Mark 7:24-30.

King Jesus turns away no one who comes to Him in trusting faith.

Mark 7:14-23.

The religious leaders had missed the mark. For them spiritual contamination was a matter of outside in. Jesus drives the point home: your spiritual contamination is inside out. Our sin stained hearts need total transformation that can only be found in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Mark 7:1-13.

When a hard heart toward Jesus goes un-checked it takes us to a dangerous place. We begin to believe that we will be accepted with God because of what we do not realizing our heart is far from God. We ask the question, "How can I know if this is me?"

Mark 6:45-56.

**Audio picks up at 2:40**

It is possible for any one of us to surround ourselves with all sorts of Jesus stuff and yet fail to recognize Jesus for who He truly is. Mark knows there is a real danger of seeing Jesus without truly seeing Jesus. So he turns our attention to the Lord of Glory as yet another reminder that Jesus is no ordinary man.

James 2:1-9.

Sanctity Of Life Sunday.

Believers are to show no partiality as we live out our faith in Jesus Christ. In James' day, partiality worked itself out in the distinction between rich and poor. In Charlottesville, VA, partiality worked itself out in the distinction between black and white. Both are anti-God and opposed to the gospel. The hope we have for the sin of partiality to be eradicated from our hearts is the hostility destroying, peace making gospel of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:6-7.

Devote yourself to prayer.

The guarding peace of God is given to those who pray.

Romans 5:1-11

Peace with God is a state of affairs, not a state of feeling.

John 14:1-6

The good news of Christmas is that the hope of the world is found in a singular person--Jesus Christ. The baby in the manger is the way to God, the truth about God, and your only hope of eternal life with God.

Matthew 2:1-12

The baby born in Bethlehem is the True King. The One who came to overthrow our self-oriented kingdoms; freeing us to worship Him as the True King.

Mark 6:14-30

To follow Jesus means we will be sent out to advance His kingdom. But what exactly does faithful witness look like? It will, at times, look like hunger. But it also, at times, will look like hostility. Drawing our attention to John the Baptist's death, Mark helps us to see that to walk as a faithful witness can come with great cost.