When we encounter times of hardship, we can find ourselves feeling hopeless and afraid. In Mark 4:35–5:43, several stories demonstrate that faith overcomes fear when our hope is in Jesus.

Jesus Conquers Danger

The first story tells what happened when Jesus and His disciples were on a boat in the middle of a storm. Waves crashed, strong winds blew, and water was filling the boat. In great fear, the disciples asked Jesus if He even cared. This question was absurd — the God of the universe voluntarily became a baby, came down to earth, and went to a cross to die for us. We can be confident that He cares about us.

The wind and the waves did not gradually become still like they naturally would; they were immediately calm at Jesus’s words of rebuke. Through this miracle, He showed that He controls not only the wind and the waves but also the laws of nature.

Jesus Conquers Demons

The second story tells of a demon-possessed man who was sent into isolation because he could not be controlled. He was not only isolated from society but also tormented by the voices inside his head. He cried out in anguish and cut himself with stones. The devil wants you to harm and destroy yourself. He wants to be the voice in your head that’s driving you crazy. Jesus showed this man how much He cared by casting the demons into the pigs.

Rather than wanting to know more about Jesus after seeing this incredible display of power, the townspeople wanted nothing to do with Him. They didn’t want to inconvenience their comfortable lives, so they turned Him away. Do you desire comfort and control of your own life more than an encounter with the Savior?

Jesus Conquers Disease

Being desperate with no other options left, Jairus begged Jesus to come heal his daughter. On the way, they met a woman who had suffered with a discharge of blood for twelve years, causing her to be unclean and alone. She touched Jesus’s garment and was healed. Jesus told her that her faith in Him was what had made her well. We have been saved by grace alone through faith alone.

Jesus Conquers Death

After this, Jairus received the news that his daughter was dead. In his hopelessness, Jesus spoke these words to him: “Do not fear; only believe.” You will need these words at some point in your life too. Take them to heart and drive their roots deep.

The Lord of wind, waves, demons, and disease demonstrated that He is also the Lord of death and life. He continued to Jairus’s home, took the girl by the hand, and raised her into life.

There will be a moment when you experience hopelessness and fear in your life. You must speak truth to yourself, combatting lies with the words of Scripture. You must have faith and hope in Jesus.

Who is this Man? This is the Son of God! Live your life for Him!

In Exodus 11–12, God demonstrated that He is superior to all. A mightier King than Pharoah was going to visit Egypt. The same cry that originally came from the Israelites was going to be reversed, coming instead from the Egyptians who opposed Yahweh.

Trust the Sacrifice

Salvation comes through judgment. When this judgment comes, blood is the payment. In chapter 12, God instructed the Israelite fathers to sacrifice lambs and paint the blood on their doors. This was the only way their firstborn sons would be saved.

A penalty was due for the Israelites and Egyptians alike. While they were sinners, God initiated salvation by His own choice. He alone can accomplish salvation, and He alone gets the glory. In the Israelites’ place, God put a substitute — another sacrifice to bear the penalty.

The actual act of painting the blood on the doorpost was not what saved the Israelites. Instead, that act symbolized their faith. Their trust and belief in God’s promise allowed them to participate in the benefits of the blood.

Faith is how we overcome the impossible circumstances of slavery to sin. Wake up every morning, preach the Gospel to yourself anew, and trust the sacrifice.

Remember the Blood

At the moment of our conversion, we initially understand that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, but later, we far too often begin to turn it into a work of our own. God wanted the Israelites — and us — to remember that the blood is our rescue. Memories bring the events of the past into the present in a way that continues to shape us.

One way we remember the blood is to partake of the Lord’s Supper. In Luke 22, Jesus demonstrated that the Passover meal symbolizes the Son’s body provided for us. We are to covenant together to be part of the people of God who are formed by that sacrifice.

Journey to a New Land

When the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they were called to an adventurous and risky life of faith. This was not devised through human planning; their bread did not even have time to rise! Instead, it was made possible solely by divine action. We, too, go through the world as pilgrims with nothing of our own to offer. We are used to comfort and materialism, so we have bought into the illusion that we can provide for ourselves, but we cannot. God is our sole provider.

We are called out of our comfort zone and into the purposes that God has for us. In this world, we will not fit in if we live for Christ. We will be distinct from the culture. As we live this way, we can find hope in the promise that we’re on the journey to a new and better land, where every tear is wiped away and we will behold God face to face.

Chapel Recap: Living as the Aroma of Christ

Today in chapel, Rob Wynalda shared a powerful reminder from 2 Corinthians 2 that every believer carries “the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ” wherever they go. Wynalda challenged us to “be the aroma of Christ to the watching world,” living in such a way that others sense God’s presence through their actions, words, and attitudes.

