Sunday morning we continued our current sermon series with Mark 6:1-6. There we observed the tragic account of how the sin of unbelief caused the people of Jesus hometown of Nazareth, to reject their Messianic King and Savior. We saw four characteristics of unbelief and the main truth we discovered is: Unbelief has the power to rob us of the greatest blessings of God. You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I pray that these questions serve you as you seek to diligently guard your heart from the sin of unbelief.

1) Prior to hearing the message, would you have considered unbelief one of the most ruinous sins in our culture? Why or why not?

2) When the people of Nazareth heard Jesus preach they were “astonished” by the wisdom he possessed. Yet, their unbelief blinded them to the plain truth of his identity and rather than seeing Jesus as their long awaited Messianic King and Savior, they simply saw Him as the village carpenter. What part of Jesus true identity do you find it most difficult to embrace? What passages of Scripture do you need to believe in order for that to change?

3) We’ve all heard the saying “familiarity breeds contempt”. This was indeed true of the people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. Where are you most vulnerable to allowing your soul to become dull or cold, due to your familiarization with things that pertain to Christ? How might you seek to guard your soul in this area?

4) The prevalence of unbelief in the town of Nazareth caused Jesus to limit the display of divine power. While Jesus had the power to do mighty works, He chose not to use that power. In what area of your life might the presence of unbelief be limiting the display of divine power? What are you doing to deal with this unbelief?

May the Lord grant you the grace to identify the presence of unbelief in your life and the power to put it to death. Grace to you!

Kirk

Last Sunday we looked at the final story in Mark 5, which highlighted again the power of Jesus Christ, this time over sickness and even death.   This story also highlighted the power of the word of Christ.  And this story also brought us all into two more completely desperate situations.  For both Jairus and the woman with the discharge of blood, desperation drove them to Jesus as their only hope for help.  And in both we saw an example of faith, especially in the woman who would serve as an example to Jairus and by extension, to us all.  We ultimately learned that in the midst of our desperation or hopeless situations: go to Jesus, do not fear but only believe. You can listen to our download the sermon here.  I hope these questions will help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  Are you in the midst of a hopeless or desperate situation right now (no remedy, no earthly answer, solution out of your control)?

2.  Where are you tempted to “go first” during times like this (internal strength to get you through, a friend to talk to, worldly wisdom or answers, substances to numb or make things easier)?  Why are we to go to Jesus first?  What does going to Jesus first look like for you?

3.  Jesus tells us all when that moment of bad news or tragedy comes, “do not fear, only believe.”  Why is this so hard to do? Why are circumstances so much more magnetic to our eyes than Jesus?  How do you think the Lord wants to build your faith to prepare for those “moments” of life?

4.  Why would you go to Jesus first in the midst of distress, despair or hopelessness?  We talked about three reasons: A.  Because He knows (had a prayer go unanswered); B. Because He is willing (willing to die for us, not willing to help us?; C. Because He still has power to heal.  Which of these three things about Jesus that are meant to build our faith do you struggle to believe?

5.  How has the Lord built your faith in Christ over the last few weeks reading about Jesus in the midst of desperate situations?  What difference has Christ made through His word in how you view your current circumstances?

These stories have all been about different kinds of desperate situations.  There are storms of life that we walk through, there is evil and darkness and sin that exists outside of us and in us, there are chronic diseases in our bodies and we are surrounded by the daily tragedy of death.  And yet, in the middle of all of these situations stands Jesus Chrsit, the Son of God, who has power over them all – power to save, power to heal, and power to rescue!  With a word storms, evil and sin, chronic sickness and even death itself all recoil!  And this Jesus invites us to trust in Him, to look to Him, to not fear, but believe in Him, in His power, in His ability to see us through and His deep love for us that fuels His commitment to be with us, help us and keep us till the end.

To Him be praise!  And in Him we must trust!

Have a grace filled week,

Eric

Last Sunday we studied the fierce windstorm that came upon Jesus and the disciples as the set out for the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  In an incredible display of power, Jesus calmed the winds and the waves with a word and they obeyed.  This account has powerful Christological implications as the story ends with the question, “Who then is this that even the winds and the waves obey Him?”  Every man and woman has to deal with that question.  He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  And there are also very personal implications as we think about the storms of this life.  We ultimately learned that Jesus wants us to trust Him!  Because of His power as the Son of God, because of His promises to get us to the other side and because of His great love most clearly displayed on the cross – we can trust Him!  You can listen to or download the message here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  What are the specific “storms” that God has either brought you through or has you in right now?

