Come To The Table

A musical instrument, however beautiful, gains its value from the music it makes more than its physical appearance. If left un-played, it will fall out of tune and its potential will be wasted. Believers can be like that as well. If we submit ourselves into the hands of God, He can make beautiful music through us. If we waste our potential on our own comforts and conveniences, however, we will mis...

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. We are not even guaranteed our next breath. Life is fragile and fleeting, and this is the only one we’ve got. In this teaching, Pastor Mark warns against squandering the opportunities we’ve been given. Choose to use your limited time for seeking Jesus.

God desires love and obedience from us, but He gives us free will. Choosing to reject Christ is a personal decision that cannot be blamed on Him. He has gone to incredible lengths to draw us to Himself, but if we harden ourselves against Him, we deserve the eternal separation our decision grants us. In rare cases, men harden their hearts so much towards God that they go past a point of no return....

God won’t force faith into the heart of man. He gave us free will. Sadly, many have ample opportunity to accept God’s grace but choose to reject Him, following their own selfish desires. They may feel like that decision gives them control of their lives, but its consequence is an eternal separation from God, an eternal death. In this teaching, Pastor Mark challenges us to make a decision. There is...

Time is precious; Most of us are familiar with that maxim. As Pastor Mark points out in this teaching, time is also easily wasted. As morbid as it may seem, take a minute to imagine this is your last day on earth. What do you wish you had done more of? If you come to the realization that you’ve been wasting time, now is the moment to change course and dedicate your time to eternal matters.

When Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, it was an act akin to a king riding into his city in peaceful triumph. He was coming into the city knowing that only a few days later, He would undergo the anguish of dying on the cross for us. In this message, Pastor Mark points out that Jesus’ death was not merely or the Jews. He died for everyone—Jew and Gentile alike. He bore our sin to repair our rel...

If you’re in Christ, you have hope for eternity. You have confidence in what will happen after you die, and that confidence should replace your natural fear of death. Paul was a great example of how a follower of Jesus can impact lives when they embrace their security in Christ. As Pastor Mark notes in this teaching, it’s not that we want to die, but our fear of death is gone, freeing us up to pou...

As much as we might not like to admit it, Judas had a point: Mary’s valuable spikenard could have been used for practical ministry. Many poor families could have been clothed and fed if it had been sold. The poor should not be neglected, but Mary had insight into the value of worshipping Jesus. Jesus was everything to Mary. That is the problem with Judas’ argument. We should care for the poor, but...

When we read the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with the spikenard, we might imagine a fancy bottle of oil or perfume. In reality, this oil was worth 300 denarii, which would be around fifty-five thousand dollars in today’s currency—a year’s wages as Judas Iscariot notes. In this teaching, Pastor Mark challenges us to examine our hearts and ask whether we would go to that extreme level for Je...

Nothing you have is truly yours, except your free will. Whether you’re one of the “haves” or “have-nots,” all your possessions, power, or position are ultimately God’s. He simply placed you as a steward of those things. He desires that you use them for His glory, not your own comfort or gain. While God will give and take according to His will, you must decide how to respond. Will you cling to and...

Have you ever prayed or heard someone else pray, “God, if you’ll give me a sign, I’ll believe”? While this seems logical, thousands of people encountered Jesus and witnessed His earthly miracles, yet still did not believe and even joined in the cries to crucify Him. In this teaching, Pastor Mark addresses the truth about our nature. Humans have stubborn, sinful hearts. God might bless us with a pe...

Sin creates a kind of spiritual stink in our lives that is impossible to hide. That doesn’t mean that most of us don’t try to hide it. This is why our brothers and sisters in Christ are vital in our spiritual walk. They are often the first to see the sin in our lives, and they can help lift us out of it. Whether you are the one observing sin in someone else or it’s your sin that is coming to light...

Getting older is hard. Still, it can bring wisdom and grace if you have used the years to spend time in the presence of God, seeking Him daily. What kind of witness would you like to have? Do you want people to look on you with respect and warmth, to see Jesus in you? When you spend time with the Lord, others will be able to see the effect it has on you, just as one can see the effects of age in t...

