Pastor's Corner: WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?

  Three Marks of Authentic Discipleship Mark 11:22-25 Introduction: This week I thought of the story of the rambunctious boy who was sitting near the front of a southern church, but seemingly unable to stay still. Finally, his dad had enough. He picked him up, put him over his shoulder, and headed down the center aisle toward the foyer. Of course, all heads turned, and seeing that he had an audience, with much of the church was looking his way, the boy said, “Y’all pray for me now!”        Our subject today is prayer, and our attitude in prayer. Our attitude toward God, and our attitude toward one another. As we have walked through Mark, we’ve been looking at his story of Jesus from at least two perspectives. On the one hand , the historical account of Jesus revealing himself through His works and words, and calling people to believe and follow Him. On the other hand , we know that the Gospel writer was writing 20-30 years after the resurrection, to a group of believers already u

  The Temple and the Fig Tree Mark 11:12-22 Introduction : Last week was Palm Sunday in August at LBC... this week we look at the Temple cleansing, intertwined with the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. We were reminded last week that Jesus is the King. He came  first  as the Servant-King, willingly laying down His life to make a way for fallen humans to become kingdom citizens… At the end of that scene, we had an incident reported only by Mark, when Jesus… 11 …entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany... What was He looking at as He entered the Temple? What was He thinking? Jesus knew what was coming on Friday, He knew what He had come to accomplish on our behalf. Jerusalem was the City of God, and the Temple was the center of worship, the place where God had chosen for His Name to dwell. It makes sense that the Messiah would appear there. It would not have been expected that whe

 [This message is a reworking of the Palm Sunday message of 2022 that served as the start of this series in the Gospel of Mark. The subtle changes are in light of working through this context of the Gospel in recent months, SN]. The Coming of the Servant-King Mark 11:1-11 Introduction : On the journey to Jerusalem Jesus spoke of His coming death. This scene in Mark 11 is perhaps more in line with what the disciples expected, a reception worthy of the Davidic Messiah! Yet contrast what we see here and the story as it unfolds, with the vision in Rev 19:11-16, 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.   12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.   13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.   14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in

                                                 “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord!” Mark 10:46-52 Introduction : When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he heard what Jesus was doing, and he sent his disciples to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" We read Jesus’ reply in Matthew 11:4-5… 4 And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see :  5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them… ” The works and the words of Jesus bore witness to His messianic identity . One of the ministries of the Rescuer in the Messianic age would be to open the eyes of the blind. Isaiah at least twice refers to this future work of the messiah. We read in Isaiah 42:6-7… 6 "I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a li