2.  What encouraged you from this message?

3.  Jesus asked, “Why do you fear, do you still have no faith?”  What specific fears tempt you in the middle of storms?

4.  What difference does it make or should it make to know that “Jesus is in the boat with us”?

5.  In this story, the power of Christ (calms to storm), the promise of Christ (get to the other side), and the love of Christ (mercy to provide relief) are on display as reasons for us to place our trust in Christ.  Which of these three do you struggle to believe in the midst of storms?

6.  Why is “the other side” not always the outcome we are looking for?

7.  How did God encourage your faith through His word?  How do you believe the Lord wants to build your faith through His word no matter what the circumstances in your life are?  How do you think the Lord wants to use you to encourage others who in the midst of a storm?

How good it is to know the Jesus is with us, He is powerful to save, He promises to get us to the other side, and He loves us more than we know.  I hope these truths help us all to trust Him more and I pray His Spirit grows our faith more and more!

Grace to you,

Eric

On Sunday we studied the final two parables in Mark 4.  Jesus used two more farming metaphors to illustrate what the Kingdom of God is like.  We learned about the surprisingly powerful nature of the Kingdom and the surprisingly pervasive nature of the Kingdom.  Where the Kingdom is planted, it has power to grow – powerfully, automatically, sovereignly and completely.  And where the Kingdom is growing, it will spread and conquer and dominate into the whole earth.  This is meant to be profoundly encouraging to us!  God is at work, more than we know!  He has power to save and His gospel has power to spread and grow throughout the earth and throughout our lives.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  What is the job description of the farmer?  What is the job description of the seed?  What is the danger of getting this wrong, backward or mixed?

2.  Why can a wise farmer sleep and rest? Do you find yourself able to rest knowing that God is at work?  What keeps you from resting?  How does the parable about the power of the seed help your perspective?

3.  We talked about three ways these parables should affect us.  We should sow, rest and believe.  Which of these do you struggle with the most?  How do you believe the Lord wants to use these parables to change you?

4.  How does the parable of the mustard seed give you confidence that the gospel has the ability to spread and conquer and dominate around the world, in our city, in our church and in your life?

5.  Jesus had 120 followers on earth when He left (talk about mustard seed beginnings!)  Then, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the church and it exploded on the day of Pentecost and has exploded around the world for 21 centuries.  What role do you see the Holy Spirit playing in the spread of the gospel in you and through you?

Grace to you this week,

Eric

On Sunday Mike Napier served us well by preaching to us from Psalm 41.  Mike drew our attention to the past, present and future elements of the Psalm as well as the way the Psalms ultimately point us to Christ.  Our hope in the present is based on promises made in the past that will be fulfilled in the future.  And in Psalm 41, our hope in the present is directly connected with the reality of resurrection; both Christ’s and ours.  To know that one day we will be resurrected in glory because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead is the foundation for every hope we have in a broken world in which we face many trials.  You can listen to our download the message here.  Mike provided these questions to help us apply God’s word to our lives.

Yesterday was a wonderful morning at church in so many ways.  We continued our study of Mark and looked at the Parable of the Soils in chapter 4.  We learned the point of the parable, according to Jesus, is that the condition of ours hearts make all the difference when it comes to the word of God producing fruit in our lives.  The four soils represent four different kinds of heart.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  We are meant to find ourselves in parables.  Where did you find yourself in this parable of the soils (hard heart, shallow heart, thorny heart or receptive heart)?

2.  How do you approach the word of God?  Do you read it regularly, seeking to apply it to your life? How did God use this text to convict you?

3.  How do you seek to digest and apply God’s word to your life (private reading or listening to God’s word preached)?  How do you make time to consider and process the preaching of God’s word? Why is that so important?

4.  How do think the Lord would want His word to have more of an impact on your life?

I was struck with how gracious it is of the Lord to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom to us through the gospel of His Son.  He has opened our eyes to see and softened our hearts to receive His word.  And He desires nothing more than for us to bear much fruit!  All of this happens as we takes His word seriously, receive it, consider it, digest it and apply it to our lives, seeking to live it out.

Grace to you this week,

Eric