Wynalda drew parallels between living out biblical principles and his experience developing hunting products, explaining how both require intentionality and purpose. Just as scent matters in hunting, our spiritual “fragrance” makes an impact on the world around us.

He encouraged us to seek opportunities for meaningful conversations about who God is and what He’s done. The goal is not perfection, but presence — living each day aware that our lives reflect Christ. Wynalda closed by urging everyone to “spend your time in prayer and with people who help you think about how to spend your life well.”

Through prayer, purpose, and presence, we can become a life-giving aroma of Christ to the world.

This morning in chapel, Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, was interviewed by Samuel Green, President and General Counsel for Reason for Life.

Phillips began by sharing how he accepted Christ and started his bakery. He chose the name because the word “Masterpiece” has the word “Master” in it. This reminds him that Jesus is his Master.

One busy Thursday afternoon at his shop in 2012, two men walked into the store looking for a cake for their wedding. Phillips knew he couldn’t make this cake because God designed marriage to be for one man and one woman. When he told the men he couldn’t make cakes for same-sex weddings, they got up and left in anger.

Over the next few weeks, Phillips began to receive hateful phone calls, emails, and even death threats. A month later, he received a notice charging him with a violation of the law. The government asked him to express messages that went against his religious beliefs as well as reeducate the staff and let them know these religious beliefs do not belong in the workplace.

Phillips decided to stand strong in his faith. While he welcomed everyone into his shop and treated them with love, he refused to celebrate sin. The Alliance Defending Freedom came alongside him to defend his case.

The case was taken to local court, but Phillips lost on the lower levels. The Colorado Supreme Court would not even take the case. The last place to go in the legal world was the United States Supreme Court. As Phillips was hit with the importance of this case, he realized it was not just about him, his shop, and his ability; it was about the rights of everyone to express their faith and their beliefs. He prayed about it and asked the Supreme Court to hear the case. And in the summer of 2017, he was amazed to discover that they had actually granted him a hearing.

In December, his case was heard at the Supreme Court of the United States. The battle was hard fought, but a turning point came when Justice Kennedy explained how tolerance is essential in a free society and how the state had not been tolerant or respectful of Phillips’s religious beliefs. In June of 2018, Phillips was overjoyed to see that his case had won, 7–2.

Soon after, he was sued again when he refused to make a pink and blue cake to celebrate a person’s gender transition. Again, he lost at the lower court levels, but at the Colorado Supreme Court, he won.

Phillips shared that no matter what we do for a living, we can do it with a Gospel mindset. “I didn’t want to tell these guys, ‘Get out of my shop,’” he said. “I wanted to serve them.” Phillips has shared the Gospel many times in his shop. “That’s the point,” he said. “That’s why God sent us. He left us here so we can share the good news.”

Chapel Recap: A Faith That Endures in Chaos

Today in chapel, Junior Class Chaplain Jack Armstrong taught from Habakkuk 3, challenging everyone to develop a faith that endures — a faith that remembers God’s character and holds firm when life feels uncertain.

Armstrong began by reminding us of the main theme that runs through Habakkuk’s message: “The righteous will live by their faith.” Drawing from Habakkuk 3:3–7, he described how God’s power and presence appear in awe-inspiring ways. The prophet Habakkuk pictures God marching through creation in both mercy and wrath — a God whose justice and compassion are never in conflict but work together to accomplish His purpose.

Armstrong centered his message on the idea that God’s mercy and wrath prompt a faith that lasts. He unpacked this truth through three timeless principles:

1. God is powerfully righteous. Armstrong emphasized that God deserves our praise as the eternal, righteous, and all-powerful Creator.
2. God has been faithful before. Throughout history, God has shown mercy to His people and brought judgment on evil. Remembering this faithfulness strengthens our belief that He will not fail us now.
3. God will be faithful again. Just as Habakkuk trusted God’s past faithfulness, we too can look ahead with confidence, knowing that God’s character never changes.

Habakkuk’s personal response in verses 17–19 gives us an excellent example of faith that endures chaos: Even when everything around him failed — crops dying, livestock gone, hope fading — he still rejoiced in God. “Habakkuk trusts in God regardless of the situation,” Armstrong noted, “because he knows God has been faithful before and will be faithful again.”

Armstrong then closed with a challenge for us to have faith, which means facing life’s problems with the knowledge of who God is and what He has done. He also encouraged us to look to Christ, the ultimate display of God’s saving mercy, when we feel hopeless and to have confidence in chaos, making God our ultimate strength when everything else feels unstable.

Mark 4:1–34 is all about listening and hearing. It explains that the Kingdom multiplies through hearts that receptively hear and faithfully sow.

