus, they receive amazing clarity concerning who He truly is. As Jesus is transfigured before them, they see the divinity of Jesus through His humanity. He is the Song of God, the promised Messiah!

We can also have mountaintop experiences in our regular times of solitude with Jesus. But these times are intended to be temporary—we receive clarity about Jesus so that we can come down the mountain and minister to people who are suffering in the dark.

Watch or listen to our study in Mark 9:1-29 as we considered the importance of solitude before service.
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Join us Sunday at 10am (central) 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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm

Jesus didn’t come to save us from our circumstances. He came to save us from our sins. But in order to do this, Jesus needed to serve, suffer, sacrifice, and die. 

​Once we are saved, He wants us to and calls us to participate and co-operate with Him in what He is doing. Like Jesus, we must be willing to live a similar life—a life of serving, suffering, and sacrifice—not to add to anyone’s salvation, but to lead others to salvation.

This is where the life that is truly life is found—in being a disciple of Jesus, The Messiah. Watch or listen to our study from Mark 8:27-38 as we learned what it means to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.

For the last couple of Sundays, we have had this odd question reappearing in our studies: have we learned the lesson of the loaves yet? 

If you remember, Jesus walked on water not long after Jesus fed over 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. The apostles were astonish and greatly marveled at this because “they had not understood about the loaves…” (Mark 6:52). Their hearts were hardened and they were not fully accepting of the fact that Jesus is God and there is nothing too difficult for Him.

What about you? Is your heart hardened? Do you understand that Jesus loves you and would do anything for you if He knew it would bless you and bring God glory?

You can trust Him and pursue Him passionately—just like we saw in several scenes from our study this past Sunday. Watch or listen and continue to learn the lesson of the loaves—Jesus loves you and there is nothing too difficult for Him.

Join us Sunday at 10am (central) 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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

In the book of Acts, Peter summarizes a good portion of Jesus’ earthly ministry: “And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).

We see Jesus healing many as we continue our study in Mark 6. How could anyone find fault with Jesus of Nazareth for going about doing good with God’s anointing? The Pharisees could—and did. They made it their mission to find fault with Jesus. These religious leaders from Jerusalem were devoted to preserving the culture of Judaism instead of Scripture.

Somewhere along the way, they began to believe that their culture was more important than Scripture. Too often, we are guilty of the same thing. We too sanctify our own preferences or write our own set of rules, or preserve our own culture at the expense of Scripture.
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When we do, we need to heed the warning Jesus gives us in Mark 7. Watch or listen to our study from Sunday and learn how legalism always fails to accomplish what only love can.

Is anything too hard for God? Spoken out loud or pondered in the heart, it’s a question that’s been asked time and again. Is anything too difficult for God?

It’s no surprise that Jesus definitively answers that question—through His life and through His ministry. Whether it’s miraculously multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish to feed over 5,000 people or walking on water, nothing is too difficult for God.

But like the disciples, we can forget about what the Lord can do and start to doubt to the point that we’re surprised when He does something that He promised He would do. Jesus knows this about us, but doesn’t condemn us. Instead, He continually calls us to Himself in order to make us into His disciples.

This is just one of the lessons we learned this past Sunday as we took a closer look at Mark 6:45-52. Watch or listen to our study and discover how important it is to keep our eyes on Jesus.
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Join us Sunday at 10am (central) 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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

Jesus is gracious when others would be gruff. He is selfless in every way. He also needs to be serious at times. As He makes disciples who would make disciples, He sometimes needs to be stern and direct.

As we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark, we’ll notice that the closer Jesus gets to the cross, the more serious He will be about making the apostles into disciples. He needed to stretch them to make them into disciples and challenge their capacity to be servants.

We read of one of these times in Mark 6:30-44. Watch or listen to our study from this past Sunday and learn how we can be thankful for those times when Jesus is stern and serious.

