Read the word.
Teach the word.
Preach the word.
- 1 Timothy 4:13
God cannot and will not force you to believe the gospel. He cannot and will not force you to receive forgiveness. You either believe and receive or you don’t.
If you believe and receive God’s testimony about His Son, you’re part of His family forever! So when Jesus looks around the room and claims that those around Him are His mother and brothers (see Mark 3:31-35), it isn’t a rejection of His birth mother or His blood-born relatives. It’s an acknowledgement of the amazing grace that would accept whosoever would believe and receive into the family of God. Do you believe this? Do you receive this? Then you are a brother or sister of Jesus and have become a son or daughter of your Heavenly Father! Do you reject this? Do you refuse this? Heed the warning Jesus gives—there is only a finite number of times that the Holy Spirit will endure being called a liar before He will simply stop giving you His testimony. This sin of blasphemy is unforgivable. Repent today, return today, and receive today what God wants to give you!
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 had the habit of retreating to be with His Heavenly Father. He made the time to get away and enjoy fellowship with God the Father to receive instruction, encouragement, and strength for the battles that would come His way.
If Jesus needed regular times of retreat, how much more do we? For most of us, making this time for fellowship with God is difficult—but why? Maybe pride prevents you from retreating with the Lord. You want to do great things for Him, so you don’t have the time just to be with Him. Or maybe you don’t think that God would want to be with you. You might feel like you’re bothering Him with your ordinary and unimportant problems. Nothing could be further from the truth! God wants to be with you more than anything! God wants you—that’s what this is all about. It’s never primarily about the fight and battle. It’s always primarily about the fellowship He wants to enjoy with you. It’s not just about what God can do through you, it’s mainly about what He’s doing in you. First, foremost, and forever—He wants to be with you…He wants you!
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. tHurting people hurt people.
This is an important truth to remember as a servant of Jesus. Jesus loves people—that includes people who are bound by sin, struggling with sin, or weary or heavily burdened. And since Jesus wants to heal hurting people, He sends His followers to hurting people to minister to them. So when you are helping a hurting person, they just might criticize you, oppose you, or fight against you. When this happens, remember it’s not really about you—so don’t take things personally. Instead, follow Jesus’ example. Gently lead them to Him—the Healer for their hurt. Show and tell them what His word has to say about the real root issue they are dealing with. And love them as He has loved you. If you are hurting, there is hope and healing in Jesus. Come to Him—not as His adversary, but with humility and He will lift you up (James 4:10). Ask a brother or sister in Jesus for help and be ready and willing to talk about the real root issue that is causing you pain so He can heal you.
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. “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
–Mark 2:17 Did Jesus come to call you? Depending on your understanding of your own sinfulness or self-righteousness, this verse either comforts you or disturbs you. You see, everyone needs to realize that everyone has sinned and every single one of us has fallen short of God’s glorious standard…which means all have been called by Him to be saved! But something has to happen in your heart first. You need to realize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. And then realize (and be greatly comforted by this fact) that Jesus came for you—to help you and forgive you; to heal you and to make you whole. Yes, Jesus is calling YOU into His service as one of His followers. Have you answered His call? Has something happened in your heart so that you realize your condition and your need for Him? Self-righteousness can’t save you. Despite how good you try to be, it will never be good enough. But God, in His love has made a way for you to be reconciled with Him through His son, Jesus. Turn away from self-righteousness and let it go. Ask Jesus to forgive you and receive what He has been longing to give you—His righteousness!
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.
Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. A day foretold by prophets, a day for celebration, and day for weeping. It was a day that Jesus was concerned—not for Himself, but about us. In this study, we considered what Jesus was doing and what was happening one week before His resurrection and a few days before His crucifixion.
Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” —Mark 1:40
Leprosy made this man unclean—physically and spiritually unacceptable and unaccepted in society. Unclean was what he shouted to warn others of his condition. It’s no surprise that he desired more than physical healing—he wanted to be made clean. So he went to Jesus and fell at His feet—sick, forgotten, and forsaken—full of leprosy…and full of faith. Jesus knew all about this man—his struggle with the disease that alienated him from his community. This man knew about Jesus—how He was able to heal, yet he wondered whether or not Jesus was willing. Like this man, you may be frightened of the disgusting effects of the spiritual leprosy of sin in your life. You may be afraid of Jesus getting too close and finding out just how rotten you are. You may question if Jesus is really willing to make you clean. Oh, He is! He is not only able to heal you of the sickness of sin, He is willing to put His hand upon your your very soul and speak a word of power to cast out sin and it’s ugly hold over your life! And when the power of sin is broken, you are not only healed spiritually—you are clean—completely and eternally. Have you enjoyed this healing and cleansing from sin? Just ask Jesus! He is able and willing to cleanse you today!
