The Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:1-20

Mark doesn’t give us the chronology in which this next event happens. But Matthew indicates that this event is a continuation of a long day of teaching that Jesus had starting with the disciples picking the heads of grain as they walked through the fields on the Sabbath. On that same day, according to vs 1 of chapter 4, Jesus sat by the seashore. Jesus teaching at the beach seems to be a common occurrence in the gospels, as most of the time His teaching was outdoors. And on this occasion such large crowds gathered to Him that he moved

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Jesus chooses His disciples, Mark 3: 7-19

Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and [also] from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

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Lord of the Sabbath, Mark 2:18-3:6

I’m going to try to cover three events today in the ministry of Jesus which spans two chapters in Mark. That’s maybe an optimistic goal for me to accomplish in the time I have. But I think all three of these events have a common theme as I hope to show you. And what they have in common is Jesus’ dismissal of ritualistic, ceremonial laws which purport to have their basis in scripture, that purport to be the proper exercise of religion, but in fact are man’s additions to the law of God. The first event is found starting in

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God’s favor towards sinners, Mark 2:14-17

Last week we looked at the story of Jesus healing the paralytic man who was let down through the roof. I refer to it that way, because that is the way most people would remember it. But as I said last week, the most important thing about that event was not that the man was healed from his paralysis. But that Jesus forgave him of his sins. The main purpose for which Jesus came was to preach the gospel of salvation. To bring forgiveness to sinners and give them new life. If you remember, I spoke of Jesus in that

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The Diagnosis of the Great Physician, Mark 2:1-12  

The Diagnosis of the Great Physician, Mark 2:1-12 Psalm 130 As most of you know, I’ve been sick for the last couple of weeks. It became pretty obvious to everyone who heard me and saw me, that I had some sort of a virus or something. Just to be careful, I took a Covid test which came back negative. But after about 8 days or so though I decided maybe I should see the doctor and see if there was something they could do for me to help me get better. I think we tend to give too much credit

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THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST Mark 1:21-45      

Mark writes in a rather concise style and he moves quickly through events without spending as much time detailing them as do the other gospel writers.  It’s almost disconcerting to notice how often he uses the word “immediately.”  But I guess it’s emblematic of his style to keep moving and give highlights, rather than a lot of biographical details. I think the thread that ties this next passage together is found in another word used twice in this passage, but implied more often than that,  which is the word “authority.”  In  verse 22, “And they were astonished at His .

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Jesus calls His disciples, Mark 1:14-20

We are continuing in our study of Mark and we left off last time in vs 13 with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.  That temptation happened directly after he was baptized by John the Baptist.  Today we pick up in Mark’s account with vs 14, which begins with the phrase “Now after John had been taken into custody…”  What that indicates is that there is an interval of about one year in between vs 13 and vs 14. So Jesus’s ministry began with His baptism, and He has been preaching and teaching for about a year in both

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The beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ, Mark 1:9-13

Baptism is a term that has a variety of meanings or applications when found in scripture.  For instance, in vs 4 a version of the word baptism is attached to John’s name, John the Baptizer.  Then Mark says John came preaching a baptism of repentance.  And in vs 5, they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River.  So that’s three different connotations of the word in those two verses. Then John adds another application of the word in vs 8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” So clearly, though the

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The crux of the gospel, Galatians 6:11-18 

Do you know any magic tricks?  I have never really been able to do any that actually fooled anyone.  I can sort of do one trick, which I performed for my wife with a plastic cup and a lemon.  I think I might have fooled her with that one.  But from what little I know about magic tricks, the trick is to distract the person with one hand, while doing something else with the other hand.  So you distract on the one hand and then deceive with the other.  Or at least that’s a simple explanation for a lot of

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The practicality of walking by the Spirit, Galatians 6:1-10

Paul has established in his letter to the Galatians, that we are not under the burden of the law, but are to walk in the Spirit. That the flesh and the Spirit are diametrically opposed to one another. And if we walk in the Spirit, then we will keep the spirit of the law, but not be under the bondage of the law. At the end of chapter 5 he also gave us characteristics of living in the flesh as opposed to walking in the Spirit. He says in vs 19, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which

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