Mark 3:7-19 The Religious Leaders want to destroy Jesus. The Crowds want to crush Jesus. The demons want to distract us from Jesus. But Jesus goes up on a mountain and calls those he desires to himself. The Church is Christ's New Community and the only qualification for entry is his choosing, not our ability. Great news for sinners and loser like us.

Mark 2:18-3:6; Jesus did not come to make Old Religion better or to fix what was broken in the old system. He came to bring a completely new system. The hard part about Jesus' message is that he didn't come to validate the hard work, goodness, and self-righteousness of nice people. He came to show that we can never go to God in our work or goodness, but need him to come to us and save us.

Mark 2:13-17; Only the sick need a doctor. Sin is the worst of all sicknesses because it disguises itself as health. Jesus came to call sinners to himself and save them from their sins. In this passage Jesus teaches us why he came, who he heals and how heals.

Mark 2:1-12; Why is there suffering in the world? The problem of pain is one of the hardest challenges to Christianity. And yet the authors of the bible address this problem over and over. The question is whether or not we will listen to the answer. Jesus doesn't merely heal our infirmities, but he heals our souls and makes us right with God.

Mark 1:40-45; We like to keep our world antiseptic. We wash our hands regularly AND use hand sanitizer. We use deodant and perfume to make sure we smell good. But all of those things can't touch our spiritual uncleanliness before God. We are spiritual lepers and we live in our own leper colonies. We need a complete healing and that can only come from the touch of Jesus Christ.

Mark 1:21-39; Many people "respect" or "like" Jesus because he was a great man, an example to follow or a great teacher. But the gospel writer Mark wants to convince us that our small view of Jesus is not enough. Mark wants for us to be absolutely convinced that Jesus is "YOUR" Lord and "YOUR" king. As Mark begins to convince us of Jesus' Authority he show us his Ordinary Practice, his Extraordinary Power and his Driving Purpose.

Mark 1:14-20; Jesus begins his violent invasion by doing two very unlikely things. First, he preaches the good news of God's Kingdom. He commands us to repent and believe the gospel. And next he goes and calls some regular guys to be citizens of his kingdom. We are called to leave behind our vocations, our families and our little kingdoms for his vocation, his family and his kingdom.

Mark 3:20-21; 31-35 Jesus' Mother and Family decide that they are going to stop Jesus from endangering himself. He's gotten too busy and too dangerous for his own good. Now, if they are successful that would mean that the plan of God would not be carried out and there would be no salvation for anyone, even Jesus' own mother. We fail all the time, but God's grace for his people is enough to cover over their sins and welcome them into his family.

Mark 1:9-13: Jesus is called "the beloved Son" by the Father. The Holy Spirit rushes on him in violence. We would expect for Jesus to be ushered in to his glorious kingdom...but he's not. He is exiled. Sent far away from the land of the living where he is tormented and tempted for 40 days. We learn something about the pattern of Christ's ministry, that is is one of substituionary suffering. He is cast off so we can be accepted.

Mark 1:1-8; Where do you run for hope when suffering comes? In the first century A.D. Mark wrote his gospel account to encourage Christians in Rome who were being martyred daily for faith in Jesus Christ. They would ask, "Is it worth it? Is Jesus worth dying for?" Marks answer is "Yes! Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God is worth it!"