In a second sermon on Bartimaeus, Zack discusses his persistence -- crying out (praying?) for mercy despite the crowds' trying to silence him. Persistent prayer recurs in Scripture. It changes us. Zack offers not only biblical examples but also the profound witness of Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand.

Zack mines Scripture and offers two modern examples to help us appreciate the point that the Spirit's spectacular acts on that first-century Pentecost, like so many of the Spirit's acts, creates a people where there was not a people.

In Mark 10:4-52, a blind man sees better than most with sight: Zack explores the significance of the Bartimaeus story and its important application to our lives.

Scripture often tells us “Do not fear” and setsfaith and fear in opposition. However, we have to be careful at this point: through a close reading of the people’s actions in Mark 10:32-45 and Scripture more broadly, Zack makes the case that the *emotion* of fear is human, natural,not sinful, and not problematic; it is our *response* to fear that matters. The sermon ends with two powerful examples of Christians overcoming their fear through faith: Perpetua and Martin Luther King, Jr.

This sermon explores the meaning of Jesus’scommand in Mark 10:13-16 to ‘receive the kingdom of God as a little child.’ Zack explains how Jesus’ primary point is probably about a child’s (non)status—like other teachings in this gospel, Jesus challenges our status evaluations. Morethan this, though, this teaching encourages us towards a childlike spirituality—exemplified by people like Therese of Lisieux and Henri Nouwen.

This sermon wrestles with the difficult topic ofdivorce. Zack offers seven suggestions.

While we are tempted to focus on hell, salvation, or disability in this passage, doing so would cause us to miss its fundamental -- and critical -- message. With hyperbole, Jesus makes painfully clear how serious sin is and offers us a strategy for cutting it out of our lives.

“Easter is about more than we realize”: In this Easter sermon, Zack attempts to expand our imagination as Scripture expands our imagination. Jesus not only forgives our sins—but also liberates us, defeats death, and redeems all things. No system captures the fullness of Easter—which is precisely why Scripture has so many different ways of talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The donkey, clothes, palms, and Hosanna all point to the crowd's hope for political salvation -- a hope all too common in our world today. Zack offers seven suggestions drawn from reflecting on the Palm Sunday story to help us live more faithful political lives in this moment.

"Whoever is not against us is for us" is a very hard saying: it seems to conflict with another, similar statement in the Gospels (Luke 11:2); it is hard to reconcile with the sons of Sceva in Acts 19; it is complicated by Jesus' teachings about judging by fruits in Matthew 7; it is hard to know what "being against" even means. Zack reads these difficulties as an invitation away from systematic theology and towards increasing dependence on God's Holy Spirit. Moreover, he draws out important principles here with which we should reckon. Works, while not the basis of our salvation, reveal Christ-in-us. Our moment of hyper-Protestantism and church decline demands increasing ecumenism. Finally, perhaps most importantly, we must remain open to the new -- to God's surprising, scandalous work outside our own walls.