​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod," Jesus told his disciples. But what did he mean? They thought—wrongly—that he was talking about bread. But he was teaching them to think in a manner different from the rest of the world and more like God. He teaches us to do the same. Text: Mark 7:1 to 8:21

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Two amazing miracles revealed more about who Jesus is—but would his disciples understand that he was more than a new Moses, more than a prophet greater than Elisha? Jesus, the Son of God, made the impossible possible by the power of his mere word—and he still does the same in our lives today. Text: Mark 6:30-56

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Jesus was popular and surrounded by crowds everywhere—except in his own hometown. There he was rejected and could not do much effective ministry. His twelve apostles, sent out to many towns, were successful in their work, but Jesus anticipated that some towns would reject them. John the Baptist, prophet and ally of Jesus, was arrested and later executed by a ruler who knew John was a holy and righteous man, but killed him anyway. If Jesus and those who ministered along with him were rejected by many people, was Jesus really worth following? Will we still follow him if the people around us reject him today? Text: Mark 6:1-29

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — In four consecutive stories Mark shows us the power of Jesus: power over nature, over demons, over disease, and even over death! He also shows us human fear—sometimes before people encountered Jesus, and sometimes because they encountered Jesus. These stories call us to consider how we, too, deal with our fears—especially in light of Jesus' power and compassion, which together reveal who he is and invite us to come to him for help.  Text: Mark 4:35 to 5:43

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Why did Jesus so often teach by speaking in parables? His parable of the seeds and soils gives us a hint. Sometimes the truth is hard to receive when given directly; but parables speak indirectly, sparking the mind to search for the parable's meaning, opening the mind to new perspectives. Some listeners probably did not care to investigate Jesus' parables beyond the story on the surface. But for those with ears to hear—those whose desire to understand drove them to dig deeply into the parables—Jesus offered the secret of the kingdom of God. Text: Mark 4:1-34

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Demons come up frequently in this text. They serve as a window to help us and the people who encountered Jesus see his awesome power and hints of his true identity. The demons knew exactly who Jesus was. Some religious leaders, though, thought he himself was possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Crowds flocked to Jesus, but did they really understand his true purpose? Close followers devoted themselves to learn from him, believing Jesus was truly from God. Who do you believe Jesus is? And how will you respond to him? Text: Mark 3:7-35

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Six times in six consecutive stories, Jesus does the right thing—but does it in the wrong way, at least in some people's opinions. He didn't have to do the wrong parts of the right things—healing on the Sabbath, claiming to forgive sin, eating with sinners and tax collectors. So why did he do such things? He did them because they were right and because of who he is—which is also why we do God's will, with or without the approval of others. Text: Mark 1:40 to 3:6

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Opening his story of Jesus, Mark tells about the amazing events that surrounded the start of Jesus' ministry: the prophecy-fulfilling work of John the Baptist, the voice of God himself speaking, Jesus drawing the attention of Satan himself, an exorcism of a demon who knew who Jesus was, healings—amazing events that remind us how quickly, how immediately, Jesus changes the lives of all who encounter him. Text: Mark 1:1-39

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Many people, even in ancient Israel, have worshiped idols intentionally, leading themselves away from God into sin and destructive living. But sometimes even we who love God and want to worship him alone find hidden idols in our lives, things we worship unintentionally—the way John began to worship an angel (twice!) in the book of Revelation. We need to beware of such idols and check ourselves regularly, asking ourselves, "Whom do you worship?" Texts: Exodus 20:1-5, Romans 1:21-32, Revelation 19:1-10 & 22:8-9

​Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — God created human beings in his image to rule over life on earth, but our earliest ancestors—and we too—turned away from that identity to create our own self-identities, whatever we wanted to be. But in pursuing the idol of self-identity, we lost the glorious identity God gave to all his children, substituting it for lesser identities that could never bring true fulfillment. Jesus, though, took on himself the identity chosen for him by God and refused to worship the idol of self-identity. He set us an example to follow, so that we may regain the identity for which God created us and share in the glory of Christ. Texts: Psalm 8, Genesis 3:1-13, Philippians 2:1-11