​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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

Life is messy and can often end in difficulty. That was the reality for John the Baptist, the greatest man born of a woman. He followed God wholeheartedly his whole life. And yet, his life on earth ended in a prison cell because of his faithfulness to God and to His word.

We’re living in a society that is drifting from the truth—not only questioning the existence of objective truth, but punishing those who proclaim it. There will be real and significant consequences for retaining loyalty to God and what His word says—especially what His word says concerning sin.

The only way for you to endure the difficulty to come is to have a thorough, working understanding of God through a thorough, working understanding of His word. With this understanding, you’ll be able to know what’s coming, but more importantly the God who is able to see you through.

Watch or listen to our study of Mark 6:14-29 as we considered the sobering reality of the times we live in and the hope extended to all through Jesus.

Join us Sunday at 10am in-person at 912 W. St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN; online at https://live.refuge.mn; and on the radio at 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

Jesus has a unique way of training, developing, and maturing those who freely choose to follow Him.
Consider the disciples. Initially, these men simply watched Jesus serve in their communities. Soon, Jesus invited them to serve with Him: “Follow Me.” They were able to see up close how Jesus served. 
Soon, they wanted to be with Jesus, but you can’t be with Jesus for long before you start to be like Him (serving, ministering, and helping those around you). And before they knew it (or maybe without knowing it), Jesus was helping them serve. And soon He was watching them serve.
Now it was time for them to serve without Jesus present. But He gives them practical and applicable principles before sending them out. Watch or listen to our study of Mark 6:7-13 and learn how we can apply these practical principles as we follow and serve Jesus today.
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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” That’s a question Nathaniel asked in John 1:46 when Philip told him about Jesus. Nathaniel didn’t get excited about the Messiah. He got hung up on Nazareth.

He wasn’t alone. Nazareth was looked down on by people in the region as an insignificant backwoods community. But this was Jesus’ hometown—it’s where He grew up, where He worked, and where He lived for a majority of His life on Earth. 

So when He returns home (with a small following of disciples) after performing miracles and teaching about the Kingdom of God, you might think that this carpenter-turned-rabbi would be welcomed with enthusiasm. 

But sadly, many in Nazareth were offended at Him. Why? Watch or listen to our study of Mark 6:1-6 and learn about the hazard of having an odd and unhealthy familiarity with Jesus.
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 96.1 FM (St. Cloud) or at https://refuge.fm.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve tried every alternative, exhausted every option, and overturned every stone until there is nothing left but to cry out to Jesus?

At one point or another, we all encounter a set of circumstances that will utterly exhaust our personal strength and resources so that there is nothing left to do but come to Jesus.

Thankfully, He is willing to be our last resort. But even though we know He is gracious and kind, we still hesitate coming to Him at times. When desperation overrules hesitation and we are finally face to face with Jesus, what will we find? Anger, frustration and disappointment, or compassion, mercy, and grace?

In Mark 5:21-43, we encounter two daughters and a father who were desperate for Jesus to help them. Watch or listen to our study of this passage and learn how Jesus’ character should cause us to call out to Him as our first choice instead of our last resort.

In Mark 4 and 5, Jesus encounters two different storms. They were different from one another—one was an external storm, and the other was internal. But these storms were also different from the typical storm clouds and thunderclaps. These storms were more severe. 

These two storms were satanic. 

The first was a storm that directly threatened Jesus and His disciples. The second was a tempest that had tormented a man to the point of unimaginable suffering. 

And Jesus confronts the dark force behind each storm to bring peace.

What did Jesus do? How did He react? Is Satan any match for Jesus? Watch or listen to our study from Mark 4:21-5:20 as we see how Jesus rules and reigns over the natural and supernatural.

Wherever Jesus would go, a multitude would follow. But not everyone who follows after Jesus follows Him for the right reasons. Some look for His miracles—their interest isn’t in Him, His teaching, or the Word of God, but in what He could do for them.

