Perfectly Imperfect Together

(Acts 9:1-19) Jesus came to save us and wants us to share with others that He has saved us so they know they too can be saved. Jesus pours out His grace in our lives and wants us to share that grace forward. It's up to us to choose to accept His offer, open His Book, and listen to His voice with open hearts. It's up to us to say yes, get up, and follow Jesus - heart and soul.

In Luke 5, Jesus walked forward in His ministry and performed miracles. People were drawn to follow Him and give Him praise. From fishermen to the man with a serious skin disease, from the paralyzed man to the tax collector, they all came to a place of humility before the Lord and were transformed from the inside out. They experienced Jesus' presence and power and got up. They were impacted by Jes...

In Luke 4, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness. The devil took this moment to tempt Jesus in 3 specific ways. Each time, Jesus resisted the temptations by standing firm in the Word of God and the God of the Word. He quoted Scripture and the devil departed. Every day we face temptations. Temptations are resisted with the power of the Word of God. We need to keep God's Word written deep in...

In Luke 3, John the Baptist paves the way for Jesus. He traveled around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus came to the earth from heaven and took on human form to save us from our sins. When we humbly repent and surrender our hearts and lives to Jesus, His fire begins to transform our hearts cleansing us from the inside out. Jesus came to give life...

In Luke 2, Luke reveals the humanity of Jesus - the Son of Man. He is fully human and fully God. He is with us. He sees us. He knows us. He wants us to see Him, know Him, and remain abided in His presence as well. Jesus came to earth to invite us to His Table. He connects with us where we are, if we will just accept His invitation and come to His Table. It's all possible because a young woman, who...

In Luke 1, Luke takes us through the detailed record of the miraculous birth of both John the Baptist and Jesus. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the hearts of people for the coming of Jesus, our Savior. Prior to both of these miraculous births, an angel was sent to assure the parents to not be afraid. They were willing, humble, faithful, and available servants to the Lord and the Lord honored...

In Mark 16, the women thought Jesus was dead in a tomb and they prepared spices to anoint His body. However, much to their surprise, the stone in front of the tomb was rolled aside and His tomb was empty. Jesus is alive! He has risen! Our Savior is alive and real and true. He defeated all the weight of sin of the world past, present, and future and He wiped it all away with His resurrection. He is...

(1 John 1:1-4) True belief in Jesus begins when your heart passionately loves what your head knows is true. Jesus wants you to enjoy life with Him. He wants you to experience Him fully everyday and know His love personally. The things we may receive this Christmas may bring temporary joy, but Jesus brings eternal joy that never fades.

In Mark 15, Jesus endured physical pain, emotional pain, and immense spiritual pain as He met the cross and took on the judgment of God's wrath against sin for each and every one of us. He could have called an an army of angels at any moment and been released from the cross. But He didn't. He stayed on that cross with you in mind. He stayed on that cross with me in mind. He did it all just hoping...

In Mark 14, we continue to share in the journey to the cross with Jesus. It was time for Passover and as they prepare for the Passover meal, Mary brings an alabaster jar filled with a year's worth of wages of perfume and pours it over Jesus in worship. In humble worship to the Lord, she serves Jesus by preparing His human body for its temporary burial. Jesus knew Judas would betray Him, but Jesus...

In Mark 13, Jesus prepares His disciples, and us, for the coming end of the end times. He encourages us to stay alert, stay aware and in prayer continually, stay in the Word so as not to be deceived by the false teachers and false prophets, and stay radically on fire for Jesus. Keep falling more and more in love with Jesus every day because He is returning sooner today than yesterday and He is ret...

In Mark 12, Jesus teaches on stewarding His resources well for His glory out of passionate love for Him, not obligation. Jesus shares a parable about a vineyard leased out to some farmers to tend. The owner of the vineyard sends servants to check in on the vineyard and the tenants rejected, tortured, and even killed God's servants. The servants sent represent the prophets God sent to point people...

