King's Cross Church South Bay

This week brings us to a topic that evokes a lot of pain in our society: marriage and divorce. Jesus did not mince words here, but his goal was to give hope, not to crush. In general, he was so compassionate, the religious leaders wanted to prove he was soft on sin. So they asked him about divorce - thinking he would either alienate the 'sinners' who were flocking to him, or that he would jettison...

We come to a passage laden with violent images. They are often startling to a modern reader. Why would Jesus invoke such pictures, especially when discussing leadership? Jesus surprises - not only with painful words about exclusion, but also thoughts that would have been stunningly inclusive in his context. But why do those kinds of discussions almost always feel violent? Even in our society, wher...

We come to a painfully vulnerable scene in the Gospel of Mark. A father calls out to Jesus seeking pity for his suffering son. Intriguingly, Jesus arrives on the scene to find his disciples having failed to heal the boy and now arguing with others. Jesus then says some harsh things about faithlessness, which begins a spiraling conversation about weak faith. It culminates in this father crying out,...

As we begin 2024, we return to the Gospel of Mark. We’re at the hinge of the book, and there’s an idea Jesus repeats four times across three chapters: that the Messiah must suffer and die. Why does Jesus think that? And – counterintuitively – how in the world is it good news (ie, “Gospel”)? We’ve talked briefly about this on several occasions, but let’s start the New Year feasting on our “Hope for...

We’ll think about what it means to “Stand Firm” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17). What kind of forces make us unstable? Paul tells us to set ourselves on a firm foundation that allows us to grow and flourish through anything that comes our way. Let’s be reminded of our identity, our trajectory, and our calling.

As we come to celebrate the Lord's birth this Sunday, we are jumping ahead a bit in the Gospel of Mark. For our Christmas Eve service, we will be considering Jesus' discussion of the greatest commandment: to love. Yet the joy of Christimas is not merely that "God so loved the world" but the manner in which he loves us. His love shows us what we misunderstand about love, including how impossibly hi...

We come to the Transfiguration. On a mountaintop, Jesus reveals his glory to Peter, James & John. Moses and Elijah appear. This is a major event in the life of Jesus, but many Christians simply don't know what to do with it. Neither did the disciples at that moment - but it would become one of the main ways they understood why Jesus came, how he fulfilled all of the Old Testament promises, and wha...

For months now, we've heard Mark's main question, “Who is this?!" And this week we finally come to the turning point of this Gospel. Peter answers this main question correctly, but when Jesus boldly states what he came to do, Peter cannot stomach it. Peter often gets mocked for this, but Christmas exposes that we have the same revulsion. We think, “Can't we just talk about the beautiful baby witho...

Advent begins in the dark. The Light of the World has come - but light was needed. As we begin this month of celebrating the joy of Christmas, we have to remember the problem which Advent is addressing. We come to a passage in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus heals a blind man, but Jesus is pointing to something more. For several chapters, religious leaders and even his own disciples are failing to...

“Do you not understand?” How often have we heard those words spoken to us? How often have we said it to others? How many times has a deep sigh followed a lack of understanding? This week our passage in Mark finds Jesus and the Disciples after the miraculous feeding of the four thousand, and yet there is still a misunderstanding about who Christ was and His mission. Jesus gets questioned and tested...

This Sunday we come to the story when Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes to feed thousands of people, miraculously. But wait - didn’t we already hear about this one, and don’t we already get the point of this event? To both questions, not exactly! Repetition can be a powerful teacher, even for us who think we’ve got the message - “Don’t need it again, but thank you!“ Well we do need the reminder w...

We come to two admittedly awkward incidents in Mark. Jesus refers to a woman as a dog, and then he apparently rubs his spit on a man's tongue. Both events strike our modern ears as problematic. And frankly, they are hard passages, but not for the reasons we initially think. We've been saying ad nauseam that Mark's main question is "who is this?" At no time is that question more apt than when we en...

Last week we saw how Jesus treasured the Scriptures, and this week we get to see that in action. Modern society doesn't commonly use the terms "clean" and "unclean," but we certainly know what it is to be made a pariah - especially when it is because of something we've said or done. We may think it's silly that people in Jesus' day thought what they ate could make them an outcast, but they would a...

