More Than Bread

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Why in the world did people, after a brief challenge from Jesus, leave everything and follow him? It's hard to imagine today, but it has something to do with the Kingdom of God. In Mark 1:14-20, we begin to see the Kingdom of God, front and center.

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There is this curious short narrative in Mark 1 of what takes place after Jesus' baptism. Jesus is baptized. He hears the voice of God saying, "This is my son. I love him. He brings me great joy. And then...the Spirit of God drove Jesus into the wilderness. Amazing moment with God, experiencing God's delight and then wilderness. Dry. Hard. Battle-filled. Wilderness. What's that all about?

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In this episode we are finally diving into the first chapter of Mark. The question we are going to answer is "Who gets my ears?" It's all about listening to the voice of God. It's all about recognizing the voice of Jesus. Who gets my ears?

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Our intro (part 2) focuses a bit on the "gospel." The word "gospel" comes from the Greek word eunangelion which literally means "good news." In this episode we will briefly uncover the heart of the gospel. What is the gospel? That's the question we will answer.

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Mark didn't meet Jesus face to face. He met Jesus through others. In some ways, a bit like all of us. But he did know Peter, in fact some call Mark, "Peter's Gospel." This episode is part 1 of our intro to Mark's gospel.

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We are back with another episode of More Than Bread as we start a deeper dive into the gospel of Mark. This one is an intro...or more like a re-intro to the what and why of the podcast!

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The focus of this episode is John 21. This is the last chapter of John’s gospel. I hope this series on John has been helpful. It has been for me. I’ve talked to a few of you about this, but there is just something about hearing scripture. You know in the days of Christ, and the first church, it was very much an oral culture, the written Word was there, but for most people scripture was read, it was heard. Even today I think there is something deeply enriching in the hearing of God’s Words.

Peter and Jesus are center-stage in John 21. To set the stage for this moment, we need to go back to Thursday night and the beginning of Peter's tombstone story?  Remember that? Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. He shares that someone will betray him that night. Peter with all the bold bravado he can muster, responds, “Never. I would rather die.” To Which Jesus replies prophetically, “Three times tonight Peter, you will deny me before the rooster crows. And Jesus was right... And when the rooster crowed, Peter and Jesus locked eyes. John 21 is the redemption and restoration of the heart of Peter. It's so good.

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In this episode, we are focusing on John 20. For about 30 minutes as we listen to, learn from and lean into God's Word, we are going to saturate our souls with hope. As we near the finish line of John’s gospel, the last two chapters, John 20-21 contain the amazing story of the resurrection of Jesus and how his closest friends responded to it. But to set the stage and the context, I will spend a bit of time focus on one statement. It’s Jesus' words near the end of the chapter. John 20:21. “As the father has sent me, even so, or in the same manner, in the same way, I am sending you.” In other words, all of this, everything they experienced; life with Jesus, his teaching, all those amazing miracles, all the miraculous signs, and now the cross, death, and resurrection; it’s all leading to this. You have a mission.

When resurrection power was let loose to saturate the world in hope and love, and when it changed my life, it wasn't just for me. It was for others. I have a mission. You have a mission. It's the most amazing good-news mission anyone has ever been given. That's my prayer for each  person who listens to this, that we would be compelled by hope to be on mission! 

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In this episode, we are listening to John 19. The focus of John 19 is the crucifixion of Jesus. So before we dive in, let's just be honest, we’ve sanitized the cross. We've made it into a geometric shape that holds diamonds and hangs around our necks. Crosses are everywhere, we're surrounded by crosses, silver and sanitized. But to really understand the power of the passion of Christ, we need to regain our vision of the cross as it was before Christ, a symbol of hatred, cruelty, and human failure.  For a Christian to wear a cross, should be like a Jew wearing a swastika or someone from Japan wearing a symbol of a mushroom cloud or a black man wearing chains. 

The cross in Jesus' day was a symbol of sin and hate and death. It is inconceivable that the cross would become a work of art, a tattoo, a common piece of jewelry, the brand of the church. It’s inconceivable until you see the cross thru the eyes of love. Until you are impacted by a generosity so extravagant that it has the ability to transform an old rugged cross into a thing of beauty; transform an instrument of torture into a symbol of life. It was an act of generosity so great, it broke history in two. 

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This podcast is all about the value of the Word of God for our growth and development. At Calvary we talk about three paths of growth; listening, learning, and leaning. The first two are perhaps self-explanatory. The third "leaning" is all about surrender, living it out. What you get in this podcast is the result of my listening, learning and leaning. But you can do the same. Read a portion of scripture. Then make note of the words or ideas that grab your heart or mind. When you do that you are listening for the Spirit of God to make the Word come alive. Then make note of what you are learning from that passage about God, about life, etc. But don’t leave the Word without pondering what God might be calling you to do. Listen, learn and lean. 

In this episode, we are focusing on John 18. I can’t pause on John 18 without talking about tombstone stories; moments of failure. Moments when the leaning did not take place; moments of discouragement, perhaps even despair. Peter was a guy who experienced as much breakthrough success, as anyone in the Bible. But he also failed; he experienced the broken fragments of life, crippled heart, feeling like he would never be enough; that's a tombstone story. John 18 turns our attention to the events that go from Good Friday to in-between Saturday to resurrection Sunday. But first we get the tombstone story of Peter.