Grace, authority, power. These are the qualities of Jesus we’ve observed so far in the Gospel of Mark. In Nazareth, people marveled at His gracious words. In Capernaum, people were astonished at how Jesus taught with authority. And He demonstrated His power when He healed Peter’s mother-in-law.
He is able to do everything with all power and authority. And He is also willing to do it with all grace. Not just for those in Nazareth and Capernaum. He is willing to heal YOU and cleanse YOU of the debilitating, disfiguring, and disgusting effects of sin. All He has to do is say the word and you will be clean. And yet, as we see in our study, He is willing to do so much more. Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to hear Jesus teach and preach? Have you ever imagined what it would have been like to be in the same small synagogue with Him or on the Judaean hillsides while He would teach and proclaim God’s word with authenticity, authority, and simplicity?
Loud or soft; fast or slow—while we don’t know the volume or the tempo with which Jesus spoke, we do know the content and the style. Thankfully, we have many of Jesus’ sermons recorded in the Gospels—and His message was clear. He would often teach about the kingdom. He would emphasize the need for a new start—a new birth—as the only way to enter into this kingdom. He would talk about holy living as the evidence that one had been born again and was a genuine citizen of this kingdom. And He would illustrate all of this in the simplest of ways using everyday life and everyday things like seeds and soil and farmers and flowers. Most importantly, His message was always rooted in Scripture—not in someone’s opinion or oral tradition. His sermons were full of direct quotations from the Old Testament. He really believed what He was saying—and said it with awe and childlike wonder concerning His Father. We would do well to follow in His footsteps. Remember—all believers are ambassadors are representatives of His kingdom. Like Jesus, you can proclaim God’s word with simplicity, rooted and grounded in the word, and saying it with awe and childlike wonder. He has given you a message—proclaim it!
Initially, the earthy ministry of Jesus was supposed to be primarily preaching and teaching God’s word. In Mark 1:21-39, the people of Capernaum hear Jesus speak as He begins His earthly ministry of teaching and preaching in their synagogue. This must have been a startling experience for those gathered in that small synagogue. Here is Jesus—the Living Word—teaching, preaching, and proclaiming the written word!
Often, miracles followed the message—and we see that in this section of scripture. But ultimately, Jesus reinforces His primary purpose of preaching, teaching, and proclaiming God’s Message. He made that message simple: the kingdom has come; you must be born again to enter in; and right living is the evidence of your citizenship in this kingdom. While we don’t know the volume or the tempo with which Jesus spoke, we do know the content and the style—He really believed what He was saying. Watch or listen to our study from this past Sunday and marvel at the simplicity with which Jesus taught and served. Imagine that Jesus walked into your place of employment and simply said, “Follow Me.” What would you do? Would you follow Jesus physically? Would you leave your job? Would you leave your family? Would you leave your city instantly after only hearing two words from Jesus?
This is the scene that we studied this past Sunday, and is seemed as though that’s exactly what happened to Andrew, Simon, James, and John. But when you put the puzzle pieces together from the other Gospel accounts, there was much more going on here that what we could see on the surface. Mark 1:16-20 was only one of the times that Jesus said, “Follow Me” to these men. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last time. Time after time, these men stutter-stepped and struggled in physically following Jesus—returning to their earthly identity again and again instead of walking fully in their kingdom calling. Is that something that you struggle with—setting aside your earthly identity in order to walk fully in your kingdom calling? You may not be following Jesus physically on the dusty trails of Galilee, but the experience is just as real and the stakes are just as high. Jesus is calling you. Jesus really does love you. Jesus really does want to be with you. And before you mutter all those reasons why your life doesn’t matter, Jesus is fully aware—and yet He still loves you and wants to be with you forever! Starting right now, you could simply say, “Jesus, I’m tired of the stutter-step. I’m tired of the struggle. Please forgive me. Please help me. Please save me. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I want to follow You. I want to be with You forever! Thank you for hearing my prayer and receiving me into your family. In Jesus name, Amen.”
