Sometimes it's easy to feel like the darkness in this world is too strong; and that the people we love and care about are too far gone for God to work in their lives... But we serve a God of redemption! A God who buys back, frees, and rescues from bondage. There is no situation too spiritually dark, and no person too unlikely to be saved and redeemed when Jesus is involved.

What do you do when you find yourself confronted by fear? How do you respond when the storms of life threaten to steal your peace and rob you of your faith? This passage explores the intersection between fear and faith, and the real invitation that Jesus offers into true and tangible peace.

A message on Mark 4:21-34 from Keith Meadows, part of the Leadership Team at Anchor North Shore.

A message on Mark 4:1-20 (The Parable of the Sower) from Keith Hacquoil, part of the Leadership Team at Anchor North Shore.

What does Jesus desire of us? What does it take for us to be counted as among his family? Familiarity with Jesus does not always lead to faith; and proximity does not always lead to worship. In the midst of interactions with his family and the religious elite; Jesus explains who he considers his true family to be.

'Following' someone in today's day and age is largely a passive exercise. We lurk and silently observe celebrities and influencers online. We casually support or associate ourselves with the people and causes we 'agree' with. Is this the vision of 'following' that Jesus intended when he called his disciples? What does a life following Jesus look like?

What pleases the heart of God? Legalistic box-ticking or a heart that desires to practically help others and meet them in their need? What does it mean to truly embody the 'religion' that Jesus calls us to follow in?

What 'kind' of person is church for? What 'kind' of person is Jesus for? Do you have to look, or behave, a certain way? Do you have to come from a Christian family or a specific kind of background? Do you have to have your life in order or have cleaned up your mess? Who can come to Jesus? What 'kind' of person did he come for?

What is the greatest miracle Jesus could do in your life? Is it fixing your body? Mending your relationships? Healing your brokenness? Turning around a seemingly impossible situation? In this story Jesus shows that he has both the authority and willingness to perform the greatest miracle for us: forgiving our sins.

Jesus comes face to face with the dirtiest kind of person he could have possibly encountered in his day and age — a leper. How does he respond to this man who has been medically and socially outcast? What can we learn from this encounter?