Recent Sermons

Mark 6:14-29N (NASB)

14 And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

17 For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; 20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he used to enjoy listening to him. 21 An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people of Galilee; 22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

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Mark 6:7-13 (NASB)

⁷ And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ⁸ and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff -no bread, no bag, no money in their belt – ⁹ but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. ¹¹ “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” ¹² They went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

Sermon Theme: Jesus takes ordinary people, gives them extraordinary gifts, and sends them on the out-of-the-ordinary mission of spreading the Gospel to the lost.

Outline: Four principles of Evangelism to encourage you to keep faithful and obedient to our Lord’s Great Commission.

Principle #1: Know that you are summoned and sent by the Lord to witness for Him (6:7a-b)

Principle #2: Understand that your are supernaturally equipped by the Lord to witness for Him (6:7c, 13)

Principle #3: Remember that you are to be spiritually dependent and discerning unto the Lord in witnessing for Him (6:8-11)

Principle #4: Acknowledge that you are called to simply obey and trust the Lord, witnessing for Him (6:12 [-13; 30-32])

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Mark 6:1-6  (NASB)

1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. ² And when the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages, teaching.

Big Idea: The unbelief of Jesus’ hometown people who were most familiar with Him can serve as a heart-check for us who are in the church today, and especially for those who don’t truly know Him.

Outline: 3 Warnings about the nature of unbelief for you to consider in your relationship with Jesus.

1. Amazement towards Jesus can be negative (6:1-2)

2. Familiarity with Jesus can breed contempt (6:3-4)

3. Unbelief in Jesus can bring no relief (6:5-6)

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Mark 5:21-43 (NASB)

21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He stayed by the seashore. 22 And one of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came, and upon seeing Him, fell at His feet 23 and pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be cured of your disease.”

35 While He was still speaking, people came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the synagogue official, and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And after entering, He said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was in bed. 41 And taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished. 43 And He gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and He told them to have something given her to eat.

Big Idea: Jesus continues to demonstrate that He is Lord, even over disease and death, and that His compassion extends to all who are suffering.

“Hope for the Hopeless”
Appeal of Jairus, the Synagogue Official (5:21-24)

Miracle for the Unnamed Bleeding Woman (5:25-34)

Miracle of Resurrecting Jairus’ Daughter (5:35-43)

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Mark 5:21-43 (NASB)

²¹ When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. ²² One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet ²³ and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” ²⁴ And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. ²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse – ²⁷ after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. ²⁸ For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” ²⁹ Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. ³⁰ Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” ³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. ³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” ³⁵ While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” ³⁶ But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” ³⁷ And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. ³⁹ And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” ⁴⁰ They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. ⁴³ And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Big Idea: Jesus continues to demonstrate that He is Lord, even over disease and death, and that His compassion extends to all who are suffering.

“Hope for the Hopeless”

• Appeal of Jairus, the Synagogue Official (5:21-24)
• Miracle for the Unnamed Bleeding Woman (5:25-34)
• Miracle of Resurrecting Jairus’ Daughter (5:35-43) – (Will be covered next week)

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Mark 5:1-20 (NASB)

¹ They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹² The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴ Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion “; and they became frightened. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to implore Him to leave their region. ¹⁸ As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. ¹⁹ And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Big Idea: Seeing Jesus’ authority over supernatural powers should compel people to fear Him, follow Him, and spread His fame.

Scenes from “Frightening Encounters Across the Sea”:

Scene 1) The Demon-Possessed Man (5:1-5)

Scene 2) The Demon Called “Legion” (5:6-10)

Scene 3) The Herd of Swine (5:11-13)

Scene 4) The Swine Herdsmen (5:14-17)

Scene 5) The Lord of them All (5:18-20)

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Mark 4:35-41 (NASB)

³⁵ On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷ And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸ Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Sermon Theme/Outline: Jesus the God-Man has complete control over all nature and perils, and is therefore worthy of our total trust through all of life’s trials.

1) Entering the Storm (4:35-36)

2) Experiencing the Storm (4:37-38)

3) Easing the Storm (4:39-40)

4) Uneasiness after the Storm (4:41)

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Mark 4:26-34 (NASB)

Parable of the Seed
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 Now when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And He was saying, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”

33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Big Idea: God is in charge of the growth and breadth of His Kingdom, and He uses faithful believers to bring the lost into it.

Outline: Two descriptions of the Kingdom of God which help us grasp its mystery and its magnitude, and also encourage us to faithfully spread the Gospel.

Description #1 (Parable of the Seed): God’s sovereign power over the KOG’s growth

Description #2 (Parable of the Mustard Seed): God’s sovereign plan through humble means for the KOG’s breadth

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Guest Speaker : Mark Borsuk

Introduction

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.  1 Corinthians 7:10

Genuine repentance trusts in the character of God.  (V.1-2; 7-10)

 a. God’s Grace – “Be Gracious” – A plea for underserved favor from God

b. Steadfast Love – speaks not so much of God’s mercy, but of his loyalty to His covenant.

Psalm 25:7; Psalm 130:7; Ps 136; Psalm 138:2 Isaiah 54:10

It is at the cross where we see God’s lovingkindness, His steadfast love, His New Covenant promise that Christ’s perfect life has been imputed (applied) to us. This is the gospel, but it is the gospel that we need to remember and apply every day of our lives. (cf. 2Cor 5:17-21)

1. Compassion –A deep awareness and sympathy for our need.
2. Forgiveness – God can do what no human priest can
3. Blot Out 2) Wash 3) Cleanse

Isaiah 44:21-23 “Shout for joy…for the LORD has done it!”

I. Genuine repentance does not minimize sin.

a. Transgression (vv. 1,3) rebellion, revolt
Those who reject God’s authority and therefore cause a breach of relationship.

b. Iniquity (vv. 2, 5, 9) – crooked, twisted, or perverse behavior.

c. Sin (vv. 2, 4, 9) – miss the mark or fall short.

d. Evil (v. 4) – As Defined by God.

e. Blood guiltiness (v. 14) – shedding of innocent blood often through violence.

II. Genuine repentance expresses the  justification of God. (v. 4)

David does not vindicate himself, he vindicates God.

III. Genuine repentance renews Joy in salvation (vv. 8, 12, 14)

Guilt keeps us in a pattern of joylessness (cf. Ps 32:3-4)

David’s joy was not lost because he sinned, David sinned because he had already lost his joy in God.
“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.” Jonathan Edwards

IV. Genuine repentance leads to a focus on evangelism. (v. 13)

People are not looking for perfect lives, they are looking for how God has met us through Christ in our sin, in our brokenness, in the same struggles of daily life that they are experiencing.

Genuine repentance produces genuine worship from a broken humble heart (vv. 15-17)

… as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.    2 Corinthians 6:10

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Mark 4:21-25 (NASB)

21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Sermon Theme/Outline: Our Lord illustrates the blessed responsibility and privilege believers have in receiving the light of God’s Word.

1) The Purpose of having the Light (4:21-22)

2) The Preciousness of the Light (4:23-24a)

3) The Promise to those with the Light (4:24b-25)

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