“Follow Me.” Two simple words spoken by Jesus that proved to be difficult to obey for four fishermen. In Mark 1:16-20, we read of one of times Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last time Jesus called these men.
In fact, we considered at least four different times Jesus called these men to be His disciples. But why would Jesus have to say, "Follow Me," to them so many times? Why would they hesitate? It's a question we asked and considered our own hesitations to follow Jesus. And yet, despite their hesitations and our own, Jesus continues to call. Watch our listen to our study of Mark 1:16-20 and learn just how much Jesus wants to be with you. At His baptism, Jesus’ call to ministry came with the heavens parting, the Spirit descending on Him like a dove, and God’s voice from heaven declaring His favor.
And immediately after that glorious moment…the Sprit sends Jesus into the wilderness. Life is like that—even for the Son of God. There’s an initial romance in the call to ministry followed by a time of severe testing. While in the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus was tempted by Satan. The Gospel of Luke records three specific temptations (Luke 4:1-13), but there were most likely many more. This would have been a severe time of testing and suffering for Jesus—but it would prepare Him for the rest of His ministry. Although Jesus emerged from this time of testing and temptation unstained by sin, He was changed by the human experience. Jesus was made perfect though suffering (Hebrews 2:10) and is our compassionate High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). At His most vulnerable and physically weakest, Jesus felt what we feel. He could sympathize with our times of testing. He could understand the temptations we face. His time of testing produced an empathy and compassion for the people He was to serve in His earthly ministry. And God also leads us through seasons where our faith is tested. These trials refine and purify us so that God’s heart and character is ever more gloriously reflected in our lives. As You with Satan did contend And did the vict'ry win, O give us strength in You to fight, In You to conquer sin.
There is often an initial romance after God calls you and sends you. But after the romance of that initial calling, there is the reality of a time of testing. This testing may be so severe that it tempts you to question your calling and His love for you.
And yet, God is just as much in control in that time of testing as He was when He first called you. You don’t have to thrive during this time of testing—you just have to survive. Even for God’s own Son, His initial calling into earthly ministry was immediately followed by the reality of ministry (see Mark 1:11-12). All of it was preparing Jesus for a more fruitful, impactful and compassionate ministry. We considered this time of testing in Jesus’ ministry and how we can learn from it to prepare ourselves for times of testing in our own walk with the Lord during our study in the Gospel of Mark this past Sunday. John the Baptist had a very unique call on his life. In order to fulfill that call, he needed to live the very unique life of a Nazirite. From the time he was born, he was to abstain from the fruit of the vine, to never cut his hair, and to never come near a dead body. Sound extreme? It was. The vow of the Nazirite was to express one's special desire to draw close to God and to separate one's self from the comforts and pleasures of this world.
This was done in obedience to God. John’s life was in preparation to be the preparation for Jesus. And if he was going to be effective in that preparation—in preparing the way and preaching repentance—he would need to be pure. So more than any man had ever done before, John pursued purity and God in the desert, living on wild honey and locusts. Then one day, God told him it was time—the Messiah was here! John’s message was clear—are you ready? Is your heart ready? The King is coming! That message if for you today as well: Is your heart ready for the King who will come again? Are you holding on to sin? Repent and let it go. Prepare your heart to receive what Jesus has to give! On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry announces that the Lord is nigh. Awake and harken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of kings! Then cleansed be every life from sin: make straight the way for God within, and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ to come and enter there.
Centuries of significant prophecies are fulfilled in the first eleven verses of the Gospel of Mark. Two of the most influential men cross paths. Two influential ministries come to a crossroads. One man's ministry was ending. The other man's earthly ministry was just beginning. And to truly appreciate all that was happening in these few verses, we went back to the beginning—the the time when these two men were just babies in the womb.
Mark and Peter had failed, yet God called them and used their failure to form their future. He didn’t cause their failure or co-sign their failure, but He certainly used their failure for His glory—and our benefit!