In Mark 11, Jesus sees a fig tree and is hungry. He went to the fig tree expecting to find edible buds that would typically appear prior to the fruiting season. There were no buds on this tree. It was fruitless and useless. He then goes to the Temple which is meant to be a place for people to gather and worship the Lord. Instead, He found market tables filled with merchants were were price gouging...

In Mark 10, Jesus teaches a lesson on power and the struggle of desiring a place of honor. He pointed out that people in high positions often like to exercise power over others. However, a follower of Jesus is considered great by humbly serving rather than being served. Jesus came to serve and gave His life so we could have the option to live forever through Him. We are not called to be famous, ri...

In Mark 9, Jesus again teaches us what it looks like to deny yourself, your will, take up your cross, and follow Him, heart and soul, with all your guts. Suffering may last a season, but the glory of eternity is forever. Jesus knows our hearts, motives, and intentions and He knows a sincere heart that pursues Him desperately. He calls us to walk in humility and serve others, pointing them to Jesus...

In Mark 8, Jesus continues to interact, teach, heal, feed and serve the people who continually gather around Him. Jesus always answers people who are desperate for Him. He takes His disciples aside and asks them a question, "Who do people say I AM?" They give Him the various answers from what they've heard people saying about Jesus. Jesus then asks them an even more important question that He asks...

In Mark 7, we see the active compassion of Jesus. Compassion always leads to action. A simple touch from Jesus can radically change a person's life. A mere glimpse of His great glory changes our hearts for eternity. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow - always and forever. We need to be in His Word continually, listening to each Word He's speaking with open hearts in surrender to Him, a...

(Isaiah 9:1-7) Jesus gives us hope by drawing us to Himself. He dusts us off, cleans us up from the inside out, and says, "come and be a part of My family." The light of the Gospel transforms gloomy places to glorious places. Jesus transforms gloomy people to glorious people. Jesus steps into the chaos of life and rescues us, if we are willing to let Him. Hope in Jesus never fails.

In Mark 6, Jesus and the disciples were setting out to get some rest and refreshment, but once again, the crowds followed. Jesus served with compassion and He continued to give them healing and taught about the Kingdom of God. Compassion leads to action. Evening came and with it came physical hunger. Rather than send them away to try to find food, Jesus asked the disciples, "How much bread do you...

In Mark 5, A woman who suffered from bleeding for 12 years had radical faith believing if she could even just touch the fringe of Jesus' robe, she'd be healed. As soon as she reached up and touched His robe, in radical fringe faith, she was healed. Jesus stops and makes sure she knows she is not only healed because of her unfiltered faith in Him, she is adopted into His eternal family. She lived u...

(Acts 8:26-40) In a world full of division and hatred, we can trust God and spread His love and His Word. The Word of God has the power to overcome divisions. You are God's plan. It all begins with the Word of God. Open His Word and let the Word do the work in your live and the lives around you.

In Mark 4, Jesus and the disciples left the crowds and went into a boat on the Sea of Galilee. A fierce windstorm came up and their boat was filling with water. The disciples reacted in fear and accused Jesus of not caring for them. Jesus simply stood up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, "Silence! Be still!" The storm immediately stopped. Storms are going to come this side of heaven, but when J...

In Mark 3, after seeing Jesus preach, heal, and cast out demons, the crowds continued to follow Him and continued to grow. He chose 12 apostles to partner with Him in ministry as the mission of spreading the Good News that Jesus had arrived continued to grow. The opposition against Jesus continued to grow as well. Even Jesus' family approached Him trying to stop Him from continuing. They claimed H...

In Mark 2, four friends are frantically determined to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They will do anything it takes to get him to Jesus. The house Jesus is teaching and healing in is crowded with standing room only so they climb to the roof and literally - unroof the roof! They are displaying active, no matter what, faith in action. Jesus didn't just heal the man, He also cleansed him of his...

The Gospel of Mark reveals the servanthood of Jesus. Jesus is God in human form and He came to earth fully human. He knew His mission and calling. In Mark 1, Jesus is baptizes, He calls His 1st disciples, He heals people and casts out demons, and He preaches and teaches to multitudes with authority. He is the Word, teaching the Word. The teachings they experienced came straight from the source. Pe...