Sunday, November 1
Jesus tells his disciples not to be anxious about food, clothing, and money because the Father already knows what they need, and instead to seek his kingdom and hold their possessions loosely.
Sunday, October 25
God spoke his ten commandments to Israel out of the fire on the mountain, and the people were right to be terrified and to ask Moses to stand between them and God. The sermon holds that same pattern out to us: God has spoken, his word is enough, and we come to him only through a mediator.
Sunday, October 18
Paul stands in Athens, provoked by the idols all around him, and makes his defense of the faith by starting with the God these philosophers already sensed but did not know. He moves from creation to judgment to the resurrection, and a handful believe.
Sunday, October 11
Jesus feeds a Gentile crowd of four thousand in a desolate place out of sheer compassion, and the disciples who already saw him feed five thousand balk at it. The sermon asks whether we share Christ's heart for people we would rather not feed.
Sunday, October 4
Jesus, traveling through Gentile territory, heals a deaf man with a speech impediment by taking him aside privately and communicating with him through touch and sight, showing that the kingdom of God has come and that his compassion reaches outsiders.
Sunday, September 27
A Gentile mother begs Jesus to heal her daughter, and instead of turning her away he draws out a faith that holds on to the crumbs of grace. The gospel was always meant to go past Israel to the nations, and desperation becomes the school where that faith is learned.
Sunday, September 20
Jesus declares that what defiles a person is not what goes into them from outside but what comes out of the heart, and in doing so he fulfills the Old Testament cleanliness codes and brings in a new era of redemption.
Sunday, September 13
Jesus confronts a religion that keeps the outside clean while the heart stays far from God, and he frees his people to obey not as slaves but as beloved children.
Sunday, September 6
Jesus sends his disciples into a storm, walks across the water to them as the great I Am, and steadies them with his presence. Mark holds the whole scene up as the answer to a world that feels like chaos, and as a call to keep learning who Jesus actually is.
Sunday, August 30
Jesus, the shepherd-king, looks on an exhausted and hungry crowd with compassion and feeds them abundantly, even through the inadequacy of his disciples, pointing to the greater feast he himself provides.