Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Our hearts are hard wired for greatness. We all desire to live lives well spent. Jesus addresses this desire in Mark 9:30-41. The disciples are arguing over who is greatest among them, and Jesus uses the opportunity to teach them and us the meaning of true greatness. He who would be great must be last and servant of all. Jesus wants to turn our thinking right side up and seek the blessing of God and flourishing of others over ourselves.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The first half of the book of Mark (1-8) primarily deals with the person of Jesus, while the back half (8-16) primarily deals with the purpose of Jesus. In chapter eight, Peter rightly identifies Jesus as the Christ, but Jesus turns their understanding of what that means upside-down by explaining that he must be betrayed, suffer, die and rise again. For the rest of Mark’s Gospel we follow Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. On his way, he spends focused time training his disciples – and us – on some crucial topics before he is gone. Today’s lesson from Mark 9:14-32, through a miraculous rescue of a demon possessed boy, is on faith – specifically, we learn about the focus of faith, the measure of faith and the nature of faith.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This morning we’re continuing in our study of the Gospel of Mark by zooming in on one particular verse (8:31) that just happens to get at the heart of what Easter is all about. As we saw last week, chapter eight is the turning point of Mark, specifically in Peter’s words to Jesus, “You are the Christ.” (8:29) The term “Christ” is a Greek translation of the Hebrew term “messiah” – both meaning “anointed one”. The Christ, or Messiah, was expected to be the king to end all kings; not merely a Savior but the Savior, not merely a rescuer but the Rescuer. He was going to be the one who would put every wrong right. And, in climatic fashion, Peter says to Jesus, “You’re him. That’s you. The one we’ve been waiting for.” The entire Gospel leads up to this important point and the rest of the Gospel describes what it all means.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Peter has declared Jesus is the Christ. For ancient Israel, this meant He was the long awaited king, rescuer, and savior of God's people. Jesus accepts this, but immediately clarifies. He has come for a salvation greater than earthly freedom, and this salvation requires His death on a cross. Those who wish to follow Him must also take up their cross and consider if they are willing to count all as loss for the gain of Christ.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The first eight chapters of Mark’s Gospel revolve around the singular question: Who is Jesus? We get the answer to that in our section today, Mark 8:11-30. Mark’s point is that we’ll never see Jesus rightly if we can’t see. He’s highlighting something about the natural human condition, namely that no one can see Jesus rightly without outside help. The Bible tells us that, by nature and choice, we are spiritually blind but Jesus offers us help and healing.

Mark, Media, Sermons, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Over the last two weeks we have seen Jesus turn the worldview of the Jewish religious leaders of his day upside down. They believed that following various clean laws and traditions would make them clean and acceptable before God. Therefore, they specialized in external ritual, rules and regulations. Jesus agreed that they were unclean, but disagreed with them regarding the source and solution to their uncleanness. “Your uncleanness”, Jesus told them, “comes from the inside not from the outside.” Today, in Mark 7:24-8:10, Jesus demonstrates that he meant what he said as he leaves the boundaries of ancient Israel and travels deep in the heart of “unclean” Gentile (non-Jewish) territory. We’re going to look at three stories that took place during this trek and get a snapshot of God’s global purposes in Jesus.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

At first glance, it may seem Mark 7:14-23 is about some ancient, irrelevant controversy. Jewish religious leaders believed that following various clean laws and traditions would make them clean before God. For this reason, they were rigorous in their practice of them and encouragement of others to do the same. In this section, Jesus turns all of that upside down. He agrees that they are unclean, but disagrees when it comes to the source of and solution to it. This is an important section about human nature, the source of our greatest problems, and our radical need for a Savior.