The Well: Sermon Audio

In this passage, Jesus begins teaching and preparing His disciples concerning future events (both near and distant) that will occur. Some of these events are painful realities, such as the destruction of the nation of Israel, its temple, false witnesses against the church and immense persecution on those who follow Christ. Yet some of these events also involve our glorious hope, such as the return of Jesus, His righteous judgment of evil and our eternal union with Him. The purpose of Jesus teaching this wasn’t to create hysteria, unleash a wave of Left Behind movies or invoke needless eschatological debates within the church, but rather to prepare them in perseverance for the upcoming persecution, to fix their hope on the glorious promises of Christ yet to be revealed, and to ensure they stay laser-focused on their mission: preaching the gospel to all nations. [Video File] [Audio File]

Where did Jesus receive His authority? After craftily backing the religious leaders into a proverbial corner, Jesus refuses to answer their question. On the heels of this iteration, Jesus then demonstrates that His civil, theological and moral authority all come from the fact that He is Lord and Messiah. [Video File] [Audio File]

Jesus begins the Passion Week with the most remarkable of entrances. Everything He does is intentional and focused. During this time, He makes some strong accusations toward the religious people and the temple crowd, and He uses Old Testament Messianic prophesies, big time illustrations, and a redefining of worship to raise the bar for His disciples and for us. [Video File] [Audio File]

In a world where rulers use their subjects as stepping stones to personal success and greatness, Jesus has something else to say. Leadership at its core is not about greatness, but about humility. It’s not about the exaltation of self, but of others. As we investigate the theme verse of the book of Mark, Jesus has a very different type of leadership in mind for Himself, for His disciples and for us. [Video File] [Audio File]

Debates on the definition and meaning of marriage and divorce were just as heated in Jesus’ day as they are now. There were many divisions over what grounds were permissible for divorce and what grounds were not. In this passage, the Pharisees seek to trap Jesus on his view of divorce, hoping to either capture a heretical response from Him, or at the very least, split his followers based on where He landed. Yet Jesus turns the question on its head and points our attention to God’s original purpose and design for marriage. This week we’ll seek to gain a greater biblical perspective on the issues of marriage, divorce and remarriage as well as be challenged to examine our own hearts towards Christ and the outworking of His gospel in His marriage covenant with us. [Video File] [Audio File]

After letting His disciples know what it will cost Him to bring us salvation, Jesus teaches us what it will cost us to follow Him. And we find that it costs us what it costs Jesus: our life. Following Jesus is not just believing things about Jesus. It is believing in Jesus, and that changes everything. However, Jesus also reveals that the cost of someone not handing their lives over to Him is far more in the end. [Video File] [Audio File]

After lecturing and training His disciples, Jesus has given them multiple lab settings to follow Him. In this message, Jesus asks the most important question the disciples could ever answer and quite possibly the most important question you could ever answer. “Who do you say that I am?” It’s a question we all need to meditate on and answer. It’s also a question we can ask ourselves over and over again when making decisions, and Peter’s answer heralded a great response from Jesus. [Video File] [Audio File]

Out of all the enemies and challenges Jesus has faced thus far in Mark's Gospel, probably the greatest one is that of religion: man's attempt to justify or sanctify himself before God through his own human effort or external means – apart from Christ. In this passage, Jesus will confront religion head-on, and in doing so show us the greatest enemy we can face in the world today isn't an external one but the one that lies within our own hearts. Likewise, He'll show the solution to that same problem won't be accomplished through our own external behaviors, but rather through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that makes our hearts new. [Video File] [Audio File]

Paul writes the book of Romans under the reign of Emperor Nero (who would eventually have Paul executed), and in this chapter tells both Jews and Christians that despite their fear of persecution, they were to subject themselves to the governing authorities. Why? Because those who are in authority over us were appointed and established by God. He is ultimately in charge. He is the one who’s really in authority. We need to trust that He is the ultimate King of Kings, and by subjecting ourselves to those in authority over us, we are subjecting ourselves to Him. [Video File] [Audio File]

Faith without deeds is useless. James makes this statement as a reminder that our faith in Christ should be seen in the world around us (James 2:17). Paul takes this same direction in Romans 12 when he lays out over twenty indicators of how our faith should be seen. The world would suggest that our faith is personal and private, but God says we should live in a manner that puts Christ on display. God says our faith should be seen. People should be able to match our verbal confession with the practical outworking of our faith in our lives. [Video File] [Audio File]

Though the world might suggest this life is about accommodating self, God says we are gifted by Him to benefit others. However, identifying our spiritual gifts and utilizing them within the body of Christ is a lost art. Unfortunately the trend toward consumerism has influenced the church, and many are simply attending a service and hoping to be entertained. Churches have lost momentum, and simply resolved to put on a show and try not to lose anyone. But God says we are to be informed of our spiritual gifts and to utilize them in the Kingdom of God. Every follower of Christ has a unique role to play within the body, and we are all called to bring out gifts together as one. If we are not bringing our unique contributions to the body of Christ we will not be effective in making disciples. It’s time for an awakening to occur within the church, where every follower of Christ investigates their unique gifting and gives of themselves for the greater good of the glory of God. [Video File] [Audio File]

As we turn the page from chapter 11 to chapter 12 in Romans, Paul turns from theology to practice. What do we do now, knowing what God has done for us and with us? In light of the mercies of God shown to us over the previous chapters, we are to respond with worship. But what is the reasonable way to worship this God who has done so much for us? This God who has given us new life and set our spirits free from sin? The answer is to give Him our bodies and minds. We’ll find out what that looks like this week. [Video File] [Audio File]

Throughout the Gospels we see a Savior who came to seek and save the lost and the broken, and bring them into His family. Today we celebrate the goodness and grace of God through the work and person of Jesus Christ as people are baptized. Baptism is an important part of a Christian’s life and a significant part of the church’s life. It is a public profession of a personal, internal conversion, and we celebrate with those who have chosen to proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. [Video File] [Audio File]

Routines are predictable, manageable and safe, but not always helpful. We are creatures of habit by nature. We tend to gravitate toward the same routines, the same commutes, the same spiritual exercises. Yet more of the same typically produces more of the same. Routines do not always bring about the life change we hope for. As we look to the dawning of a new year, let’s consider shaking things up a bit. Consider inviting others into the process and making your spiritual life more communal. Reimagine your spiritual life, change up your routines and allow for a freshness to enter. [Video File] [Audio File]

The Christmas story is so familiar to many of us that we can miss the nuance of the story, the scandal of the story, and the opportunity to see God in a special and profound way. People throughout the Bible had an expectation of the Savior who was to come, but He chose to come in obscurity, and by doing so defied their expectation. The genealogy of Jesus is scandalous in itself, and then there is the virgin conception, Joseph secretly planning to divorce his wife, Mary’s 70-mile journey on a donkey while very pregnant, and the feeding trough for sheep and goats that they lay the baby Jesus in. Yet God came the way He did intentionally. He humbled Himself to come into the stench of this world in the shadiest of circumstances so we can relate to Him, and understand He came for people just like us – the imperfect, the lowly, the lost. [Video File] [Audio File]