The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration

Over the past few weeks we have seen a transition in Jesus’s ministry. We have studied the first two years of His life and actions alongside His followers, and now we are seeing Him focus His attention more specifically to His 12 disciples in order to prepare and equip them in their knowledge of Him as the Messiah. In front of the gates of Hell, Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, but then attempted to argue with Jesus as Jesus presented to them the fact that He would be killed in Jerusalem. Jesus took that as an opportunity to emphasize the value of losing one’s life for His sake- to deny oneself and follow Him- in order to find true life in the coming eternal Kingdom.

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The Messianic Declaration

The Messianic Declaration

This morning, as we continue our chronological walk through the life of Christ, we enter into a new season of His ministry. It appears that Jesus’s Galilean ministry has for the most part, ended. The focus of His great works and proclamation of His Kingdom to the people of that region and the surrounding regions is shifting as Jesus starts to focus more on discipling His disciples- pouring into them, equipping and training them as His representatives.

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The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper

It’s a joy to be a part of a church family that celebrates Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection not only on Easter Sunday, but really every Sunday as we gather together proclaiming Jesus through word and song. But Easter Sunday feels particularly special, it’s kind of like the Super Bowl- the one football game that carries more joy, intensity, and excitement than the other games. I pray that you might just experience a little Super Bowl Sunday excitement today as we celebrate our Lord Jesus through the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

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The Faith of the Syrophoenician Woman

The Faith of the Syrophoenician Woman

There’s been a couple times over the past several weeks where we have seen that Jesus and the disciples needed to catch up on some rest. They first attempted to get some rest by crossing the Galilee over to a remote area, and that’s when the storm came and Jesus calmed it.  Then they landed the boat and were immediately greeted by the demon possessed man, but were soon asked to leave by the people of that region.

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Pharisaical Cleansing

Pharisaical Cleansing

Last week we looked at Jesus’s odd statement that you must eat of Him and drink of His blood in order to have eternal life. Taken literally- physically- this was a really morbid and gross thing to say, a statement that many took offense to and thus followed Him no longer. However, Jesus’s closest 12 disciples didn’t leave Him; they knew in their hearts that Jesus had the words of eternal life.

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The Bread of Life

The Bread of Life

In answer to the people’s question of “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”, Jesus answered “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:28-29) Last week I presented that this indeed can take some work to achieve- not necessarily work to believe in Jesus’s existence or miracles, but work as in a daily surrender to King Jesus, believing in His sufficiency and authority in every moment of every day.

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Instructions for the Disciples

Instructions for the Disciples

In the passage we looked at last week, we saw that the disciples, perhaps to their surprise, were being sent out by Jesus to the towns and villages surrounding Nazareth. This was a big step for them, they had never done anything like this before.  I imagine as they geared up their minds for this adventure, it would have been easy for them to be slightly anxious. 

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From Fear to Faith

From Fear to Faith

We ended last week in Mark 5, finishing up a series of passages that addressed the issue of fear in our lives. Through these passages, it appears that Jesus wants us to transform our fear into faith in Him.  Faith that His authority and power is supreme over anything in this world- after all He has the power to command the forces of nature and the forces of the spiritual world.  Jesus desires for us to have faith that He cares for us, faith that He doesn’t want to shame us, faith that He is bringing about healing and restoration, faith that the life He will raise us up into is going to be so much greater than anything we experience here on earth.  And in the next couple of encounters, Jesus shows us a little more about faith and belief, and even the lack of faith and belief. And I believe that the ramifications are huge for us concerning how we personally and corporately as a body of believers, apply the truth contained in God’s word to us this morning.

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Fear of Shame, Disease, and Death

Fear of Shame, Disease, and Death

Over the past two Sundays, we’ve looked at how Jesus addressed the issue of fear. The disciples feared the storm- and Jesus conquered it.  As a result, they feared Him instead, in a healthy way- realizing that He was so much more than what they had assumed Him to be.  The Gerasenes people- they feared a powerful man that was being controlled by demons. Jesus conquered the demons, and as a result, the Gerasenes people feared Him, but not in a healthy way- they feared Him as in they were scared of Jesus’s power- scared of what else they might lose other than pigs if they were to allow Him to stay and continue His work.

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Fear of Spirits

Fear of Spirits

I really enjoyed last week looking at Jesus calming the storm, I feel like God’s message to us in the passage we looked at is so powerful. If you missed being with us last week I highly encourage you to get online and listen to last week’s message, either through our website or Facebook page. On those websites you now also have the option of reading the message transcript, or printing it to read later; so please use that as a resource to stay connected and encouraged as we continue our walk through the life of Jesus. 

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