Sermon - Lander Free Church

In Mark's penultimate scene we see Jesus, either through the eyes of those who mock and revile, or through the eyes of a Centurion who believes, despite, or because of, this humiliating death. Read Mark 15:21-41 and see you Sunday.

From the Jewish trial we turn now to the Roman trial, pondering the importance of seeing our Savior suffering for the sins of the world. Read Mark 15:1-20 and thanks for listening! 

In one last and perhaps best Markan sandwich this week we look at the dueling trials of Jesus and Peter, contrasting faithfulness and faithlessness. Read Mark 14:53-72 and thanks for listening!

This week we get one of the darkest moments of the Gospels as Jesus prays in the Garden and helps us understand how he entered into our suffering and we can be joined to him through his suffering. Read Mark 14:32-52 and thanks for listening! 

Mark's Gospel account approaches the end as Jesus' betrayal looms and we see several different preparations for his death. Read Mark 14:1-31 and thanks for listening! 

We return to Mark and one of the more debated passages as Jesus answers a question about the Temple, but seems to say much more. Read Mark 13 and thanks for listening!

Who Are You Putting Your Trust In Today?  All of us are trusting someone or something with the details of our everyday lives. Psalm 111 reminds us of why and how we can overcome the enemy of trust (our unbelief), and replace unbelief with faith leading to God's peace.

Jesus answers a final question before asking his own, while we are yet again reminded that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Read Mark 12:28-44 and thanks for listening!

We pump the breaks as we look at the second challenge to Jesus' authority, this time from the Sadducees, a challenge that speaks to the central importance of the resurrection and its grounding in the Old Testament. Read Mark 12:18-27 and thanks for listening. 

Mark concludes the second half of his sandwich with some teaching on prayer that at first seems disconnected, and then concludes this section with a transitional discussion of Jesus' authority. Read Mark 11:20-33 and see you Sunday.

Coming to Jerusalem, Jesus famously enters but with a certain anticlimax. Then we take part of a Markan sandwich and see if that helps make sense of cleansing temples and cursing fig trees. Read Mark 11:1-19 and thanks for listening! 

Jesus makes his third Passion prediction as Act 2 comes to a close and we approach Jerusalem, while the disciples yet again stumble in response. Read mark 10:32-52 and thanks for listening! 

Jesus' teaching turns from one particular situation of following him to another as we read about the rich young ruler and the hope we have both in this life and the next. Read Mark 10:17-31 and thanks for listening. 

Jesus turns to the topic of marriage, but these verses become much clearer in the context of chapter 9 and a historical debate. Read Mark 10:1-16 and thanks for listening! 

We return to Mark and Jesus journey to Jerusalem as well as a familiar theme of the disciples failure to understand what it means to follow Jesus. Read Mark 9:30-50 and thanks for listening! 

As Jesus reveals more about who He is to His disciples they struggle to understand Jesus' redemptive plan and fail in their ministry without Him.  Read Mark 9:2-29 and thanks for listening! 

The questions of who Jesus is and what that means for his followers become explicitly clear as Peter confesses Jesus is the Christ but fails to understand what that means. Read Mark 8:27-9:1 and thanks for listening! 

In a moment of déjà vu, Jesus miraculously feeds more people, while his disciples still don't understand, begging the question why Mark, in the shortest gospel account, records both of these events. Read Mark 8:1-26 and Thanks for listening!

After speaking of unclean foods, we now meet unclean people, and Jesus shocks us by both his words and deeds. Read Mark 7:24-37 and see you Sunday.

Mark turns us back to the teaching of Jesus, warning us of legalism, reminding us of what truly matters, what defiles, and the salvation that we truly need. Read Mark 7:1-23 and see thanks for listening! 

Mark illustrates the greatness and identity of Jesus through two miracles that clearly echo the Old Testament. Read Mark 6:30-56 and thanks for listening!

Having finished four parables and four miracles, Jesus commissions the twelve and we discover the fate of John the Baptizer, two events that have more to do with each other than meets the eye. Read Mark 6:1-29 and thanks for listening!

We conclude the four miracle stories about death and danger with our next Markan sandwich, with one story interrupting the other and each helping us understand each. Read Mark 5:21-43 and thanks for listening! 

In the second miraculous story in this set of four, Jesus shows his great spiritual authority to a mixed response, and gives a strange answer to several questions. Read Mark 5:1-20 and thanks for listening!

Jesus continues teaching in parables, now with a whole series of short ones, concluding with a monumentally important question which leaves us wondering how well the disciples were listening. Read Mark 4:21-41 and thanks for listening!