God’s church is very diverse. Depending on your background in the faith, your idea of the average Christian may be very stereotypical: a suit and tie, a pretty dress, a smiling face on a sunny, Sunday morning. Of course, that’s pretty far from reality. In this teaching, Pastor Mark points out the diversity of personalities and struggles within the Church. Getting saved does not remove these differ...

Our God and His perfect plans are worth waiting on. Following Christ requires patience and trust. In this teaching, Pastor Mark warns of the dangers of lacking these two things and of the anxiety that comes from this lack. God works outside our timeframes and expectations. If you wait on Him, good things will come. Why didn’t Jesus go immediately after hearing that Lazarus was sick? We can specula...

God is an uninhibited provider. All things belong to Him and are easily within His grasp. Still, all too often, Christians allow themselves to be racked with worry over how the bills will be paid or how they will put food on the table. Worrying does nothing for our good, and it reveals our lack of faith. In this teaching, Pastor Mark tells us to expect hardships in this life. God doesn’t remove al...

Don’t misinterpret Pastor Mark as saying that God enjoys our suffering. On the contrary, it deeply saddens God, much like it saddens the heart of human parents watching their kids suffer through consequence and trial. Holding on to hope in the midst of suffering requires great faith. Losing a loved one, enduring an illness, or facing hardship, makes it easy to point a finger at God and demand an a...

In our culture, science, reason, and logic, as well as our emotions, have all taken the place of the Bible as a foundation for life. We seek that which makes sense to us, those things that make us feel good, but this approach places far too much merit in our own capabilities, knowledge, and flesh. When we throw out the Bible, or even certain parts of it, because we disagree with it or feel challen...

No amount of study can fully reveal all the mysteries of the Bible. You could devote your entire life to dissecting this Book down to the letter and still completely miss what it’s really saying. The Bible tells of a God who is beyond the scope of human understanding and of the Kingdom He’ll bring which defies our reason. In this teaching, Pastor Mark explains that the only way to understand the B...

Far too often, Christians are experts at putting on a show. You may go to church, smile, and even sing loudly, when in reality, you are falling apart inside. It can easily become a habit to go through the motions of church, but in doing so, you will miss out on what God intends for His body of believers. In this teaching, Pastor Mark encourages us to spend time with fellow believers and go to chur...

Our world often labels God as cruel for daring to judge us for our sins, or they interpret God’s love to mean that He would never refuse or correct us. In this teaching, Pastor Mark points out that God’s love and justice require Him to correct us when we do wrong. He knows how destructive sin is. When He created Adam and Eve, they had untarnished intimacy with Him. When sin entered, He experienced...

At one point or another, we have all experienced what it means to be outside of God’s flock. In this teaching, Pastor Mark discusses Jesus’ desire to bring all sheep into his flock. You and I have an important part to play in growing God’s Kingdom. We are not on this earth to graze in green pastures and grow fat and complacent. God has called us to something higher. He has given us a mission to sh...

In modern society, most people have not encountered sheep, which means many of us might not know what it means to be a good shepherd. The dynamic between sheep and their shepherd can be compared to the relationship many of us have with our dogs. Our pets trust us. We invest time, energy, and resources into providing for them, and it saddens our hearts to see them in pain. In this teaching, Pastor...

Class of citizenship does not exist in God’s Kingdom. In God’s eyes, you are an equal with the apostles and with the likes of Billy Graham. They do not overshadow you. He gets immense joy watching you live a life focused on His glory, even if only one soul is brought to Him by your efforts. It is challenging to grasp this, but even before the world began, God knew you. He knew your heart, and He k...

Entrance into God’s family can only be attained one way. You cannot con or force your way in. The only way is to admit your weakness and come to Christ, who is the door. He stands in the way of any who would bring harm to His children and stands to warmly welcome all those who come to Him. In this teaching, Pastor Mark will discuss a metaphor that would have made complete sense to His audience. Th...