Sermons on Mark
A Non-Anxious Presence
This message isn’t going to be an exegesis of the text above, but rather a consideration of different texts that focus on the need for what people in recent years have been calling a “non-anxious presence.” It’s a state of mind that gives people a spirit of calm and confidence even in the midst of the chaos around them. Sort of like someone who can sleep in a boat in the middle of a raging storm. It wouldn’t have been…
King Jesus
Throughout the month of December, I’m focusing on the Person of Jesus. To some extent we always do that, of course, but each week this month I’m focusing more intentionally on some aspect of his character or role. Mark wastes no time, as is his habit. Matthew starts with a genealogy, Luke includes a lengthy birth narrative, and John goes all the way back to creation. In contrast, Mark just immediately starts in on Jesus. It’s almost like he’s thinking,…
Jesus and Legion
Mark is a notoriously pithy writer who gets straight to the point and doesn’t mince words. And yet he devotes twenty verses to this interesting encounter between Jesus and a violent, demon-possessed man that ends up with pigs diving into the sea. That makes us think that Mark thinks there’s something important for us to see here. And there is. It’s a story about demon possession, of course, but it’s more than that. It serves as an illustration of how evil…
Rest
A few weeks ago we started a short series on what it looks like to follow Jesus in the midst of busy lives, lives where we feel pressured by so many expectations and distractions. What does following Jesus look like day-to-day? How do we do what life demands while also finding time to cultivate a real-life relationship with Jesus? The answer is in actually following Jesus, not just in the abstract I’m-a-Christian-because-I’ve-been-baptized sense, but actually walking in his footsteps, doing what…
Who Do You Say that He is?
Mark begins his gospel by making it clear who the subject of his narrative is: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). Near the end he includes this confession–from the mouth of a calloused, pagan centurion: “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (15:39). And in all the chapters in between, he’s concerned about…
Daily Practices for Anxious Times: Serve
As I’ve previously mentioned, in December I’ve deviated from the One Word devotional reading topics and have done something different. 2020 has been a hard year for many people, including many in our congregation. Anxiety levels for some people are higher than ever. Professional counselors are suggesting that they’re receiving a record number of requests from people who are seeking help for various problems. For December I’m preaching a short series called, “Daily Practices for Anxious Times.” I sense there’s a need for us to revisit…
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