Frontier Church

The Scandal of Christmas | Mark 6 — God Came Close

NOTE: This recording had issues and got cut off at 12:38, please click here for the rest of the message: https://www.youtube.com/live/AE2r11BIt54

We love scandal when leaders fall. But Mark 6 shows a different kind of scandal: a Leader who rises. In Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, people aren’t offended because He breaks laws—but because He violates their categories. He’s more than they expected, and less than they wanted.

In this message, we explore the original scandal of Christmas: God coming near in flesh and blood. And that nearness confronts us, frees us, and sends us.

You’ll hear:

-Why we feel offense before we can explain it, and why Jesus still confronts our “systems of worth”

-Why God chooses the ordinary, the mundane, and the uncomfortable as the place His Kingdom breaks in

-Why rejection is normal in following Jesus—but resentment is optional

-What it means to “shake the dust off”—not as anger, but as spiritual hygiene and freedom from carrying false responsibility

-How repentance isn’t guilt management, but re-centering your life around the true King

If you’re tired, overwhelmed, afraid of being “found out,” or carrying weight you were never meant to carry, this is a word of confrontation and comfort—and an invitation to step into freedom.

Scripture: Mark 6:1–13

Series: Advent / Christmas at Frontier Church

In this message from John 11, Pastor Phil connects our church’s year—fires, wandering, waiting, and unexpected provision—with the story of Lazarus and the God who seems “late” but is always working. He shows how waiting is often God’s classroom: the place where faith matures, community deepens, and unseen formation prepares us for what’s ahead. If you’re reflecting on the past year or navigating your own season of uncertainty, this teaching offers perspective, hope, and a renewed sense of God’s presence in the in-between.

Highlights:

– How our church’s journey mirrors the emotional tension of John 11

– Why Jesus’ “delay” with Lazarus is an act of intentional love

– What God forms in us during seasons of wandering and waiting

– The power of small, everyday faithfulness in our neighborhoods

Practices for the Week:

– Reflect on where you feel God is “late” and invite Him into that place

– Re-read John 11 and notice how Jesus meets disappointment and doubt

– Share your waiting story with someone in community

– Do one intentional act of neighborly kindness as a sign of hope

Let this message help you look back with clarity, live the present with trust, and move into the future with expectant faith.

-When Jesus brings your heart back to life, He brings your purpose back to life.

In this Advent message, “Sent Again: When Jesus Opens Your Eyes and Reignites Your Mission,” Pastor Christian walks through Luke 24 (the road to Emmaus) and Genesis 12 to show how Jesus meets us in disappointment, opens the Scriptures, reveals His presence, and then sends us back into the world with renewed courage and mission.

We explore:

-Why we all want clarity before obedience—and why Abraham, Cleopas, and we don’t get it

-How disappointment and unmet expectations (“we had hoped…”) can blind us to Jesus right beside us

-Why spiritual blindness is less about information and more about interpretation

-How Jesus uses Scripture and the table (hospitality, breaking bread) to reawaken our hearts

-Why true encounters with Jesus always lead to turning around and being sent again

This message is part of our fall missional series and the beginning of Advent, inviting us to resist consumerism, hurry, and distraction, and instead slow down to recognize Jesus’ presence and say yes again to His call.

Reflection / Practice prompts from the sermon:

-Where are you carrying disappointment right now—places you quietly say, “I had hoped…”?

-What would it look like this Advent to return to your “Jerusalem”—your place of calling, vocation, or relationships—with fresh intention?

-How can you make simple space at the table (meals, coffee, conversation) for Jesus to reveal Himself and for others to encounter Him through you?

-What step of obedience or mission have you been avoiding that Jesus is inviting you to step into again?

Scripture: Luke 24:13–35; Genesis 12:1–3

If this message encouraged you, consider sharing it with a friend, subscribing, or joining us in person at Frontier Church Pasadena as we walk through Advent and learn to live sent again in the way of Jesus.

What are you really working for?

What if your job, your unpaid labor, your parenting, your studies, and even the parts of your week that feel invisible are actually one of the primary frontiers where Jesus sends you? In this message, Pastor Christian walks through Ephesians 6:5–9 to show how the gospel reframes our everyday work: giving us a new heart for how we work, a new audience we work for, and a new way to use our power and influence.

We start by honestly wrestling with the hard word “slaves” in the passage—asking, “Does the Bible condone slavery?”—and then explore how Paul’s words actually undermine slavery from the inside out and plant the seeds for its eventual destruction. From there, we move into the world we live in now: corporate ladders, gig economies, unpaid caregiving, comparison, burnout, and the invisible ladders we climb to prove our worth. Into that world, Paul speaks a better word: you are Christ’s, and your work is seen.

This sermon will help you:

-See your workplace (and home) as a real mission field

-Recognize where success and failure have too much power over your identity

-Learn what it means to work for an “Audience of One”

-Use your influence to humanize and bless the people above you and below you in any system

We close with three simple practices for the week:

-Pray the “Audience of One” prayer each morning.

-Do one hidden act of faithfulness no one will see or praise.

-Use your influence to lift up one person in your world.

If this message helps you reframe your work and worship, consider sharing it with a friend who feels stuck in the grind.

