The Bride Church

Everyone either has gone through, will go through, or is currently going through tribulations. Tribulation is when your very foundation is being shaken. God wants us to be victorious as we go through tribulation. David’s intimacy with God is built his faith and strength to withstand tribulations. It is important to turn to God and seek Him for help. God promises to respond to us when we are humble...

Jesus ascends through Mark 8, then begins to descend ever the next 8 chapters to the cross. The account of healing the blind man by spitting into his eyes is only found in Mark. It is no coincidence that the man’s progressive healing is parallel to the disciples slow understanding who Jesus is. Jesus asked two questions; who do they say I am and who do you say that I am? He tells them [plainly] wh...

The Pharisees came to argue and test. They probably didn’t actually want a miracle; they wanted more fuel to accuse him of being a false prophet. The Pharisees and Sadducees (it’s crazy that they worked together here) wanted a sign from heaven. Signs from heaven would: - show the prophet to be trustworthy and reliable. - show power and authority. Many of the miracles that Jesus performed were done...

The crowd was with Jesus for 3 days without food. Their desire to be with Him was greater than their desire for food. Jesus had compassion on the crowd. Compassion means to co-suffer with someone. Jesus had more than empathy or pity; He suffered with the crowd. Jesus gave them what they needed to sustain them on their way home. Jesus knows more than anyone else what you are going through because H...

Jesus is challenged by the religious leaders for not following tradition. He begins to tell all and then teach His disciples that defilement comes out of the heart. We cannot not gain access to God by tradition. Legalism is founded on non-scriptural laws placed on believers. Jesus encounters a woman in a gentile nation who needs deliverance for her little girl. Jesus in this moment leaves the 99 i...

When Jesus asks His disciples to get in the boat, He is setting them up for a teaching. Jesus sees that the disciples are struggling against the wind The disciples are “terrified” by the appearance of Jesus. He brings His presence, His person, and His power. He encourages the disciples to take heart! Do not fear! Fear is a paralyzing force that keeps us from our destination. Jesus brings peace and...

The key to understanding the feeding of the 5,000 is found in the verse 34: His motive was to be “The Good Shepherd.” Jesus wanted His disciples to participate in the feeding. The blessing preceded the multiplication. The disciples were walking by sight, not faith. Jesus’s first act of shepherding the flock was to teach about the Kingdom. All were satisfied and the 12 brought home a basket each. T...

The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. “Soul words” are intangible but we respond to them because they are intrinsically more than just words. The heart is the center of all thinking, willing, feeling, and moral life. With enough sin, you can undo some of the benefits of God’s grace. The Scripture describes our hearts as being made of stone or as being changed to flesh. A new dispos...

Jesus sends out the 12, two by two, but instructs them to not take any provisions. Jesus wants the 12 to learn to trust. Mark flashes back to the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptizer. John’s mission to call others to repent costs him his life. John never held back from his calling. John was fearless in his approach.

Jesus returns home to Nazareth to unbelief. Unbelief doesn’t limit God but certainly hinders the work of Jesus in our lives. Jesus marvels at our unbelief as well as our confident expectation. God desires us to hold fast to His promises. God gives us His divine nature and His righteousness by faith. Jesus never again returned to His hometown.

Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood were in hopelessness. Their hopelessness was exchanged for faith. They both fell at the feet of Jesus and their fears were exchanged with His compassionate concern. He called the woman, “daughter.” Jesus wanted to make the woman whole just as much He healed her disease. Notice the woman had to break the mosaic law to touch Jesus and come out into a crow...

740 years before Jesus was born, a birth announcement was given. But it also included his character and his purpose. He was given — God is a giver not a taker. He shall rule — the weight is on Him, not us. He came to establish and govern His Kingdom. He shall counsel. He is mighty — in Him there no weakness; meekness, but no weakness. He is a forever Father, filled with goodness and mercy. He is P...