Hear the Word

In verses 1–20, Jesus describes how four different types of hearts respond to hearing the Word. When the Word is sown in a hard heart, the person denies the Gospel because evil things snatch the Word away. The hard heart is represented by a seed that is dropped on a path and is snatched away by the birds.

When the Word is sown in a shallow heart, the person initially seems to be on fire for God, but they have no real root, so their faith soon dies out. The shallow heart is represented by a seed that grows at first, but withers away when the sun rises.

When the Word is sown in a crowded heart, it is choked out by the cares of the world. Examples are social media, pressure to excel academically, and fear of missing out. These are not necessarily entirely bad things, but they become so when they choke out our faith. The Word is also choked out by the deceitfulness of riches. Money is morally neutral, but if we aren’t careful, we can become enslaved to it and buy into wealth’s lies. The crowded heart is represented by a seed who is choked out by thorns.

Finally, the receptive heart accepts the Word when it is sown, and the person bears fruit. It is represented by a seed that falls into good soil and produces grain.

Share the Word

In verses 21–25, Jesus talks about letting our light shine rather than hiding it, so that others may give glory to God. We share the Word not only with our words but also with our lives as we generously invest in our families and churches.

Trust in the Word

In verses 26–29, Jesus talks about Gospel ministry. As we share the Word with others, it takes root in some hearts and not others. We don’t understand why, but God does, and we need to trust His Word to work. It’s our job to sow; we don’t have to worry about the growth.

Hope in the Word

In verses 30–34, Jesus explains that the Kingdom started small, with a little baby born in Bethlehem. This small seed planted will grow. It is so strong that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It will go to the ends of the earth, and one day every nation will bow down and confess Jesus is Lord.

Application

We must fight to avoid the shallow heart and the crowded heart. We can do this by listening to the Word, meditating on the Word, memorizing the Word, and fasting from our distractions.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Lord is saying to him!

Chapel Recap: Do You Want To Be Healed?

Today in chapel, Dr. Trevin Wax led us through John 5:1–9, where Jesus encounters a man who had been struggling with his health for 38 years. Jesus asks a simple but piercing question: “Do you want to be healed?” Dr. Wax reminded us that this question is not just for the man by the pool — it’s for us too.

In a world where we often “find identity in our illness and solace in our sickness,” Jesus invites us to something deeper. Dr. Wax emphasized that faith means trusting Jesus in three transformative ways:

1. Trust that Jesus moves not away from but toward you in your suffering.

Even when we feel forgotten, Jesus draws near to our pain with compassion and purpose. Although it was a dark and cold place in the pools of Bethesda, Jesus willingly came to offer hope to those lost in their suffering.

2. Trust that Jesus will expose, not excuse, your self-pity.

We are often tempted to define ourselves by our wounds, believing the false truth that Dr. Wax highlights: “Because we’ve been wronged, we must be in the right.” But Jesus’ healing confronts this mindset. He’s not coming just for our health; He’s coming for our hearts.

3. Trust that Jesus shows compassion not through coddling but through commanding.

When Jesus tells the man, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk,” He transforms the very symbol of sorrow into an emblem of victory.

Dr. Wax then reminded us that the call to faith is a call to the Savior who not only heals but gives us a new self. True healing means letting Jesus redefine our identity — not as victims of circumstance but as renewed people walking in His power.

Our modern world promotes the false idea that freedom means determining who we are and what our purpose is. In John 8:31–36, Jesus offers a different and better vision.

A Freedom through Following

In verses 31–32, Jesus teaches that true freedom comes from not only hearing and accepting His Word but also living in light of it. As we walk in His ways, we come to know the truth experientially and discover that this is the freest way of life imaginable.

Being a follower means you have a leader, implying obedience; freedom comes through subjection. If you want to be free to live a healthy life, there are certain constraints you must accept: you cannot be free to eat whatever you want. If you want to enter freely into deep friendships, you cannot be free to neglect those relationships and constantly put yourself first. In the same way, following Jesus will constrain your choices. But this is the way to true freedom: not forging your own path but following His way.

A Freedom from Sin and Self

In verses 33–34, Jesus teaches that true freedom is freedom from sin and self. This is the biggest problem we need freedom from. In culture today, people blame their bondage on their society, their family, their church, or other outside influences getting in the way. But the biggest threat to our freedom actually comes from the inside: slavery to sin.

Sin is selfishness. Satan uses this inward selfishness to enslave us, keeping us in rebellion against God. It may be thrilling at first, but it turns into despair. Sin also strangles love. This is why our God of love must destroy it. He will not bless your sin because He will not bless your slavery.

A Freedom for the Family of God

In verse 35, God calls us His children. A lot of people view the Christian life as doing enough good things to pay God off or make sure our afterlife is secured. But God is not a taskmaster; He’s a Father. When we are saved, we are adopted into His family.

