James Reed's FORGE

We have been making our way through Mark’s Gospel, and in a sense we have been journeying with our Lord to His destination—the cross. We have heard the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” We have been called to action, and we have seen the power of forgiveness. We learned that not only is Christ the Lord of lords and the King of kings, but that He is also the...

Jesus responds to His disciples, to Peter, James, and John specifically.

As we consider our passage today, we need to keep in mind the previous chapters we’ve covered. Remember how we’ve considered Christian service to others. Remember the things our Lord has said about the first being the last or the greatest being the least. Remember how He has emphasized the totally helpless dependency of a child as a comparison of what our dependency upon the Lord should be.

Many thanks to Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Manhattan, MT. I was given the opportunity to preach there, 5/26/24. I hope this is encouraging to you.

The world’s attitude toward children of the Hellenistic society in the 1st century was hostile. Of course, we all know that Herod had children put to death at the Advent according to Matthew 2:16-20. Children were in a precarious position. Sometimes they were loved. Sometimes they were exploited. This all depended upon how the family thought they could best benefit. There is a fragment of a letter...

Is someone who is divorced and remarried in a permanent state of sin with no chance of salvation?

Your salvation is free. However, did you know that Jesus requires things of His disciples?

There was too much for a single episode, so I had to make a part 2. I hope this is a blessing to all who hear it.

Jesus and His disciples are now heading south from the mount of transfiguration. Jesus has told them where they are going and what is going to happen. There is a decisiveness as Jesus is passing through Galilee for the final time. Jesus is not going to be stopping. His final destination is Jerusalem. We’ve just read that the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Hi...

This episode was first posted on March 19, 2024. I had to do some edits. Hopefully, this is the better recording. In this episode, we might begin to understand why people wanted to make Jesus their king. However, what was in the minds of people had more to do with physical healing and free food than with true followership. We are going to further see that Jesus is and was God in the flesh- the sam...

Today our attention is turned once again to a demonic confrontation where our Lord Jesus Christ shows yet again His power over evil. This account is also found in Matthew and Luke giving us 3 different witnesses. When taken together we get a full picture of what was going on. In Matthew 17:14-21 we learn that the young boy at the center of this narrative was epileptic and suffered severely. Luke 9...

The text is from Matthew 21:1-11. May this be an encouragement to all who hear it.

Last week we celebrated the Lord’s resurrection. Today, we are going to cover some things which happened in the life and ministry of Jesus before His glorious resurrection. Hopefully this will be an encouragement to you as you continue to walk with Christ. You have heard me say this before, but it bears repeating. Not only is the purpose of preaching to proclaim the gospel of Christ, but for those...

Last week we learned that from this point forward Jesus was going to be focusing on His death and travel to Jerusalem. So, it comes as no surprise to us today that the very first thing we read in our Gospel passage today is how Jesus told them that the Son of Man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and in three days rise from the dead. We also talked about how that even the disciples had hard hea...

We have seen two miraculous feedings at this point from our Savior. The first of course was the feeding of the 5,000, and last week we saw the feeding of the 4,000. Don’t forget that there were also women and children in these crowds. This is interesting for us to note as we see the disciples getting into the boat with Jesus and forgetting to bring provisions. They have one loaf of bread between t...

This special episode is Pastor James' sermon for Palm Sunday, 2024. The text is Matthew 21:1-11, but many references are given which show Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophets and now holds the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.

Archeologists have discovered where they believe Capernaum was. This is the location we will read of in our text today. The remains of a synagogue have been found there which have a carving in the doorway of a bowl of mana and cluster of grapes. [1] Mana of course was the bread of heaven sent down by God to feed the children of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness, and of course we know...

People asked Jesus for a sign. He did not give them one. Have you ever wondered why?

Have you ever wondered why some prayers go unanswered?

“Thoughts are the parents of words and deeds. Let us pray daily for grace to keep our thoughts in order, and let us cry earnestly and fervently, ‘lead us not into temptation’”. J. C. Ryle, Mark , Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 106.

As we take a look at our passage today, please keep in mind that what the Holy Spirit has recorded here is for our good. What I would like to point out to you is the healing which takes place throughout this passage. The main subject is indeed the miraculous healing of the sick, but let’s pay attention to how Mark records this for us. In keeping with Mark’s style, I have outlined today’s sermon in...

Today, we cover the sending, the story of John the Baptist and Herod, and finally- resting in Christ.

At this point in the life and times of Jesus, His public ministry has been focused on or around the immediate region of the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum. Today, we’re going to see a slight location change. Jesus moves away from Capernaum and Galilee and goes home. He comes back to Nazareth. This is about a 25 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum. While Jesus was born in Bethlehem, g...

The verses which we are going to consider today describe one of those mysterious miracles which the Gospels frequently record—the driving out of a demon. “Of all the cases of this kind in the NT, none is so fully described as this one. Of all the three evangelists who relate the story, none gives it so fully and minutely as Mark.” This is something for us to contemplate when we consider Mark’s fas...

We are going to continue our study today through the end of chapter 4 in the Book of Mark. As I have done several times, I want to point out the harmony of the Gospels. This account we’re reading today is also found in Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22–25. Over the last several Sundays we have seen a great deal of truth from Mark 4. We’ve learned that Jesus taught in parables in part that the prophecy...