That’s a dangerous position to be in—but not for the reasons you might expect. Jesus taught the multitude…a lot. And every time they heard the Word of God clearly, they would be accountable to it. That’s why Jesus said to “Take heed what you hear.” (Mark 4:24) 

It’s great when people are attracted to Jesus. But if their focus is on what He can do for them instead of Who He is, they will not follow Him for long. We saw that in our study of Mark 4 as Jesus begins to teach the multitude in parables. Watch or listen to our study from Sunday and see how Jesus—in His mercy—ministers to those who follow after Him for the right and wrong reasons.

Jesus says all sins will be forgiven…except for one particular sin. That particular sin has to do with blasphemy against a particular person. That particular person is the Holy Spirit. 
But who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? What is blasphemy and why would blaspheming the Holy Spirit be unforgivable? 

These are great questions with answers we can find in the Bible. It just takes a little bit of digging. Once we start digging, the Lord will direct us as we discover the answers.

Watch or listen to the replay of our study in Mark 3:28-35 and dig with us as we discover the treasure just below the surface of these verses.

Last week, we considered how much Jesus wants to be with us. So much so that He has appointed us to be with Him forever. Fellowship with Him is first, foremost, and forever. Everything else is out of the overflow of that fellowship with Jesus—everything else becomes secondary.

But if the secondary becomes the primary way we find our identity—if what we do for Jesus is how we identify ourselves—we’ll be in trouble. God didn’t save us so we could just do amazing things for Him. He saved us so that we could enjoy fellowship with Him—forever!

Our identity, purpose, and worth in every season of life comes from this fact—Jesus wants to be with us and He has appointed us first and foremost to simply be with Him. 

Watch or listen to our study of Mark 3:20-27 as Jesus shows us what His radical strategy for ministry looks like.

During His ministry on earth, Jesus regularly withdrew from the busyness of life and ministry to ask His Father what He should do. Fellowship with His Father was so essential to Jesus that He prioritized His time so He could just be with His Heavenly Father. If Jesus needed to do this, how much more so us?

Watch or listen to our study of the Gospel of Mark 3:7-19 as we unpack the importance of regular times of withdrawing and retreating with God so that we might enjoy what He saved us for—fellowship with Him.

The Herodians, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Saducees…there were many groups who saw Jesus as their enemy. In Mark 2:18-3:6, we observe three interactions Jesus had with these people, who weren’t really enemies from Jesus’ point of view. Although they came at Him in the craziest and pettiest of ways, Jesus didn’t consider them His enemies. To Him, they were hurting people who hadn’t yet found the courage to confront what was really going on in their hearts. Jesus didn’t take it personally. Instead, He gently led them again and again to God’s word and to God’s work.

Watch or listen to other messages in our series from the Gospel of Mark.

Jesus once said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” This statement confounded and upset the religious leaders of His day. Jesus was eating with sinners, ministering to sinners, forgiving sinners, healing sinners, and (worst of all) calling sinners to be His followers. In short—Jesus was getting into trouble…for all the right reasons!

So why were the religious leaders bothered with Jesus’ statement? They thought they were already righteous. They couldn’t compute in their self-righteous hearts how the Messiah would come for sinners, but not for them.

But what they had failed to see is that Jesus really had come for them too. But something needed to happen in their hearts first. They weren’t really righteous—they only thought they were.

Watch or listen to our study from the Gospel of Mark 2:1-17 and hear how Jesus comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable.

We remember the details of what occurred between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, but we must recall the heart of it all: “God [the Father] loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

The Son and the Father—the two of them went together. Often, we look at this week called Passion only from the perspective of the Son and rarely from the perspective of the Father—and almost never from the perspective of both.

But don’t forget that the Son and the Father—the two of them—went together. This is the reason we turned to the book of Genesis on Resurrection Sunday. The scene in Genesis 22 vividly paints the picture of what God the Son and God the Father did together.