Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 4:26-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... according to the divine plan and progression. The kingdom that grows to full fruition under God’s power will be ready for its completion and fulfillment at the moment determined by God for judgment. While the first kingdom parable (vv.26-29) is found only in Mark, the second comparison Jesus makes concerning the kingdom, the parable of the mustard seed, is found also in Matthew 13:31-32, Luke 13:18-19, and the Gospel of Thomas (20). While growth itself was the primary focus of the first seed parable, the ...

52. Mark 6:14-29

Mark 6:14-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... was the return of Elijah or another of “the prophets of old” (v.15), Herod’s apparent guilty conscience over John’s execution leads him to side with those who are convinced that in Jesus “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead” (v.14). Mark’s text makes it clear that it was Herod Antipas’ decision to arrest John and toss him into prison. Most probably the jail cells John was thrown into were maintained at Herod’s palace at Machaerus, a cliff-top perch on the eastern edge of the ...

53. Mark 6:14-29

Mark 6:14-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus is John revived from the dead reminds us how unknown Jesus had been until this recent spate of miracles and missions (4:35-5:43). Anyone who knew that Jesus had been baptized by John would know they were contemporaries, not successors. But as Mark now reveals by inserting another story into the midst of these musings, Herod has a specific reason for seeing John the Baptist alive again in Jesus. An unusual fit of apparent guilt and remorse convinces Herod Antipas that “John whom I beheaded, has been ...

54. Mark Twain's Briefcase And A Great Mental Attitude

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... cruise through life without getting so much as a hair out of place. And we say to ourselves, that is how things ought to be for me. I ought to be able to live like that! Then, when life does go a little haywire, and we get tossed around like Mark Twain's briefcase, we curse our fate and lose ourselves in cynicism and despair. St. Paul, on the other hand, knew that life was hard. He knew life was unfair. He knew that some people had to struggle their whole life long. How did he know this? Because he knew ...

55. Mark 13:24-32

Mark 13:24-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... any specific school of interpretation. By using it here Jesus keeps the apocalyptic events foretold free from the fate of established, institutional religion - dependent only on the timetable ordered by God. Historically this is of great significance. The first generation reading Mark's Gospel would have already witnessed the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. Despite this catastrophic event believers could find reason to maintain their faith and remain patient. The end of the world is not ...

56. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... with action, but simply with a word. A genuinely divine rebuke is enough to slap the sea back into submission. Note that in verse 40, Jesus uses almost the same command to still the sea ("Peace! Be still.") as he does to squelch the upstart demon in Mark 1:25 ("Be silent"). Neither the demonic storm at sea nor the nagging demon in the synagogue have any power to threaten this divine Jesus. Both are dealt with swiftly almost as if they were no more than an annoyance. As one possessed of all-powerful divinity ...

57. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 6:45-52). Further along on their journey, Jesus had healed a Gentile girl who was demon possessed and a man who could neither speak nor hear (Mark 7:24-37). Yet another feeding miracle was recorded by Mark (8:1-10): this time 4,000 fed by seven loaves. Finally, Jesus had healed a blind man, fully restoring the man's vision (Mark 8:22-26). After all these tremendous acts and signs of power, the disciples surely felt they were on a road to success. It is not surprising, then, that in response to Jesus' query ...

58. Mark 14:1-15:47

Mark 14:1-15:47

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Surely everyone in the courtyard, including Peter, heard the spitting, catcalls, taunting and the sound of blows and slaps being delivered on the now-condemned prisoner. Perhaps it is those sounds that finally break Peter's heart and splinter his soul. Immediately after Mark describes the trial's outcome, he switches his focus back to that dim courtyard where Peter hides. The sharp-eyed, high priest's maid approaches and the text makes it clear she "sees" Peter in two ways. First, she sees a man "warming ...

59. Marked For Death

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

George Bass

... and every step of the way on our pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is during the season of Lent that we hear the story of Jesus’ death on Calvary and may begin to realize how much we have in common with our Lord; He, the very Son of God was marked for death just like we are! The difference is that Jesus’ death was unwarranted; he had done nothing to deserve death, was, in fact, obedient to the will of God “unto death.” And he wasn’t allowed to die a natural death; he was executed in an excruciatingly ...

60. Marks Of A Champion

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... ruined, but Jan Christian Oliver will tell you that was the night he found his soul. (4) If you've ever identified gentleness with weakness, you've got it all wrong. Sometimes it takes an inordinate strength to be gentle. So, those are the marks of a champion--a champion of Christian faith. Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Say, do you see what I see? I believe I just painted a picture of Jesus. Righteous, godly, full of faith, unbelievably loving, enduring all the way to the ...

61. Mark 8:31-38

Mark 8:31-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... s record. Jesus turns himself and his disciples away from Galilee and faces them towards Jerusalem. As the first leg of their travels takes them to Caesarea Philippi, Mark's portrayal of Jesus also shifts. Three different times on this trip (recorded in Mark 8:31-38; 9:31; and 10:32-34) Mark has Jesus lecture his disciples on the impending events awaiting him in Jerusalem. No longer is Jesus' messiahship to be proved through a ministry of miracles. The way open to Jesus now is one of suffering and rejection ...

62. Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... besieging Rabbah (verse 1) illustrates the active life of danger and hardship the army led for the sake of their country. The image of David languidly rising from his couch following an afternoon nap and idly meandering about the roofscapes to pass the time (verse 2) markedly contrasts David's role as king to the lives of his soldiers. The soft life behind the lines tempts David to abuse his power as king and reject the front-lines laws of God. Like a common despot David sees Bathsheba, desires her, and so ...

63. Mark 8:31-38

Mark 8:31-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

64. Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

65. Mark 3:20-35

Mark 3:20-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... text opens, those who thought they had known Jesus the longest and the best his oldest friends and family cannot comprehend all the stir and turmoil that now follows him. Their conclusion is to diagnose Jesus as "out of his mind" (v.21). Mark does not focus on the fallout from this diagnosis until verse 31. At this point Jesus' closest family, "his mother and his brothers," return to the scene. Standing "outside" apparently both physically and metaphorically his family calls out to him, demanding that he ...

66. Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... many wealthy worshipers placing significant sums into the temple treasury. But it is not until Jesus observes the tiny gift of two leptons given by a poor widow that he is moved to comment on the proceedings he is witnessing. The worth of a lepton, as Mark himself notes in the text, is minuscule, variously estimated as one-half a Roman quadran, one-eighth of a cent, one-four-hundredth of a shekel, one-one-hundred-twenty-eighth of a denarius, or one-seventh of a chalkous. Perhaps the best estimate of what ...

67. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and taught by him along the way, eagerly mouth these same inaccurate descriptions emphasizes how completely they miss the target. Both Mark's readers and apparently the disciples themselves can hear the wrongness in these titles. Jesus now immediately asks for their response ... accurately identify his master. When Peter pronounces Jesus "the Christ" or "the Messiah," he echoes the opening sentence of Mark's gospel declaring "the good news of Jesus Christ." This is the first time any of Jesus' disciples have ...

68. Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." Any reader is immediately primed for some "pie-in-the-sky" request. Mark's penchant for repeating phrases further highlights the impropriety of James and John's question by having Jesus mimic back to them without any ... determine the onset of that age of glory and God who will prepare the setting of all eschatological events. In verse 41, Mark stops singling out James and John as the most wrong-headed disciples and allows the other ten to put on an equally ...

69. Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . The text for today describes exactly the actions and attitudes that made Jesus’ work the topic of conversation. His encounter with the man suffering from leprosy is anything but ordinary. The situation steps far beyond the cultural norm from its very beginning. Mark records that the leper approaches Jesus, kneels before him, and speaks to him, pleading to be made “clean.” “Leprosy” was a catch all term in the first century. It was used to describe almost any skin disease. In Leviticus 13-14 the ...

70. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... about curtailing and containing eschatological expectations as it is about giving a sneak peek at the future. Jesus is no “shock jock.” His words are directed towards disciples and friends, not just to possible survivors of the apocalyptic mayhem to come. For Mark’s perspective the most definitive piece of information is revealed in the image of 13:1: Jesus is described as coming “out of the temple.” This simple exit becomes the equivalent of a “shake the dust off your sandals” moment. Jesus ...

71. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... had always been associated with the possible transference of power. The touch of one with special or healing powers, whether through the touch of a garment or their laying on of hands, is a long established experience of the transference of that power. Mark’s text doesn’t precisely describe what it is the women touches. Some have suggested that it was one of the four tassels of Jesus’ “tzitzit” — the traditional garment worn by all observant Jews that featured a tasseled fringe that swung beside ...

72. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... false, know-it-all leadership. The proclamation of “I am he” is a declaration of “ego eimi,” the declaration made by God affirming God’s own identity (Exodus 3:14, Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 41:4, 43:10) and Jesus’ own identifier in Mark 6:50. God needs no other passport than “I am.” It is not the physical damage of temple tumbling, wars, earthquakes, or famines that are the most dangerous challenges facing Jesus’ disciples. Rather the specifically spelled-out threat is that of deception ...

73. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , curtails any pride they may feel in guessing his identity, and begins to fill in the blanks in their understanding. The messiah Jesus depicts in verse 31 is very different from the image Mark himself has tried to convey about Jesus. No longer does Mark focus on Jesus' power and authority. As they wend their way to Jerusalem, Mark begins to emphasize with Christ's suffering and death. Jesus' consistent use of the term "Son of Man" to refer to himself adds to this new understanding of his role and mission ...

74. Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... wild eagerness Bartimaeus' body displayed as it sought to catch up to his voice and his heart. Piteously portrayed in verse 46 as a desolate blind beggar "sitting by the roadside," the man is now invigorated and animated as he responds to Jesus' call. Mark continues to link this story to the previous section when he records Jesus' inquiry of Bartimaeus using the exact same language of 10:36. As James and John approach Jesus to make their self-serving request for reserved seating in heaven, Jesus also asks ...

75. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

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