Jesus Advance

God designed us to bear fruit in our lives--fruit that remains and lasts the tests of time.  But what are the obstacles that stop or stunt that fruitfulness? Jesus' first parable is full of truth that clarifies where we are at spiritually, and shows us how to stay on track!

We'll be looking at how Jesus faced the unfair judgments of others in His life and how that applies to our lives.

Jesus was hounded by leaders who tried to trick Him to sin, political  leaders who plotted His death, mobs of people that could have crushed Him to death, and bizarre demonic activity that brought confusion to people about His true identity. In all of these things, Jesus had wise solutions to the greatest of life's problems! 

Jesus' battle with the religious leaders of His day gave ample opportunity to demonstrate the profound differences between Himself and the unhealthy religion of the day. This passage of Scripture is a real challenge to the look and feel of the church that Jesus is building in the world today.

There are major differences between religion and the life-giving Christianity that Jesus brings! This week we will see Jesus expose the deceitfulness of religion that can only offer people "words" without the raw, supernatural power to change lives!

This teaching looks at how Jesus approached His ministry!

A closer look at what we need to know about following Jesus, followed by some of the things that made Jesus so famous!

Mark's Gospel reveals Jesus as both the Son of God and the Servant prophesied in Scripture--the Servant-Son who came to powerfully advance God's Kingdom on earth.  Throughout Mark we see Jesus as a man of action and authority and he calls us to be the same! Today's message shows how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus' ministry and gives us many good examples to imitate!  Welcome to this face-paced adventure of seeing how Jesus works and following His example!

The ancient Aramaic phrase, "Maranatha" was one of the earliest words that identified Christians to each other in early Christianity.  The phrase means: "The Lord has come" in the sense that Jesus came to earth, died, and returned resurrected.  It also is something we pray for right now in the present: "Lord, come!"  We are hungry for the Lord to return and set all things right on our messed up planet.  But it also means: "The Lord is coming!" It is our heart's desire that Jesus will indeed come back again soon! So "Maranatha" is a loaded idea...it celebrates the fact that Jesus has come, that we long for His soon return right now, and that He will most assuredly come again very soon.  This final teaching from Paul calls us to live our lives in the light of the King's soon return! Maranatha...even so, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

The Resurrection is central to the practice of our faith in that it gives us what we need to live a powerful hope-filled, and productive Christian life right here and now. This teaching gives clarity and fresh understanding of the nature and mechanics of the Resurrection.