Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene - Weekly Sermon Podcast

Text: Mark 10:32-45
As Jesus foretells His death and resurrection while approaching Jerusalem, He also explains to His disciples that one must become a servant of all to become great. In learning what it is to be obedient and embrace holy living, we find that our lives are inextricably linked to the people we come into contact with whom God places before us. Part of God’s holy sanctifying work in our lives as believers is the realization that God loves each one of these individuals and lays a claim upon us to respond in openness, vulnerability, and love to them.

Text: Mark 10:17-31
How is it that we are saved? In today’s scripture reading, a rich man asks Jesus the way to have eternal life. Jesus responds by issuing a call to live with a sacrificial faith. We must also accept God’s grace, because the kingdom of God is not based on what we’ve accomplished or attained in life; the only way to enter the Kingdom of God is by our salvation through His grace.

Text: Mark 10:1-16
As we continue through the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is asked about divorce by the Pharisees. In the context of John the Baptist’s death which resulted from his disapproval of Herod’s divorce and remarriage, this question can be seen as an attempt to get Jesus in trouble as well. Marriage is one of God’s preferred analogies about His relationship with His people, appearing frequently throughout Scripture. In this passage, Jesus’s words can be seen as an illustration of God’s grace just like God’s references to marriage is about His love. When we look for ways in which we can put grace into practice that reflect the characteristics of God, we should start with the very commitments we’ve made to the ones around us.

Text: Mark 9:38‐50
Today’s passage from Mark begins with someone who is not a disciple of Jesus casting out demons in His name. This follows the story of the disciples not being able to perform a similar act, and later arguing who among them was the greatest. This story shows that the power of God at work in our world has nothing to do with our personal power or the exercising of power over others; it is all about God’s mercy reaching out and communicating His love through us to the world.

Text: Mark 9:14-37
In the story of Jesus healing a boy with convulsions, the boy’s father serves as a model of faith. He is someone with questions and concerns but despite this, Jesus accepts his faith with the words “I believe; help my unbelief.” We don’t have to have all of the answers before we come to God or be sanctified and freed from all of our sins before we ask for His saving grace. Jesus recognizes this position and we can begin a journey of seeing the amazing things God will do in our lives when we ask for help with our own questions and unbelief.

Text: Mark 8:27-38
Who is Jesus for us? What do we see when hear or think about Jesus? Jesus asks His disciples this in today’s reading. Jesus reminds His disciples that who we are and how we live has everything to do with the God who has created us and the people He has put in our life, and while no life is without suffering, Jesus is there alongside us.

Text: Mark 8:1-26
Mark 8 begins with Jesus feeding another large crowd with only seven loaves of bread. Coming after the previous feeding of the 5,000 and the healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, this story is a continuation of showing that the power of God moves out in and among those in our world we are most likely to think are living outside of God’s treatment and care. We can be a part of this movement, as the Kingdom of God is wherever we take care of the needs of people with the faithfulness that God will provide.

Text: Mark 7:24-37
Pastor Amanda Lawton continues our study of the gospel of Mark with two stories where Jesus heals those outside the Jewish faith. These stories challenge us as followers of Jesus to be boundary breakers and engage in the transformation of the marginalized so that those around us who are “outsiders” are welcomed to become insiders, and that God’s grace extends to all.

Mark 7:1-23
When the Pharisees question Jesus about the practices of some of His disciples, He points out the ways in which their traditions are contrary to the commandments of God. Holiness is not a privatized concept about following earthly traditions or what we do or not do as individuals but instead is always about how we magnify God in our lives to those that God puts among us. Jesus invites us to be examples of this redefined holiness to the world.

“Provisions of Grace”
Text: John 6:24-35
Today’s sermon passage comes from shortly after John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000. Wanting more miracles to address more of their needs, a portion of the crowd asks Jesus what He is going to do for them next. Jesus responds to them by encouraging them to believe in Him to earn the bread of eternal life. In this time, eternal life was a concept reserved only for those with power; by using it, Jesus declares that each of us has worth to God and is worthy to receive this gift.