Calvary Baltimore Weekly Sermons

So many people from all walks of life are coming to Jesus, including Gentiles, that he retreats to the water to escape the dangerous crowd. The Pharisees don't know who Jesus is, but the demons do. Jesus calls the twelve apostles ("sent ones" or "messengers"), a select group of leaders chosen by Jesus, who met with him personally, and had authority over the local churches of the early church. They...

The apostles didn't choose Jesus; he chose them! Not for their skill, righteousness, wisdom or faith. We love him because he first loved us, because he is good! Jesus is calling us so we can be with him, have authority to preach, and cast out demons (resist Satan). The Christian life, to sum up: Draw near to the Lord, stay in him, be sent out, and oppose what comes against him!

Jesus doesn't excuse sin, but emphasizes there are weightier issues in the law. Lying is bad, but murder is worse, and choosing to lie to protect someone from being killed is the better choice. The Pharisees missed the spirit of the law on favor of the letter of the law. Exodus 4:5ff... one of God's signs of his presence to the people is his healing of Moses' hand. The people believed, but Pharaoh...

The Pharisees were turning the law into a heavy yoke; they fell into the trap of letting tradition replace God's Word. Jesus expressed the spirit of the law. He heals a man on the Sabbath, and they plot to kill him. On judgment day, don't weep for the prostitute, weep for the self-righteous, weep for the unfaithful pastor.  Jesus was willing to heal the man with the withered hand, but asked him to...

Jesus eats with such deplorable people; shocking at the time. Like Moses in Exodus 10, he wants to save as many people as he can, and eating with them fostered intimacy and implied forgiveness of their sins. That said, we are still called to live holy lives; Jesus accepts us as we are but teaches us to not stay as we are! Ephesians 2:4-10 - We're saved by grace alone through faith alone; salvation...

The scribes and Pharisees were self-righteous. They didn't see themselves as needing a savior. But the sinners sitting at the table with Jesus knew they needed help. And he wants sinners! We've all fallen short of the glory of God, and don't deserve to eat a meal with Jesus. But if God grants us entry into heaven, we'll feel the warmth of Jesus' glory for all eternity. Not because we're good, but...

Mark was at Peter's house, a large, nice home, for today's passage. He's among family when the paralytic is brought through the roof.  In 2 Kings 13:20-21, there's a very similar story of healing in the Old Testament, where a dead man is revived after his body touches the dead body of Elisha. Even this early in Mark, the story of the paralytic establishes Jesus' authority over spiritual and physic...

The Pharisees liked some of what Jesus said, but in rejecting some of it, they denied his authority.  The paralytic and his friends had great faith. His friends carried him through the crowd for who knows how long, lifted him up to the roof, somehow got him through the roof to the inside... So much faith! And Jesus forgave him and healed him.  Often the right road is unpaved, the narrow, rocky pat...

We must never lose hope in the work of the perfect leader, Jesus Christ. People are fallible, but church is about God. The body of Christ points to him. Despite human failings, we must assemble together!  Israel wanted a king. But God created Israel to have him as king! The Bible doesn't record the failures of the Hebrew people so we can judge them, but to show us his faithfulness and our need for...

Almighty God dwells within us; we inherit the perfection of his works. As he produces fruit in us, we are his example to the world. Our hearts are above all desperately wicked. We need Jesus; we can't live the Christian life without him. He lives in us, and is for us! He's the second Adam, perfect, without sin. We cultivate the garden by raising our families in God, by living according to his prin...

Psalm 4 closes with David asking God to protect us through the night, and Psalm 5 opens with David meeting the Lord in the morning, giving thanks and worshipping him. He recognizes that it's only because of the goodness of God that he will enter God's house. There's evil inside each of us, and David asks God to keep him from it and make him righteous. The innermost self of evildoers is unfettered...

Anything in your life that's contrary to Jesus is making your life worse. You may think it's not noticeable, but others will see and feel its effects. There is no such thing as a free sin. Satan wants this culture to believe that truth is relative... your truth, my truth, etc. Not true, there is only Truth! God blesses the righteous and covers us with his favor like a shield. He wraps us in a full...

