Edgefield Church Nashville – Sermons

In this cluster of stories Mark helps explain why people respond to Jesus in very different ways, some in faith and others with persistent unbelief. Contrasting the disciples? struggle to believe even after all they?d seen with Peter?s dramatic confession of Jesus as the Christ, Mark shows us that spiritual sight is never the same thing as physical sight. Faith?seeing with new eyes?is a gift of Go...

In chapter 7, by relating Jesus?s confrontation with the Pharisees along with his ministry among the Gentiles, Mark exposes the two sides of Jesus?s radical message: the problem of sin is universal, but the promise of salvation is universal too.

In this psalm, a memoir of life lived through God?s word, we are challenged to cultivate both depth and breadth in our understanding of scripture and to apply God?s Word to the raw circumstances of real life.

In chapter 6 Mark illustrates how we should respond to Jesus by contrast to two more examples of unbelief. People in Jesus?s hometown were offended by his claims to authority because they?d been inoculated through overexposure. They were familiar with Jesus as brother and son and carpenter, but he seemed too familiar for them to accept his radical words or actions. Jesus?s disciples struggle with...

Mark demonstrates in these stories that Jesus is more powerful than nature, evil, sickness, and even death. In each case, the person or group afflicted with their malady is paralized by fear. Jesus?s response to them is his message to us, ?Do not fear, only believe.?

In this batch of parables Jesus explains what the kingdom is like by analogy to familiar images, all of which aim to show why the kingdom doesn?t look like most expected. The kingdom is like a lamp which, though hidden initially, is ultimately brought in to be revealed. It?s like a seed that grows even though the farmer merely goes to sleep and wakes up again; in other words, kingdom growth is ine...

There is more than one way to respond to the claims and work of Jesus. Mark gives us three options. We can respond by calling him a crazy eccentric, an evil demon, or Lord.

Mark begins to document the opposition that builds against Jesus, ultimately leading to his execution. Why did the religious leaders, who were experts of the law, fail to understand the signficance of Jesus and his kingdom? How do we avoid similar error?

At the beginning of chapter 2, Mark reveals new dimensions of Jesus?s identity and mission. Mark?s stories show that Jesus has the unique ability to forgive sins, and that this is precisely what he came here to do. The only question, then, is whether you will come to Jesus for forgiveness.

In this passage Mark tells a group of stories designed to show that Jesus came preaching the kingdom with a remarkably distinctive authority. But these stories also reveal a paradoxical truth: submission to Jesus?s loving authority sets you free.

If we are to understand why Mark labels his story about Jesus as ?good news,? we must first see how he answers the three questions at the heart of his story: Who is Jesus? What did Jesus come here to do? And what does that require of us?