Jesus is willing to enter into your mess. The birthing place of Jesus was a messy place. Joseph and Mary were in a mess and the Lord met them there. God sends Jesus to literally bear our mess (sin). When God came to dwell among us and in us, He generally finds a mess but doesn’t leave us in it. Christmas has always been about Jesus’s mission to take away our sin.

The birth of Jesus was God’s plan before the foundations of the Earth were laid. Mary and Joseph had to yield to God’s plan. God’s ways are higher than our and His thought are as well When our plans change, we can war against the change or surrender. God does have a plan for us and it is two-fold: to be saved and to be changed into His likeness.

Jesus is our help. Jesus is our strength. Our eyes need to be fixed on the Lord; our expectations need to be on Him: seeking the Word, obeying the Word, and teaching the Word.

Notice, when slowing the Scripture down you will see three requests: the demons were given their desire, the townspeople were given their desire, but the man who had been possessed was not given his. If you ask Jesus to leave, He will. The Gospel can be seen in this man’s deliverance. Living among the dead, bound, tormented, and then set free.  He was calmed, clothed, and sent back home to share t...

There are three “greats” (mega) in the account of the storm. A great storm, a great calm, and a great fear. The great fear of who this man is will be the most rewarding of the three megas! Jesus has now proven his authority over all creation. Jesus was asleep as a man but under full control as Creator of the universe. Jesus was given authority to create the world from the Father. He challenges his...

Jesus explains the spiritual principle of reciprocity. The more you desire to hear and receive, the more you are given. Jesus desires to give us more! The disinterested will lose what little they have. We should come expecting and desiring the hearing of His Word. God provides the increase after the sewing. When the blade appears it’s on its way to produce. Hearers are destined to become scatterer...

Jesus escapes the crowds to broadcast the word across the sea.  Again, His primary mission is to teach and preach the Word. Jesus teaches in a parable, which He will use 35% of the time when He teaches. Parables: our earthly truths coming alongside a spiritual truth. The seed is scattered and lands on different conditions of the heart. A hard heart, an excited heart, an easily distracted heart, a...

Jesus spent all night in prayer before he appointed the 12. Important decisions should always be preceded by prayer. Extra ordinary, ordinary men were chosen. They would become the foundation on which we stand. Jesus was accused by his family to be out of His mind. The scribes accused him of using the devil’s power to cast out demons. Jesus first parable of the strong man being bound turns their u...

Jesus came to fulfill the law and bring in the new covenant. Breaking away from tradition causes some to follow and others to criticize. When Jesus called Levi to follow Him and had dinner with the other sinners, the pharisees were confused. This grieved the heart of Jesus. He saw the hardness of their hearts. The pharisees thought being with sinners would make them unholy. Jesus came for the sick...

The paralytic along with his friends were not expecting Jesus to address the sin problem. Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs. It meets the greatest need, it costs the greatest price, and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results. The scribes were correct in saying that only God can forgive sins. Jesus establishes His authority to forgive sin. God’s forg...

Jesus starts his mission on day one in Church, teaching with authority. A demon attempts to interrupt and is told to shut up. Jesus personally heals Peter’s mother-in-law.  That same night, the town shows up to be healed and delivered. Jesus wisely retreats to pray.  The leper asked to be clean. Jesus is fulfilling prophesy as well as the law. In reviewing chapter one, Jesus submits to the Father,...

Jesus came with a primary mission to preach. His message was to repent and believe. Jesus was the message! Repentance and belief happen simultaneously. The first disciples had to unfollow before they followed. Following Jesus is an expression of trusting Him. There is no room for blame shifting or procrastination within repentance.

Jesus stood in our place in the Jordan. Jesus doesn’t ask us to do anything that He hasn’t already accomplished. Jesus went from the waters of baptism to the dry wilderness, from the waters of baptism to the fires of testing, from Heaven opening wide to hell being by His side, from hearing the affirming voice of His Father to hearing the lies of the devil. Adam failed in a beautiful garden and ate...