Mark 9:30-50

Mark 9:30-50

“This teaching, above any other, strikes directly against all our most precious and ingrained inclinations. The christian church has been called the upside down kingdom, because these few words, coupled with Jesus own servant-like actions, flip on its head what it means to be a human created in God’s image. There is nothing more carnal and normal, natural yet so heinously sinful than looking out for number one. And Jesus says, there is nothing more spiritually necessary, than to die to self and considering others more important than yourself. So Jesus says, If anyone would be first, he must be last and servant of all.”

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Romans 12:14-21

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Romans 12:14-21

“Even though believers can be severely mistreated by others we should never forget that we are dearly loved by God, chosen to be his own. Rejection by others is a deep wound, but remember the mercies of God. The salve of God’s love is our healing. But because God created us with an innate desire for justice - at least when it comes to others - we will not be able to conquer feelings of revenge unless we recognize that God will eventually set all accounts right. We will fall prey to retaliation in the present if we did not know that God will vindicate us in the future. The recognition that God will judge our enemies is crucial for overcoming evil with good. When we are mistreated and abused and our rights are infringed upon, we are not to give in to the desire to set things right. We are not to give into the desire to make this fair…to get back at them. Rather, we are to place the fate of our enemies firmly in God’s hands, realizing that God is the only one who is qualified to judge, and the only one who can really give people what they truly deserve.  It is only appropriate and reasonable, with this in mind, to resist seeking revenge, because you and I cannot rightly judge…”

Romans 12:9-13

Romans 12:9-13

“Paul is not now just listing random pious acts. But he is teaching us that a church which offers itself to God must do so out of a sincere love that expresses itself in these ways. And if the impetus - the motivation for these acts - comes from knowing the mercies of God, and this gospel is all about being reconciled to God and adopted into his family, then we must devote a great deal of our energy to communicating with God so that our relationship can grow. If the genuine love we express to one another is motivated and empowered by the love of God experienced, then we must grow in that love. Friends, your relationship with God is not an individualistic thing, because it affects all of us; everyone around you and everyone who is influenced by them and so on and so on until the whole church is strengthened by the Spirit’s work in you!”

Romans 12:3-8

Romans 12:3-8

“It may shock you, in this modern age, to see that Paul does not deal with the problem of pride by appealing to the concept of equality…Paul’s larger emphasis in these chapters is the unity of the church….(T)he shocking thing here is that the church is not called to unity by seeing our equality, but by seeing our diversity.  Certainly, Paul has earlier emphasized the equality of all people - in that we have nothing of value to offer God and have done nothing to deserve anything good from God at all.…(but) the central point here is that each believer has something unique to contribute to the proper functioning of Christ’s body, and that despite our many inequalities, we can have unity when we each offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by existing for each others’ good…”

Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1-2

“So why does Paul wait until now to begin discussing Christian living?  That’s what he should be focusing on right?  Obeying the command of Christ to “Go and make disciples”… Why the long theology lesson? And shouldn’t the message of the church just focus on victorious Christian living and godly behavior?  Theology confuses and doctrine divides, right?

If we start with a list of instructions, we will tend to start trying to accomplish those things without the gospel motivation required in order to genuinely fulfill them from a motivation of love towards God. I can tell you: be humble, be generous, be selfless; But these are worthless instruction unless we begin to understand what God has done as a free gift; the mercy he has shown to undeserving sinners like you and me; the people God has formed from among those who had no right by birth or by merit to be called the children of God.”

Mark 9:14-29

Mark 9:14-29

“(I)f there’s one thing I want you to understand from this message today - one thing that’s more important than anything else I’ll speak this morning - I want you to catch who the father came to see with his son:

‘Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has an evil spirit.’ (v.17)

No matter what your expertise is in life, no matter how gifted a pastor or counselor or friend you are, when someone comes to you for advice or help, they are not coming to you. They are coming to Jesus. They are asking him for help. You are only a messenger. You are only a conduit. If you don’t give them Jesus, you are at best being a hindrance.”

Mark 9:1-13

Mark 9:1-13

“He is changed in body, transfigured. And this is the english equivalent of the original greek word metamorphao, where we get the word metamorphosis…In that moment Jesus is recognizably himself, and yet totally altered. The shroud of reality is temporarily lifted and Peter, James and John see Jesus as he truly is. I think it’s really important we understand that Jesus didn’t just suddenly start glowing all bright, but that the radiance, the blinding white brilliance, the beaming bodily intensity that is so bright that it actually makes his clothing luminescent, is his natural state. He is light! Because he is himself all consuming light. What they are seeing is his natural state, so what they see the rest of the time is a glory hidden, only his human nature is visible…The rest of the time Jesus is shrouded, his glory covered, radiance veiled, just as Moses had to be veiled after he had met with the Lord.”

Romans 11:11-36

Romans 11:11-36

“What will motivate us to persevere in faith?: ‘the kindness and the severity of God.’ The kindness of God cannot be truly appreciated as a gift of his grace unless the severity of God is contemplated as the just penalty for forsaking him…Although our salvation flows out of God’s gracious and unconditional election, this does not mean that we are merely passive recipients of that final salvation. We are called to live by faith; and if we choose disobedience and unbelief, we cannot expect any better of an outcome than Israel has experienced.”

Romans 11:1-10

Romans 11:1-10

“Throughout, we need to recognize that what Paul says here is not only true of Jewish people, but also gives us an example of the faithful character of God and his promises which can be relied upon by all believers today…Like you and I, Paul was not more likely to choose faith and obedience. He was the least likely to convert, from the least likely of people. God makes this clear through the Scriptures, that Israel was not chosen for their righteousness but for their weakness. This is God’s modus operandi, his M.O…They were not chosen based on God’s foreknowledge - something which the Bible never says…but they were chosen by grace…Now church, we must defend this doctrine of unconditional election so vigorously, because the denial compromises the biblical gospel, that justification is by grace alone through faith alone. The Protestant Reformation was propelled by people coming to believe in and preach passionately these doctrines of grace…”

Romans 10:14-21

Pastor Josh continues to teach us through Paul’s Epistle to the Romans:

“There is a responsibility and a necessity under the sovereignty of God, to preach the gospel and to send preachers. It is defiant insubordination to say that we will just ‘trust God to save whomever he wills’. He has already establishede that he will save through our obedience…Human responsibility and divine sovereignty are not played off against each other so that one nullifies the other; instead human responsibility is always subordinate to the sovereignty of God without ‘emptying human choices of their authenticity or validity’…”

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