In this powerful and timely message, missionary and leader of YWAM, SunAwh Park, returns to Frontier with a prophetic encouragement for a community walking through transition. Drawing from 21 years in global missions and nearly 100 nations, SunAwh shares two images the Lord impressed on him: Frontier as an arrow being pulled back for greater accuracy and impact, and the wilderness as God’s training ground for identity, courage, and trust.

He sets our moment inside the larger story of what God is doing worldwide—a historic global harvest, a rising hunger for Jesus among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, and the biblical call for every believer to become a witness and a discipler. Through vivid stories from the nations and the marketplace, he shows how God is moving through ordinary people in tech, business, education, and family who see their everyday spaces as mission fields.

This message invites us to step with boldness into God’s redemptive story for Los Angeles: revealing Jesus wherever we are, carrying His presence into every sphere of society, and embracing the season of preparation God has us in.

When time, place, and plans shift, our mission doesn’t. In Luke 14, Jesus doesn’t hand out a social policy—He tests our hearts. The gospel creates margin, breaks comparison, and seats us at a table we didn’t pay for—then sends us to “make room” for others, especially those who can’t repay us.

Big Idea: Because grace made room for us, we make room for others.

Series: Live the Story, Tell the Story (Mission)

Message Flow (Luke 14)

Scene 1: He heals our excuses (vv.1–6) — Compassion over rigidity; let the gospel reshape your interruptions.

Scene 2: He humbles our striving (vv.7–14) — True honor is received, not achieved; generosity without transaction.

Scene 3: He invites our response (vv.15–24) — The Father’s banquet is open; don’t make excuses—come, and compel others to come.

Practices This Week:

-Identify one overlooked person and make room: send a text, schedule a meal, slow down and listen.

-Create margin: resist busyness, cynicism, and fear that crowd out hospitality.

-Host like Jesus: invite those who can’t repay you.

Timestamps

0:00 Context: uncertainty, faith, and our unchanging mission

4:28 “We’re still the church—our purpose doesn’t change”

5:00 Luke 14 setup

9:23 Big Idea: Make Room

11:04 Scene 1 — Heals our excuses (vv.1–6)

15:10 Practice: reshape your interruptions

15:38 Scene 2 — Humbles our striving (vv.7–14)

20:02 Honor/shame, identity, and grace

26:26 Grace seats us at the banquet

33:12 Scene 3 — Invitation & excuses (vv.15–24)

36:49 Respond: accept your seat, compel others

41:05 Ministry & response

How this fits our series:

Live the Story, Tell the Story focuses on mission as everyday hospitality, justice, and witness. Luke 14 presses us beyond good intentions into a gospel-shaped table: humility over performance, generosity over transaction, invitation over exclusion.

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Real revival doesn’t start with louder worship—it starts with honest repentance.

In Revival That Looks Like Justice, Pastor Christian Martinsen continues our Live the Story, Tell the Story missional series with Isaiah 58—God’s piercing confrontation of hypocrisy and hollow religion. His people were fasting, praying, and performing devotion, yet ignoring the very people He cared about.

Isaiah’s trumpet still sounds today: faith that never costs us anything for the sake of others isn’t faith at all.

This message invites us into a different kind of fast—a Fast of Presence—where grace turns outward into justice, and revival looks like setting others free.

Before chasing emotional revival, God calls us to heart-level renewal:

to stop performing faith and start practicing mercy,

to stop hiding from our own flesh and start moving toward need in love.

Let Isaiah 58 hold up the mirror.

Let grace expose the gap between what we say and what we live—and let the Spirit fill it.

Oxford theologian and Frontier’s teaching partner Michael Murray brings a brilliant and timely message from Judges 3 that blends faith, history, and archaeology.

Drawing on his years of biblical scholarship and research at Oxford University, Michael traces the evidence for the Exodus—from ancient Egyptian inscriptions to the Amarna Letters—and shows how it all points to the trustworthiness of Scripture and the faithfulness of God.

But this isn’t just an academic lecture. It’s a powerful reflection on how tribalism—in ancient Israel and in our modern world—tears us apart, and how Jesus, the true King, still unites what division destroys.

If you’ve ever wrestled with doubt, history, or the credibility of faith, this message will deepen your trust in the Bible and stir fresh awe for the God who holds both truth and love together.

Watch now and rediscover the beauty, evidence, and hope of the gospel.

Faith can feel costly right now—but curiosity is rising. From 1 Peter 3, we explore how followers of Jesus turn pressure into a platform:

do good anyway, be ready to share your hope, and draw strength from Jesus’ story.

This message is part of our fall series “Tell the Story, Live the Story,” built around six practices: Rooted • Your Story • Scripture • Hospitality • Justice • Sent.

This week’s practices:

1) Goodness as Witness — Respond with visible kindness where it costs you.

2) Your 60-Second Hope Story — Practice sharing what Jesus has done in you.

3) Strength from His Story — Pray daily: “Jesus, I live in Your story. Suffering, then glory.”

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13–18

Watch more + resources: frontierchurch.us (Current Series)

Podcast: Frontier Church Pasadena (Apple & Spotify)

If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and tell us your “hope story” in the comments.