• Jesus, Call Me Too!
    Feb 18 2025

    Levi was sitting in his tax booth making sure people payed their taxes as Jesus traveled around teaching and healing. Levi could not leave that tax booth unless he was called to leave it. “Jesus, call me too!” It is all about the Caller – the one we are called to follow. And it is all about Matthew and you and me. It is not so much about who and what we were or even who we are. It is about who Jesus is calling us to become. “Jesus, call me too!” Call me to become the person you created me to be. The person who will live his life with you and spend eternity in your home.

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    38 mins
  • Walking in Forgiveness
    Feb 11 2025

    One of the great stories of healing is the paralyzed man who is brought to Jesus by his friends through the roof. But what Jesus to that man, he says to all of us. "Your sins are forgiven, take up your bed and walk." This isn't just about a paralyzed man, though of course it is about that, this is about the heart of the good news for all of us. Guilt paralyzes, forgiveness makes us walk and makes us run. But forgiveness is so unbelievably hard. Which is why truly who can forgive sins but God alone.

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    37 mins
  • Going In, Moving Out
    Feb 4 2025

    Mark is laying a lot of foundation stones here in chapter 1: Jesus as the long-awaited one, greater than the new Elijah; Jesus as the one blessed by the father and led by the Spirit; the call of Jesus to leave all and follow him; and now the primacy of life lived in devotion to God and what comes out of that. Here, at the end of chapter 1, we have two short stories, both beginning with prayer and leading to the proclamation of what God is doing in Christ.

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    42 mins
  • Authoritative Teaching, Authoritative Action
    Jan 28 2025

    Jesus is a great moral teacher. He was received as such right from the beginning of his ministry and he has been ever since. And yet, while that is true, it is woefully not enough. Mark tells us a couple times how people were astonished at Jesus teaching but in-between those he heals a man with an unclean spirit. He isn't just a great teacher, he is the one who has power over Satan, sin and death. So what do we do with Jesus? is he a liar, a lunatic, a legend or the Lord of all?

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    38 mins
  • The Call of the Lord
    Jan 21 2025

    Following Jesus demands a radical commitment that transforms every aspect of life. The first disciples demonstrated this by immediately leaving their fishing businesses and family obligations when Jesus called them. While this level of devotion might seem extreme, it reflects the profound value of following Christ. True discipleship requires putting Jesus above all other relationships and possessions, yet paradoxically, those who surrender everything often receive back more than they gave up.

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    41 mins
  • The Baptism of Our Lord
    Jan 14 2025

    Mark's gospel is fast. He jumps right into what is central to the good news, the gospel, of Jesus. John the Baptist comes, and he is great, but his whole message is one of preparation for the greater one who would come after, Jesus. And everything John says has to do with this comparison of just how great Jesus is. We also see this through the writer of the gospel, Mark, and the apostle who was behind Mark's writing, Peter. Then we quickly move to Jesus' baptism by John and we see here the other central idea of the gospel, that this great one who has come humbles himself to associate and own the sins of humanity. Here is good news!

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    42 mins
  • Jesus, the One Who Brings Us Home
    Jan 7 2025

    There are many overarching themes in the Bible, but one of the great themes is God's commitment to bring us home to himself, to live as we are made to live with creation, with others and with him. Sin moves humanity out East and continues to do so up until the Exile, but in Christ God brings us home to himself.

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    31 mins
  • Jesus As The Son of David
    Dec 31 2024

    "Jesus as the Son of David" explores why the New Testament writers were so insistent that Jesus was David's Son. It focuses on the Biblical Theology of God fulfilling his promise to David in Christ. It also pays attention to David's character, as well as the felt experience of David's kingship being empty before Jesus's time.

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    34 mins