Introduction
Let's Pray...
Okay, we are starting a series in which we will take a verse by verse, passage by passage, walk through the Gospel from Mark. And I want to talk a little bit about why we are doing this series.
First off, the reason we like to preach through large chunks of Scriptures is because it forces us as the leadership of the church to address a wide variety of topics. Some of the stuff we cover will be easy for most of us to agree with and deal with. But, other topics that we cover will be controversial and they may even cause people to leave. It happened to Jesus, so we know it might happen to us too.
Likewise, going verse by verse through a book will also keep us from hitting a pet-topic just because I like to preach on that one area.
That’s all clear right, we’ve talked about this stuff before. Now the better question, the question you might be asking is, why the book of Mark? How did I choose this one? There are four gospels, four accounts of the Life of Jesus, so why are we tackling Mark instead of Luke, or John or Matthew?
There’re a couple of reasons. First, Mark is a fast paced Gospel. He hits a subject and moves on to the next subject in some easy to manage chunks. The chunks make for pretty good bookends so that I don’t try to cover too much in any given week, which I am prone to do. So, honestly, just practically speaking, it will be an easier book to prepare for each week.
Second, I want to show you that all of the Bible, every book, including this one is substantial in its treatment of theology and doctrine. Even though this particular gospel has been referred to as the “Cliff Notes” gospel. There is still a heavy weight to the book.
And listen theology is not a scary word. Tim Keller says that EVERY ONE of us is a theologian, meaning everybody has a way that they think about God, we just want to make sure that your thoughts about God – your theology – is in line with Scripture – in line with the Bible, where God has revealed Himself.
Truly everything you need to know about God and man, everything you need to know about sin and redemption, everything you need to know about how to Love one another in response to God’s love for you – all of that and more is in this Gospel.
In addressing the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote:
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV)
An old preacher named Dick Lucas points out that this book is solely and wholly about just that, about Christ and Him crucified.
The book of Mark, Lucas said, can be split into two halves, The Person of Jesus and the Work of Jesus on the Cross.
The book of Mark is about who Jesus was/is, and what He did.
In Chapters 1-8 we see layer upon layer unveiled about Jesus, we see Him as powerful, authoritative, the great teacher, the compassionate healer, the man who had no time for heartless, fancy-dressed religion. We see demons terrified of Him, we see crowds mesmerized by Him and we see religious leaders who despised Him.
That’s who He is, that’s what we are going to take several weeks to unpack.
And then at the end of Chapter eight, the Gospel shifts from the person of Christ to the Work of Christ on the Cross. In 8:29, Peter makes the confession of faith upon which our lives as Christians are built. Peter confesses that Jesus is not just another profit, but that Jesus is THE CHRIST, the one that all the prophets had spoken about and all the people of Israel had been waiting for.
And that confession ushered in the second main piece to the book of Mark, the work on the cross.
In 8:31, were told that Jesus
Several of the people that have mentored me in this early stage of my ministry have made it clear that the true gospel cannot be preached without the bloody cross and the empty tomb. And chapters 8-16 are going to take us to and through all of that.
Now listen, tonight is just introduction and we are not going long tonight, this may be the shortest message you ever hear from me. Tonight is designed to tell you about the book of Mark, why we picked it and all of that. And there are two main things that I want you to leave here with tonight. As you prepare your hearts for this series and as you talk to people that you are going to bring, I want to focus you in on what our main focus will be.
First is this, Last week we talked about the mission that we have been called to. We have been called to go and make disciples. We are called to go and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and here’s what I want to hit on tonight: We are called to go to all the nations (all the people groups) and teach the new disciples to obey all that Jesus commanded.
In short, we have ALL been called to follow Christ and teach others to follow Christ.
But the world has tried to put different faces on Christ, some want to make Him like some guru with wise words, but without any authority in our lives.
Some want to make him into a hippy, who loves love for love’s sake and just wants to be mellow and not cause waves.
Some want to make Him into the anti-conformist, submit to no one, rebel who hates the idea of authority.
Others want to make Him the fighter of their one pet cause with grace and mercy for them and their people, and justice and wrath only for their enemies.
Others, and I am sorry to say this was me for quite some time; we wanted Jesus to be our savior from the consequences of bad life decisions and to be the one to sign our get out of Hell free card. And, beyond that, we just wanted Him to hide away in a corner somewhere and leave us be.