He who has been forgiven much, loves much. Mark and Peter were increasingly aware of the forgiveness of Jesus—and so they increasingly learned to love Jesus with their lives. They learned to let their love for Jesus overrule and override their fear of man. And they grew in the grace of Jesus! Failure? Yes. Sinner? Yes. Called by Jesus? YES! AND equipped by Him along the way. Jesus is calling all failures and sinners, foolish and forgotten, into His service to tell the world the good news of His kingdom. He became one of us, served us and loved us. He promised to never leave us or forsake us—no matter what the world has to throw at us. Do you want to tell the world about Jesus? Do you want to be in the service of THE good news? God is calling you! We hail you as our Savior, Lord, our refuge and our great reward. Without your grace we waste away like flowers that wither and decay. Stretch forth your hand, our health restore, and make us rise to fall no more. O let your face upon us shine and fill the world with love divine.
The Gospel of Mark begins with one of the most subversive, controversial, influential, and important sentences written: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1)
It is difficult for us as 21st century Gentiles to fully grasp just how dangerous and revolutionary it would be to write these words. It's only when we consider the context of the culture that this was written that we can fully appreciate how subversive this sentence truly is. Life for the 1st century Christian was full of government overreach, persecution, and financial uncertainty. It was a time when the world needed hope—hope from a leader other than Caesar. Hope from a servant-leader who was not of this world. Hope from someone who had every right to be Ruler, but who chose to be a servant. He came. He led. He served. And He saved. His name is Jesus. Earthly kings expect to be waited on hand and foot. Overlords take all that they can for themselves. But Jesus is different. This King of kings didn’t come to be served, but to serve. This Lord of lords didn’t come to take, but to give.
Service and sacrifice—that is what we see of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus gives His life in service (chapters 1-10) and in sacrifice (chapters 11-16). Why? Because the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. God has a radical adventure before you—full of heartache and pain; difficulty and wonder; glory and fellowship—with Him as you desire to be His servant. So as we study the Gospel of Mark, we pray that He would transform us with His word and by the Spirit so that we may see every second of our lives as a ministry opportunity. But most importantly—that we would see opportunities to fellowship with Him in service and sacrifice. We thought You'd come with a crown of gold A string of pearls and a cashmere robe We thought You'd clinch an iron fist And rain like fire on the politics. But without a sword, no armored guard But common born in mother's arms The government now rests upon The shoulders of this Baby Son. –“Baby Son” by John Mark McMillan
The whole Gospel of Mark revolves around a singular verse: "For even the Son of Man did not come to serve, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45). This Gospel shows us how Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and to lay down His life to set people free.
As we study this book and look closely and carefully at Jesus, we will hopefully become more like Him. Not that we would die on a cross for anyone's sin, but that we would be willing to lay down our preferences and our pride so that others can be set free. This past Sunday, we wondered how we will be changed as we begin our study of the Gospel of Mark. Watch or listen to our study as we asked the Lord to transform us through His word. In the book of Acts, John (also called Mark) joined Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. As time went on, things got difficult and Mark left Barnabas and Paul for home. For their second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to bring Mark, but Paul objected. Mark went with Barnabas, but Paul and Barnabas never served together again.
It probably took a while for Mark to get over his failure. He needed more than encouragement—he needed to be strengthened by the grace of Jesus—and God had just the man in mind. Peter was familiar with failure—specifically the failure of running away in the face of fear. He was reminded of it every time the rooster crowed. Peter needed to know how to receive the grace of Jesus, how to live out the grace of Jesus, and how to be strengthened by the grace of Jesus. The grace of Jesus changed Peter. So much so that Peter was able to share it with Mark, who was struggling with his own failure. He told Mark all about the grace of Jesus and showed Mark what it looks like to live in light of this amazing grace. It’s a blessing to have to know people like Barnabas and Peter—fellow believers who encourage and teach you not only what it means to be strengthened by God’s amazing grace, but how to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and serve Jesus because of that grace. Thankfully, through the ministry of Barnabas and Peter, Mark learned this. He learned how the grace of Jesus not only sustains us, but also gives us the ability to serve others—even and especially when we don’t feel like it. It prompted him to pick up his pen and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, write a book about the amazing grace of Jesus—a book we call the Gospel according to Mark. |
From Pastor Dom...When I first gave my life to Jesus, there were friends in my life who helped me to grow in my understanding of God, through His word, and for those friends Archives
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Strengthened by grace is the Bible Teaching ministry of Pastor Dominic Dinger.©2022 - All rights reserved.
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