TAMING THE TERRORISTS (MARK 5:1-20)

Jesus had just calmed a violent storm at sea, now He meets a man with an equally violent storm inside of him.

THE MAN WITH AN INNER STORM (V.1-5)

The Man Confronted Jesus (v.2). As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, he was ‘met’ immediately by a man with an unclean spirit! The word for ‘met’ has a military connotation, of being opposed with hostility. This will make more sense in a moment when we look at the unclean spirit.

PARABLES OF FAITH (MARK 4:26-41)

These parables should remind us of the Parable of the Sower. The sower sows to the edges of his field, some seed fell upon the path and was snatched up by Satan. Some seed fell upon rocky soil, sprouted quickly with joy, but had shallow roots that could not withstand persecution. Some soil fell among the thorns, and the cares of this world (i.e. pursuit of wealth) chocked the seedlings to death. But some seed fell into good soil, and it yielded thirtyfold, sixty fold, and even hundredfold!

But before we read these parables from Mark, I want to read one of my ‘life verses’ from Hebrews,

“Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (11:6).

The reason this is a life/ministry verse is because it reveals the one thing that pleases God, the one thing that He is always working on in our lives—FAITH! I know that whatever season I am in, whatever trial I face, whatever temptation is before me—God is always working on and desires one thing from me—precious faith!

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE GOSPEL? PARABLES OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (MARK 4:21-25)

Jesus uses two brief parables to illustrate our personal responsibility to receive and act on the word of God that is spoken to them. These two images carry powerful illustrations on how we should initially receive the truth of God’s word and how we should continue in the word once we have heard it.

WHAT DOES THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER TELL US ABOUT OUR HEARTS? (MARK 4:1-20)

Why do some people some people love the word of God and others ignore it? Is it only a matter of belief or unbelief? Actually, it has more to do with the heart than you might think!

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.  And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:  “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.  Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.  And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.  Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.  And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”  And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

WAS BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST PART OF THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL?

There have been skeptics who have said that belief in the resurrection of Christ from the dead is a later development--that it has no part to play in the original Gospel. Is that true? Can scripture attest that the resurrection is an essential part of the Original Gospel? Yes, it can. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Paul encourages the church to not wander away from their belief in resurrection Christ, and if we look closely, we will see that he actually quotes the earliest known creed of the church in his encouragement. 

THE EMPTY TOMB (JOHN 20:1-9)

Have you ever had your dreams crushed? Imagine being the people who followed Jesus in the days after his brutal death on the cross. They believed he was the Son of God, they believed he was the Messiah, but now he was dead.

THE STRONG MAN IS BOUND! (MARK 3:20-35)

Who is the strongest person you know?

Some of my fondest memories are from when my children were little. But I used to get so jealous when my first child, Jasmyn, would run to my wife every time she was hurt! That is until one day, when a handy man was working on the house. As soon as he fired up his electric saw, and it buzzed loudly throughout the house, my daughter jumped out of her mother’s arms and ran toward me for protection! I was the strongest person she knew!

However, these days have been slowly fading as my son has been growing taller than me. Up until recently, I was okay with it, because I could still take him, but now he’s getting strong!

Today, my message is titled, ‘The Strongman is Bound!”

WHY DOES JESUS CALL DISCIPLES TO HIMSELF (MARK 3:13-18)

Do you think there is a difference between being a believer and being a disciple of Christ?

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[a] 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted—The image of the ‘mountain’ would have brought Moses to mind for Mark’s Jewish readers. It was on the mountain that God called, revealed Himself, and gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. 

WHY IS JESUS 'LORD OF THE SABBATH?" (MARK 2:23-3:6)

A friend of mine used to wear a t-shirt to our Sunday night group that said in big bold letters, “Sunday Fun-day!” Do you enjoy Sunday? Being in the house of the Lord? Being with fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord? Why?

In the Gospel of Mark, we see an interesting account of tension between the Pharisees and Jesus. In this passage the Pharisees question Jesus about how his disciples should or should not do on Sabbath.

WHO DOES JESUS CALL TO FOLLOW HIM? (MARK 2:13-17)

What are the qualifications to come to Christ?

In this passage we see that Jesus is making the rounds of his ministry by the sea again—and his popularity as a miracle worker and rabbi is taking off. Again, we see that Mark focus’ upon what Jesus did as a teacher, rather than what Jesus taught as a teacher

Q What do you think is more important? What we say—or what we do? Can we truly be Christians and have different values for living than Jesus does? What about ministry?