But what we see here in the Book of Mark is Jesus as God on God’s terms, not ours. Jesus as God in the infinite dimensions of His understanding, not boxed in to be a god of our understanding.
In Mark 1:16-20 (ESV) we see that while:
“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”
I believe that Jesus is calling all of us in the same way. He isn’t bartering with us, we don’t get to have an agent who hammers out the best contract to where we’ll play on Jesus’ team for the right price.
No, Jesus says “I’m enough. You follow me and you get me.”
And if we don’t like the idea of making Jesus first. If we don’t want to make Him Lord of our life. Then He will mourn over us like He mourns over the city of Jerusalem. But, again, He is God on His terms. Not ours.
To make this point from Scripture turn again to Mark 8:31. We just talked about this earlier. We’re taking up again at the pivot point of the gospel of Mark, where we move from Who Jesus is to What He came to Earth to do. After Peter confessed that Jesus is THE CHRIST in verse 29, Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about that and then in verse 31.
Mark 8:31-36 (New International Version)
That’s what we talked about earlier, He said for this plan of salvation to work, there must be a bloody cross and an empty tomb. There must be a Good Friday and an Easter Sunday.
Now watch this. Peter does what we all do in one form or another, except he is recorded for eternity when he does this…
Peter tried to tell Jesus to knock off the death and dying talk because Peter expected — and the Jews of that time were waiting for — the Conquering King who would thrash the Romans and rule the world from then on out.
But Jesus came to destroy such a larger foe than a piddley little, world superpower. Jesus said, No I am here to defeat sin and death and save you – not from the Romans but from an eternity apart from God.
Listen God’s plan includes your little problems here, but His plan is so much bigger than just that and so much bigger than just me or you. The beauty of the Gospel is not that it is about us.
The Gospel is all about glorifying God and the Beauty of the Gospel is that we – you and I- get to be a part of it!
With that in mind, with the truth that Jesus is enough and that Jesus is Lord and that He calls all the shots He turned from just Peter and turned to all who could here. He turned to the disciples and the crowds nearby and He calls to us 2,0000 years later…
Brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Mark is the Good News about Jesus Christ. I want you to see Him for who He really is, not as a caricature that we have painted, but as the living breathing incarnate God of the Universe.
See Him as God, who is Holy and completely glorious, yet humble enough to stoop down to our level. He is the God of Judgment and the God of Grace. He is the God of truth and the God of compassion.
He will not conform to your will, but by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray that you will transform your heart and mind and life and mission to His will.
He is worth it, He is wonderful, He is Good and He came down to us to restore us and save us, Praise His name!
We’re almost done. Before we go I want to encourage you to start reading through this gospel. A real heavy hitter can make their way through in a day. I would encourage at least one chapter a day.
Just read it once for big picture understanding and then start digging deeper, reading slower, reading prayerfully, and meditating on the verses. Chew on the words of this gospel like a dog gnaws on a bone. Get all the nutrients for your soul that you can.
Email me with questions when you have them. We will start from verse 1 next week and move forward together.
I also want to encourage you to bring others to join us.
This book, the Gospel of Mark is known as the evangelistic gospel (as if the others are not) So bring a friend, preferably non-believers and we’ll minister to them with the word.
And also, encourage your friends from other churches to come out and join us in mission down here in this area. We are praying for a Children’s/Youth leader. I believe God will answer that call. But I also want to spur you and your friends on to good works in this area.
Bring them down and start breaking out on mission together in small groups. Find ways to use your gifting to love Walnut and East streets, Aulenbach and Spring. I’m not even asking you to don the badge of the Church in the Grass. Just Go and make disciples, go and love people, go and help people while speaking the Gospel to them. Start doing prayer walks and pray with me that Madison and Jefferson County might be the place that God brings another great awakening of faith.
As the gospel of Mark penetrates you, I pray that you and your brothers and sisters would get out of the locker room and into the field.
How do you learn what it is to be a disciple of Christ and how do you learn to disciple others in Christ, by doing it.
Let this series be a starting point for what God wants to do through you and your family and friends and this church to shine His light in the darkness here.
Communion…
Let’s pray…
