Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

“…Our passage this morning contains the word ‘greater’ in three places. The Greek word is ‘Mega,’ which we have appropriated into English as mostly representing big gulps, lotteries and haircare products…But, Mark describes 3 things in this account as Mega, or Great.

1) The Storm: ‘And a great windstorm arose.’ (Mark 4:37)

2) The Calm: ‘And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.’ (Mark 4:39)

3) The Fear:  ‘And they were filled with great fear.’ (Mark 4:41)

You would think that the order of things should be different. That a great storm would cause great fear, and when it is quelled, there would be great peace. But as we’ve touched on earlier, the great storm only excited some fear. But, the calm — the great calm elicited great fear.…”

Mark 4:21-34

Mark 4:21-34

“The sooner we accept God’s sovereignty, his reality as it really is, the sooner we will understand that all that the world is running after the wrong things, in fact they see everything backwards to how it really is. Here’s a quick list: God’s power is made perfect in our weakness, our weapons of warfare are not of the flesh but spirit, the first will be last & the last will be first, and if anyone wishes to save their very life they must lose it.”

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14

Pastor Josh concludes his series through the book of Ecclesiastes with this sermon:

“This is the essence of wisdom then: learn to live joyfully and take pleasure according to the reality which actually exists…anything else is self destructive. As humans we veer one way or the other. We tend towards the self-vandalism as ascetism, which denies our self pleasure in God’s good creation. Or we foolishly sabotage ourselves with the unbridled hedonism which leads to catastrophe. We go our own way. We foolishly think we can live however we want without repercussion. Ecclesiastes calls us to a third way: to enjoy life, to embrace all the pleasures which God has freely given – while we fear him.”

Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20

Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20

Pastor Josh continues his teaching through the book of Ecclesiastes.

“Though wisdom is far better than folly, a little folly mixed in will outweigh wisdom and honor…Just as the presence of rot in expensive oil or perfume will ruin the entire vat, so can the presence of just one fool cause the entire project to fail. And this can be true even in the life of the individual. In a moment, through one act of foolishness, a career is finished. No matter all the past good that has been done. No matter how much trust has been built, it can all come to nothing through one moment of folly. O God, lead us not into temptation.”

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Pastor Josh continues his series through Ecclesiastes:

“At first brush, Ecclesiastes can come off pretty pessimistic, and the beginning of chapter 9 is among the most pessimistic messages of the entire book: Death comes to all.  It doesn’t matter if you act righteously or religiously, it will not save you from death, which, in the cynical tone of Ecclesiastes, “is a fate worse than life…But for all its cynical realism, Ecclesiastes does not counsel despondency, but demands joy!”

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