However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do good. True freedom is not just freedom from, it’s freedom for. In Exodus, God said, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” True freedom isn’t about doing whatever we want; it’s about wanting what’s good, orienting our lives in that direction, and choosing the right constraints as we walk in the freedom Jesus supplied.

Free Indeed

In verse 36, Jesus says that if the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed. The way Jesus supplied our freedom was through setting aside His own rights — being bound and nailed to a cross. We are completely unworthy of this love! Jesus accepted shackles so that He might break ours. Through His cross, we have the freedom to become who He made us to be. Let’s embrace that freedom today!

In Mark 3:7–35, Jesus demonstrated that whoever does the will of God is part of the family of God. This is not referring to a works-based salvation — doing the will of God means we repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus. This leads to works that confirm that we have been saved by grace alone through faith alone.

Seek the Messiah and Not Just Miracles

In verses 7–12, the crowd was desperate to get near Jesus, but they didn’t actually know who He was. They were close to Him physically but very far from Him spiritually. Is this you? You can attend church regularly and be part of the crowd without actually being a genuine disciple.

These people wanted their wishes granted, not a Lord they had to obey. They desired salvation from their sickness, not their sinfulness. They didn’t realize that Jesus Himself is the ultimate prize.

Share His Mission by Walking With Jesus

If you want to do great things for God, you need to be with Jesus. Spend time walking with Him and investing in the relationship you have with Him.

In verses 13–19, Jesus called His disciples to Himself. He did this so that they would first “be with Him,” and so that after this, “He might send them out.” These men did not look like promising people, but God was going to use them to accomplish amazing things. If He could use them, He can use you, too. All of us are fallen, broken people. Let’s go be with Jesus so we, too, can be sent out by Him to do great things for Him!

Stand With Jesus Even When Others Reject Him

In verses 20–30, the people rejected Jesus, saying that He was crazy and that He was partnering with the devil to cast out demons. Blasphemy is a willful, belligerent denial of Christ. Don’t be like those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. When you mess up, don’t think He doesn’t have enough grace for you. If you repent, He is faithful to forgive you and cleanse you. So, when you sin, run to the Father. Stand with Him, even when everybody else is denying Him.

Submit to His Will and Belong to His Family

In verses 31–35, Jesus said that His mother and brothers are those who are in His inner family, doing the will of God, rather than those who are on the outside, rejecting Him.

On the outside stood the crowds, who sought miracles and not the Messiah. On the outside stood His earthly relatives, who thought He was crazy. On the outside stood the religious leaders, who questioned His identity and allegiance.

On the inside stood the disciples: a group of unlikely people who believed in Jesus and learned to walk with Him through faith. On the inside stand those who do the will of God, practicing an obedience that demonstrates true faith.

In Genesis 17, God gives Abraham a covenant promise. God tells Abraham that this is a permanent covenant, and that many amazing blessings are in store. He then invites Abraham to walk with Him as He brings these blessings to fruition.

The Covenant of Circumcision

God tells Abraham to walk with Him through circumcision. This is a permanent mark and a step of faith, demonstrating belief that God will do what He said He would do. Abraham responds with immediate obedience. That very day, he circumcises himself and everyone in his household.

The New Covenant

Today, we have a new covenant — not a covenant of circumcision, but a covenant through the blood of Christ. Just like the old one, we step into the new covenant by taking a step of faith. In doing that, we find Christ’s redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. We have everlasting life that will mark us for eternity.

What Matters is a New Creation

We walk in this covenant by remembering three things. The first is from Galatians 6:15, which explains that what matters is not circumcision or uncircumcision, but becoming a new creation. The important thing is not what happens to the outside of your body, but what happens to the inside. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are not your old self but a new person. This is a permanent marker of who you are in the new covenant.

What Matters is Faith Working through Love

The second thing to remember is from Galatians 5:6, which says that what matters is faith expressing itself through love. As a new creation, we will still mess up, but God’s new life in Christ is not so weak that we could get rid of it. Even when we struggle, we will never lose our new life. We are called to confess our sins and keep pressing forward, progressively being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

What Matters is Keeping God’s Commands

The third thing to remember is from 1 Corinthians 7:19, which says that what matters is keeping God’s commands. If you have received new life, your actions should reflect that. You will not be perfect, since we fight a daily battle against sin. However, you should be walking in a way that pleases God —not just because you feel like you have to, but because you love Him. Your works should reflect the care you have for your relationship with God.

Walk with Jesus

We have the new covenant of Jesus, and He has called us to take steps of faith and obedience to Him. As we do this, we will find that just like Abraham, we are walking with Christ in the light that He gives.