Sermon: He Gave His Life a Ransom for Many

“He Gave His Life a Ransom for Many” Mark 10:32-45 March 26, 2017 Over the years, I’ve preached about 25 Easter messages, and have also preached about the same number of Palm Sunday and Good Friday messages. I’ve preached several dozen communion sermons related to Christ and the cross, and preached through all of the […]

Sermon: He is Risen

He is Risen Mark 16:1-8 April 20, 2014 Some words are life-changing words. After they are uttered, the direction and course of one’s life is irrevocably changed. Words like the ones I said to Raye Jeanne a few months after we first met — “I love you.” Everything about our relationship changed after that. Words […]

The flesh is weak

The crucifixion of Christ would occur within hours. So Jesus went to the garden to pray and asked the three disciples in the “inner core” — Peter, James, and John — to also pray (Mk. 14:32-42). These were not immature or ungodly men. They loved Christ. Peter had just professed that he would die for […]

Unless the Lord had shortened the days…

Psalm 1 says it about as simply and clearly as it can be said: “the wicked will not stand in the judgment” (v. 5). But few believe it. Ask an unbeliever about hell and the judgment of God and he will characterize them as a debauched party with friends or something severe, but manageable — […]

What belongs to God?

In the final days of Jesus, His opponents used various means to attempt to discredit His teaching and malign His character. The questions they asked were not genuine desires to learn from Him or to clarify their understanding; the queries were not-so-cleverly disguised attempts to trap Him into saying something unintended that would make Him […]

He came in the name of the Lord

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and this morning’s Scripture reading (Mark 11) recalls the event of Christ’s ride into Jerusalem. There was much joy that day and declarations from the Psalms of Praise were sung as shouted as Jesus and the crowds processed into Jerusalem. One statements that was called out was, “Blessed is He […]

He cares

Philip Yancey recounts the words of a man with leprosy who visited Dr. Paul Brand, who had done much research on that disease: “When I got to Vellore, I spent the night on the Brand’s verandah, because I had nowhere else to go. That was unheard of for a person with leprosy back then. I […]

He does all things well

It’s just one tiny sentence at the end of a story, but it’s the key to understanding the story. After Jesus healed the Syrophoenician’s daughter of the demon and healed the deaf man by touching him with His saliva (Mark 7), along with other unnamed miracles, the crowd declared, “He has done all things well…” […]

He has authority

Writing in World a few years ago, Gene Veith observed that, “People today want to feel moral. But they do not want objective, transcendent absolutes — such as the Ten Commandments — whose authority comes from God.…They prefer to construct an ethical system that does not make them feel guilty.” In general, people want authority, […]

Why are you afraid?

The list of things that stimulate fear is long. Do a google search of phobias and you will find lists of dozens and even into the hundreds of fears (I found one list with 536 phobias) — including such things as aulophobia (fear of flutes), linonophobia (fear of strings), sinistrophobia (fear of things on the […]

Bible Reading Reflections, Mark 1-6

“And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach…” (Mark 3:14) Seven words form the foundation of Christ’s discipleship process for His band of twelve followers. So that they would be with Him. A few fishermen. A couple little brothers. A tax collector. A […]