Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer

Are you tired? We are plagued by a cancerous restlessness of our condition and our culture, made worse by our digital technology. Through sabbath, the way of Jesus instead offers rest and peace. In this episode, John Mark teaches on the need for sabbath in our lives and its potential to radically change our walk with God. Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 11v28-30; Hebrews 4v1-11 Resources for this...

"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer We live in a culture that focuses on self-gratification, but Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. In this episode, John Mark talks about how denying the self and our disordered desires leads to our deepest joy, peace, and happiness. Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 16v21-27; Galatians...

How do we resist being shaped by modern culture? The "world," as the New Testament writers called it, shapes how we think and live. John Mark discusses how we can discover how we being shaped by culture. By learning how to reconnect with God's definitions of good and evil in those ways, we find how to be "in the world but not of it."  Key Scripture Passages: John 15v18-21; John...

You don't just reap what you sow: you become what you sow. Continuing his exploration of Galatians, John Mark teaches that our decisions to walk by the Spirit or by the flesh have a compounding effect that shapes our character and our destiny. He finishes by encouraging us to embrace the way of Jesus as practice walking by the spirit. Key Scripture Passages: Galatians 6v1-9; James 1v4 Resource...

Doesn't freedom mean that I can do what I want? Not according to Jesus. John Mark contrasts our modern culture's definition of freedom with how Jesus and the other biblical authors thought about freedom. He then breaks down Galatians 5 and shows us how the practices of Jesus help us to walk by the Spirit towards true fulfillment in God and not be mastered by the flesh.  Key Scripture Passa...

How do we identify the lies that we are believing about God and ourselves? John Mark talks on the destruction that deception and believing lies can cause in our lives with a teaching on the Fall. Then he shows us how to identify and overcome those lies: by living with spirit and truth and refining our desires with the practices of Jesus.  Key Scripture Passages: John 8v44-45; Genesis 3v1-15; Luke...

What is the truth? The modern, secular world laughs off the idea of the devil as a relic from the pre-scientific age. But for Jesus, there is an invisible but intelligent evil at work in the world, but his primary strategy isn’t what most of us expect. It’s lies. Fighting the devil is first and foremost about the war to believe truth over lies. Key Scripture Passages: John 8v31-47; John 18v36-38 R...

The practice of communion has changed throughout church history. In part two of this teaching, John Mark continues to discuss the the many names for this practice and its use over the centuries. He leaves us with a challenge to press into community even when it's mundane and messy. Key Scripture Passages: 1 Corinthians 11v20-34 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/...

What is communion, really? The practice of eating with God, or the Lord's Supper, shows up throughout the New Testament. In part one of this teaching, John Mark breaks down the many names for this practice and its use in the Scriptures and throughout church history to give us a better understanding of the essence of this practice. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 22v7-30; Acts 2v42; Acts 20v7; 1 C...

In a culture that focuses on the negatives, how do we stand apart and live with joy? In part two of this teaching, John Mark talks about how to practice joy in our day-to-day lives and how the practice of eating and drinking together is one of the best ways to go about living a happy life. Key Scripture Passages: Philippians 4v4-9 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/p...

Can Jesus show us how to be happy? In part one of this teaching, John Mark teaches about God's joyful nature and how that reality can give us wisdom to improve our everyday emotional health. Key Scripture Passages: Hebrews 1v9; Psalm 45v7; John 2v1-11; John 15v11; John 16v24; John 17v13 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating- drinking

What does hospitality in the church have to do with architecture? John Mark explores the story of this practice in Church history: throughout the New Testament, we see followers of Jesus gathering in homes around a table and a meal. But as the church changed, so did their meeting place, which impacted the practice of eating and drinking in fellowship. John Mark encourages us to recapture this prac...

What if, when Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, he meant your actual neighbor? John Mark teaches on Jesus's command to love our neighbors as ourselves and the parable of the Good Samaritan. Then he explains the history of hospitality and finishes by walking through exercises to help us begin our journey with this practice. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 10v25-37 Resources for this pract...