Jesus argues with religious leaders about tradition, but the underlying joy of this passage is how Jesus understands Scripture. Isn't this just a culturally-conditioned, Bronze age text? Isn't it simply the compiled writings of fallible men? Shouldn't we filter the Bible through our own normative experience? Our society tends to think this way, and often Christians also function this way. But Jesu...

We come to the account of Jesus walking on water. It's easy to see how all of his other miracles are healing what is broken with our world, if not explicitly addressing our needs. But why this? How does this help us? Large bodies of water often represented untamable chaos to the ancients. When life feels overwhelming - even just from the headlines we read - who doesn't yearn for someone to fix it?...

We continue our series in the Gospel of Mark with the feeding of the 5000. On the heels of Herod's birthday banquet, the contrast is stark. Jesus' disciples are exhausted, so they try to get away for a retreat. But the crowds follow. And Jesus has compassion on the crowds, even when his disciples do not. When we are frustrated and empty, how can Jesus’ command to serve be good news for us? Let's d...

This week we come to the death of John the Baptist. There are several surprises here, not least of which is the apparent compassion John had for Herod - the man who would have him killed just to save his own reputation. What hope did the early Church derive from this account, even as they also faced the possibility of death at the hands of their political leaders? And how might it help us in our c...

It is rare for Jesus himself to be amazed, but this week we come to just such an instance - and it is not a positive one. Jesus comes to his hometown, and "they took offense at him" while he "marveled at their unbelief." Jesus had experienced rejection and disbelief elsewhere, but this was something more. The original literally says they were "scandalized" by him. He was too ordinary to be the mes...

Last Sunday we saw Jesus stop for a chronically ill woman. As wonderful as that was for her, it required making a desperate father wait. Jairus had come to Jesus because his daughter was at the point of death. "It's now or never, Jesus. Please come!" And Jesus... delays?! Even as Jesus heals someone else, you can imagine how excruciating each passing moment was for Jairus. Then the dreaded news co...

We come to a sandwich passage in Mark - a double miracle. A little girl is dying. It's urgent. Her dad comes to Jesus for help. But crowds are in the way, and suddenly Jesus stops for an old woman because he feels "the power go out." What does that even mean? And why would he delay when a girl is dying? There is so much about this account that captures our imaginations, and the same was true for t...

This week we continue our series in the Gospel of Mark with a very famous passage: Jesus calming the storm. There are three questions that drive this passage, but it's the first one that I hear most often today - "Teacher, don't you care?" (Mark 4:35-41) In the middle of our suffering, we doubt God's goodness. Sometimes we even doubt he really exists. Or if he does, is he asleep or something? And...

We come to what feels more like a list rather than a scene. The phrase “And He said…” shows up four times in Mark 4:21-34. These must have been parables and teachings that Jesus used often in various contexts. But why did Jesus use parables so often, as opposed to speaking more directly, plainly, or even clearly? Let’s consider a strong tone of grace conveyed by Jesus’s use of parables. After all,...

This Sunday we come to the Parable of the Sower in our series in Mark. Many of you may be very familiar with this parable, but that raises precisely the sort of problems Jesus is addressing: the "I already knew that" of the hardened path, the suffering that withers us in the rocky soil, the "deceitfulness of riches" which chokes us with thorns... Yes, this is a famous and known image. But the ques...

This Sunday we continue our series in the Gospel of Mark, and we come to an encounter where Christ asks, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” The answer to this helps us better understand what it means to be a new creation in Christ and what community in the body of Christ looks like. We will dig into Mark 3:20-21, 31-35, and look into how as sinners, we were outsiders, but now through Christ and...

We come to one of the most worried-about and discussed topics throughout church history: “The Unforgivable Sin” in Mark 3:22-30. We rightly expect God to be forgiving; thankfully because of the cross. But these words of Jesus clearly show a line or limit to that forgiveness, and we even hear a warning about eternal consequences. Can this be?! We should be careful not to dismiss these words as hype...