In God's presence, we enjoy the abundance of his creation. We are reflections of the Trinity; we are a family. The tabernacle was a representation of a banquet, with the ark being the banquet couch, where God rests with his people. In Exodus 25, the showbread was called the bread of faces, laid before the face of God, with the wine, a glorified form of God's fruit. In Leviticus, we see ascension f...

Why did Jesus come into the world? To save people from their sins through his death and resurrection! At the virgin birth, deliverance is coming for God's people, and God's judgment is coming to those who reject him. We're born of sin; salvation must come from outside ourselves. That's why Jesus came! When we stand before God on judgment day, all we need is him. If we choose God's kingdom over the...

Matthew shows us how Israel has degraded to an Egypt-like state. Herod started as a courageous, capable leader, trusted by Caesar, but in his corrupt pagan heart, he became consumed with self-preservation and political power above all else. The star announcing the arrival of a new king meant to him that this king had to be killed. Though the world may be filled with leaders like Herod, God is stil...

Trust and follow Jesus!!! You will NOT survive without him. We are prone to wander. There are people today like Herod, who are filled with the spirit of the antichrist. They will lie and flatter you because they live for themselves and want their own way. We are to be patient, forgiving, slow to wrath, but there is also a time to walk away, if you can't reason with someone or they won't listen to...

Astrology was a sin in the old testament, but regardless, God knows this is how to reach the wise men from Arabia. God is using the star of Bethlehem to reach out to these gentiles even before Jesus is born! The wandering star is the Holy Spirit, similar to the glory cloud in the wilderness in Exodus, resting on the tabernacle. At Jesus' birth, the glory cloud has left the temple, is leading to an...

Fear is a horrible god; people can lose their minds over it. Proverbs 29:25: don't let fear run your life! Psalm 56:3: When you're afraid, trust in God! We must resist the temptation to fear. If we can trust and believe he can get us through, fear will evaporate! Calling Jesus King of the Jews was a political threat to Herod. Jesus is the King we serve, beyond any earthly authority. Choose Jesus a...

Jesus becomes famous, then hides away from the public to talk with his Father. His focus was on preaching in synagogues, not on miracles; miracles were to lend credence to his teaching, to give weight to his message. Jesus prayed! If he needs to pray, so do we. We must set aside dedicated time alone with the Lord. Lepers were to isolate themselves (Lev 13:42). When they wanted to be around others,...

If you want to avoid terror at the second coming, you must accept the gentle first coming! This passage tells us where the church's focus should be: the Word of God. Faith is going to God, knowing he can do whatever he wills. True faith says, "Your will be done." Mark is all about action, showing Jesus as always moving; he's communicating what Jesus did, to show us what WE are to do. We had no int...

We must counter the devil's lies with God's truth, and fill our lives with worship. Peter spoke in love, but the devil spoke in fear. We must come to Jesus with not only our words or our thoughts, but our hearts. We must be all in. Mark is intent on showing Jesus as King. He shows many parallels between Jesus and David. When Peter was called into ministry, he didn't abandon his wife; he took 3 yea...

The darkness hates the light! Jesus shows up and demons flee. If I want God to heal me or fix my situation, is it for good reasons, or just so I can go on sinning? Is it for his glory or my own comfort? The woman Jesus heals immediately gets up and serves her family. We too should have an eager desire to serve God in our healing. Jesus' name is above all names, all powers, all thrones. He's greate...

It's good to give thanks to God, walking in him and abounding in thanksgiving! Even in tough times, we grieve with hope, and rejoice. Continue steadfastly in prayer and be vigilant in thanksgiving! Find reasons to be thankful. God's word contains many examples associating thankfulness with sharing a meal. Every time we eat together dinner at the table is an opportunity to be thankful and worship G...

Trust Jesus in the face of death. God allows trials because we're forced to go to him for help. He works on his terms, not ours; he uses people and experiences we wouldn't have chosen to allow us to grow. When we sin, we should feel shame; shame is holy! Often we need to be silent, be still, and wait for God to speak and act. Once you taste the glory of God, you can't get enough. He is love! God m...

Jesus and the Father are one, bringing the same message! Mark is informing the gentile Christians that they are NOT a sect or weird branch of old testament believers; Jesus preaches with the same authority as the Father. Repentance is a gift. It means there's still time to come to the Lord and say you're sorry, and that time is now! In about 40 years, Jerusalem would be burned to the ground, so th...