How can we practically love others and reach the lost in a post-Christian culture? In this teaching, John Mark looks at Jesus's habit of eating and drinking with the societal outcasts of his culture through the Gospel of Luke. Then he explores the biblical commands to practice hospitality in the New Testament letters. Finally, John Mark gives practical and spiritual guidance for how we can app...

"The question isn't, 'How do you get through life without being hurt?' Not gonna happen. The question is, 'When you are hurt, how do you deal with it?'" When we forgive, we first need to release the person who hurt us. But our journey doesn’t end there. We also need to learn to forgive ourselves, the unfairness of life, and finally, learn to release the feelings of ange...

Do you ever feel stuck in prayer? As if there is a wall between you and heaven? In this teaching, John Mark shows us different ways that fasting can be used in combination with prayer. Using examples from the Scriptures, he shows us five different ways that people fast and pray: to repent, to grieve, to cry out to God in a crisis, to ask God to relent, and to know God's mind when making decisi...

Why should you fast? In modern society, fasting as a spiritual practice is almost unheard of, even among Christians. So why does Jesus assume that his followers will fast? (Matthew 6:16-18; 9:15-16). In this teaching, John Mark discusses the what and the why behind fasting. First, he shows that fasting helps us break free from "slavery" to food, feeds our flesh and starves the spirit, and...

Our God-given dreams are how God leads us and guides us into our identity and calling, to be who God made us, and to do what God made us to do. But dreams can be difficult to live with because there is always a gap between the dream and its fulfillment. In this teaching, John Mark lays out a theology of biblical dreams by exploring the story of Joseph. Through it, John Mark shows that God's fu...

We are all being formed into someone. For us, as apprentices of Jesus, how do we become more like Him? In this teaching, John Mark tells us that our apprenticeship to Jesus needs to be stronger than the stories we believe, our habits, our relationships, and our environment. Then he lays out how teaching, practice, community, and the Holy Spirit can help us counter these influences. John Mark close...

We are all being shaped. The question is, what is shaping you? This week, John Mark challenges us with this question as he unpacks how our beliefs, habits, relationships, and experiences all shape the person that we are. Rather than passively let these influences shape us, we are called, as apprentices of Jesus, to be intentional with our beliefs, habits, relationships, and experiences as we seek...

In the journey to discover your identity and calling, a transformation from who you are now to who you are becoming in Christ needs to take place. During that "inward journey," you have to come face-to-face with your sin. In this teaching, John Mark gives insight into how to navigate this journey. First, he walks us through the "layers of sin" and shows us how to address our sins a...

Who am I? Somewhere in our hearts, we all are seeking the answer to this question, trying to find security and worth. In this teaching, John Mark teaches us about who the Bible says we are. Jesus found his identity from Heaven, but we often find our identities from earthly things: in what we do, what we have, what we want, or even what others think about us. But the Bible says that not only is our...

Discovering our identity and calling is one of the key tasks of apprenticeship to Jesus because what we believe about our identity and calling has ramifications for who we become and what we do with our lives. And while the journey of discovery can be scary and difficult, the Scriptures and millennia of Christian tradition show us that it is essential. In this teaching, John Mark lays out the bibl...

We are all called to spend our lives abiding (John 15:4). Paul called it "praying without ceasing;" Brother Lawrence called it “practicing the presence of God." Jesus claimed that there is a strong connection between abiding and joy. In this teaching, John Mark gives us key insights to practicing this joy-filled lifestyle. First, John Mark challenges us to slow down, open our lives to...

What do you do when your prayers are not answered? In Jesus' teaching to His disciples in John 14-17, He tells them three times that whatever they ask for in His name will be done. So how do we make sense of Jesus’ promise to answer prayer with the reality that we all have unanswered prayers? In this teaching, John Mark goes through the various types and reasons for unanswered prayer in the Bi...