Berkley Community Church

"All roads lead to Rome." You may have heard that phrase. Centuries ago it was essentially true. Rome, as the central city of the known world, had a system of roads that acted as hubs coming out from the center. In that sense, all roads did lead to Rome. Popular belief is that all spiritual roads lead to heaven. What do you think? As we look at Mark 14, we see how Jesus alone is the only way to heaven.

Good morning! I'm glad you are with us this morning! Contrast = clarity. Time and time again as you read through the Bible, you see things contrasted. The religious leaders are contrasted with those who have genuine faith. The one faithful leper returns and give thanks to Jesus while nine did not. The generosity of Barnabas is contrasted with the fake generosity of Ananias. There are hundreds of comparisons across the Bible. Why? Contrast gives clarity. We see this again in Mark 14. The Bible calls us to live lives of contrast that give glory to God in all we do. Worship is not part of your life; it is your life.

Don't you love the Internet? It is full of people saying dumb things! I read yesterday in a National Geographic story that talked about five people living today who all think they are Jesus Christ - AND PEOPLE BELIEVE THEM! (well... like 6 people) I read today an article written last year titled, "Why American Christians are getting very worried about September 23rd"! It said that all the signs were pointing to the rapture and the end of the world. That was the day before the Pie Auction last year - so many pies would have gone to waste! Unlike the Internet, the Bible does speak the truth about signs and things yet to come. We are in the difficult passage of Mark 13 today.

Do you ever wonder if your faith is legit? Does the kind of encounter with God that you have right now - is it all that there is? We are back in the Gospel of Mark leading up to Easter. In chapter 11, we find Jesus cursing a fig tree and turning tables in the temple. Was Jesus just not a morning person? Does He have anger issues? Of course not. As we dig into the Sunday and Monday before the Crucifixion, we begin to see what real faith looks like.

What do you want most for your kids? Maybe you'd say a great education, solid morals, respect, hard work ethic. There could be many answers. Does one matter more than any other? Joshua 24 famously says, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." What a great declaration that we can make for our families. But here is the question: what does that look like? Does "serve" just mean volunteer? Or is there something more? Today we are talking about how Reflecting Marriage/Reflecting Jesus leads to Reflecting Jesus/Reflecting Parenting .

From the sermon to the Super Bowl -- men, this is your day! It's great being a guy. You can open your own jars... bathroom lines are 80% shorter... and you get special recognition for even the slightest act of thoughtfulness! All stereotypes and jokes aside, God's call on men to lead is one we need to take to heart. We will look at Genesis 3 and others to encourage and challenge the men to lead in all the ways God created them to.

Maybe 10 years ago, I was sitting in a marriage small group when the most profound question was asked. "Could it be that God created marriage to make you holy and not just happy?" I wrestled with that question for years. Yes, God created marriage to be a reflection of Christ's commitment to us as followers of Jesus Christ. As we seek Jesus in our marriage we are refined. Where better do you learn grace, patience, love, kindness, forgiveness, than in marriage? It totally made sense! But was that all that God created marriage for? Could it be that He created it to make us holy AND happy? We'll be talking about this today as we continue in this series, Reflecting Marriage/Reflecting Jesus.

You can go to the bookstore or search the internet and find millions of volumes of information aboutmarriageand relationships. "A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man." "To be happy with a man, a woman must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman, a man must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all." I am not saying that is good advice... but it is some of the advice that you find! Today, we are looking at how God defines marriage and decide if we will do marriage God's way in 2018!

It's funny how we always get to the last day of the year and feel the same way each time: "How did this year fly by so fast?" New Year's Eve offers a time to reflect on the year we've had--both the good and the bad parts of it--and see what we'd like to continue and what we'd like to improve on in the year ahead. As we do that again today, I'd like to explore a short account in Luke of Jesus in His childhood to discover why it's important not to forget what we celebrated a week ago as we celebrate the entrance into 2018.