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

  The Triumph of the King? Christ Died for our sins, and was buried Mark 15:42-47 Introduction : In August of 2023 our series in Mark brought us to Chapter 11 and the account of the Triumphal entry. Five days after He entered Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd, He lay dead in the Tomb. It has taken us a bit longer to work through these chapters in our study of Mark, but we have arrived at the last paragraph in Mark 15.        Think about the unfolding of the story: On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the city to the cheers of the crowd: the King is coming! He entered the Temple that day and remember that only Mark tells us that “ He looked around at everything”   before returning to Bethany (Mk 11:11). Now, five days later, He has been crucified, the veil of that same Temple has been torn from top to bottom, and He lay dead in the tomb . From Triumph to the Tomb? The King is coming! The King is dead? What did this mean?    ...

  “WE BEHELD HIS GLORY” Mark 15:37-41 Introduction:  An axiom of American life is that two things are certain: death and taxes! That has not always been so, both of those are part of life in a fallen world! I don’t think we’ll worry about taxes in the New Heaven and the New Earth, but for now, they must be paid! It is also true that with the Fall of the first Humans recorded in Genesis 3, came the certainty of death. From that time, until the future resurrection, “ It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgement.. .” (Heb 9:27). As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 5:12 ,  “… sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned …” Since the Fall, humans, born in sin, are by nature children of wrath , and, apart from Christ, deserving judgment, separated from God by sin. The Good News is that God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). For God so loved the world ...

  Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures (Or, “The Death of the Passover-King”) Mark 15:33-37 Introduction: Memorial Day is a day for all Americans to remember and honor those who served to preserve our freedom and paid the ultimate price. I hope you will take time tomorrow to think about those who laid down their lives for us. Their sacrifices helped preserve our freedom… even this freedom we are expressing today as we come together and worship. Not all nations have such freedom! It is appropriate on this Memorial Day weekend that our series in Mark brings us to the account of the death of Jesus on the cross . Because of His sacrifice we are free from bondage to sin and to Satan: “ If the Son therefore should make you free, you shall be free indeed! ” That brings us to... The BIG Idea : The Cross was the place of divine judgement against sin, and the death of the Son, as our substitute, is the only way to forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We’ll look ...

  THE KING ON THE CROSS: What more could He have done? Mark 15:21-32 Introduction : Brennan Manning, the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, enlisted in the army with his childhood friend Ray. They had grown up together and stayed best friends… Together they went to Boot Camp, and then served on the front lines during the Korean war.   One night while sitting in a foxhole, Brennan was reminiscing about the old days in Brooklyn while Ray listened and ate a chocolate bar. Suddenly a live grenade came into the trench. Ray dropped his chocolate bar, looked at Brennan, smiled, and then threw himself on the live grenade. It exploded, killing Ray instantly, but Brennan was saved. Years later, Brennan was visiting Ray’s mother in Brooklyn . They sat up late one night having tea when Brennan asked her, “Do you think Ray loved me?” Mrs. Brennan got up off the couch, shook her finger in front of Brennan’s face and shouted, “What more could he have done for you?” Brennan said that m...