Cornerstone Church

Fasting is the kale of the spiritual disciplines. Of all the avenues of worship, fasting is the road least traveled. We know that it’s a prescribed means of following Christ in faith, and like the pumpkin carver pushed back in the farthest corner of the drawer, every not-to-often, we begrudgingly pull the discipline out of our spiritual tool belt and give it a shot. And every time I do, I inevitably ask these questions.

Why should I fast? What does it accomplish? When and how often I should do it? What am I supposed to be fasting from and which item will get me the most points with God?

When it comes to fasting, I am afraid that we have incorrectly assembled the bookshelf thinking it was a couch. The shelf breaks when we try to sit on it, and we are left scratching our heads as to what went wrong. What I want to do first is deconstruct (take everything apart), examine all the pieces, and then reconstruct the concept; making sure to put all the pieces in their intended place.

Although we know what prayer is and why we should do it, by and large, most Christians struggle in pursuing God consistently through prayer. One of the most prominent obstacles to a vibrant prayer life is that we pray the same old things in the same old way every day. We pray for the people and things that matter most (which is good) in the same words and phrases that we used yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that (which is not good).

The solution: when you pray, pray your requests through a passage of Scripture.

In this passage, John approaches Jesus to let him know that when he and the rest of the disciples saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name, they tried to stop him. Why? “Because he was not following us.”

This week’s passage is the older brother of last week’s passage. In the previous passage, we saw the disciples infighting about who is the greatest —“I am greater than you”—in this passage, the disciples graduate from fighting with one another and decide to take their energy outside the group: “we are greater than them.”

If Hebrews 11 details the “Hall of Faith,” pictures of faithfulness in the midst of difficult circumstances, then Mark 9 should be dubbed the “Hall of Doubt.” The disciples’ blunders are listed one after another, and Jesus’ corrections closely follow. It’s almost too discouraging. But I’m thankful that, in the face of the disciples’ constant failures, we can be encouraged by Jesus’ patience, forgiveness, grace, instruction, and commitment to see them through.

In this passage, we see the disciples having an identity crisis of sorts: arguing about which one of them is the greatest. With supernatural patience, Jesus sits them down and explains that they’re attempting to measure their worth with the wrong sort of ruler.

Our worth, our purpose, our actions are not measured by the yardstick of ability, status, or knowledge. Our identity, who we are, why we matter, and how we ought to live is measured by the cross.

We’re nine chapters into Mark’s Gospel, and the disciples are finally starting to figure some things out with respect to Jesus’ identity—their spiritual blindness is being lifted. However, even though they were getting closer to grasping who Jesus was, they were miles away from understanding/accepting why he came, what he was going to do, and how they were to operate in this new kingdom of God.

But this passage isn’t just about the disciples in their journey of following Jesus. Mark does something interesting here. Yes, while it’s another demonstration of the authority of Christ displayed in an exorcism, as most commentators note, Mark doesn’t focus so much on Jesus’ power over the demonic. Instead, he turns our attention to the disciples’ failure—at the beginning and end of the passage— and to a father’s need for faith in the middle).

Weekly sermons and other recorded lessons from Cornerstone Church. Located in Leavenworth, WA, Cornerstone is dedicated to teaching the truth of God's Word and demonstrating his love by serving others.

Weekly sermons and other recorded lessons from Cornerstone Church. Located in Leavenworth, WA, Cornerstone is dedicated to teaching the truth of God's Word and demonstrating his love by serving others.

Weekly sermons and other recorded lessons from Cornerstone Church. Located in Leavenworth, WA, Cornerstone is dedicated to teaching the truth of God's Word and demonstrating his love by serving others.

Weekly sermons and other recorded lessons from Cornerstone Church. Located in Leavenworth, WA, Cornerstone is dedicated to teaching the truth of God's Word and demonstrating his love by serving others.

Weekly sermons and other recorded lessons from Cornerstone Church. Located in Leavenworth, WA, Cornerstone is dedicated to teaching the truth of God's Word and demonstrating his love by serving others.