Jesus forgave and healed the paralyzed man that was brought to him by four people. Jesus responded to the faith of the group or four who brought him. This encounter with Jesus led to forgiveness of the man's sins and healing while also raising warning flags with the religious leaders

The initial encounters with Jesus brought reactions of amazement. He didn't act and teach like other religious leaders. There was something amazingly different about him and the impact that he had on those he encountered. The news about him spread quickly!

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. John the Baptizer prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus is baptized, announced the breaking news of God's Kingdom  and he calls his first disciples. This sermon will setup the Gospel of Mark and the breaking good news of Jesus Christ!

Jesus came to restore, renew and revive us! The Son of God in the flesh was seen, heard and touched in human history as he came to be with us. He declared the message that God is light and in Him there is no darkness. Jesus embodied this as the way, the truth and the life. If we walk in his ways then we will walk in the light. As we walk in the light as he is in the light he will supernaturally restore our relationships with Him and with one another. May we all consider or reconsider the true light of Christmas that seen, known and experienced in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior!

We were once darkness but now we are light in the Lord. God calls us to live as children of light and reflect his light into our dark world. We can separate ourselves from darkness and embrace the light of Christ as we live out our faith. We can play a significant role in God sending his light into darkness through how we live.

The same God who said “Let there be light” is the God who makes His light shine in our hearts so we can know him. All that stands against God seeks to blind us from the good news of Jesus Christ and keep us in the dark. God sends light into darkness to overcome that darkness and let us truly see the glory of God.

Jesus is the light of the world. The disciples came across a man who was blind from birth and wondered who sinned to cause his blindness. This man was in the dark and experienced darkness. Jesus responded by saying that it wasn’t a result of any person’s sin but that his response to this man would display the works of God. He then proceeded to heal the man and share that he is the light of the world. In the midst of our dark struggles, Jesus comes to us with his life, healing and restoration.

God sends light so that no one should stay in darkness. God invites us out of the darkness into this grace-filled light. Jesus came to bring light and life. We do not have to ultimately fear darkness or anything if we put our faith and trust in Jesus. We will have our struggles but God promises to walk with us in the darkness and cast out that fear by his perfect love and light.

Jesus teaches us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. There is no part of human life that is off limits to claims of God. Progress in holiness is an expected response of gratitude to the grace of God, which is initiated, sustained and fulfilled by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  The Ten Commandments provide the way for us to respond in obedience with the help of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ, we are adopted into the family of God and find our new identity as brothers and sisters of one another, since we now share one Father. Our faith requires active participation in our life together. God’s grace is extended through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) and the faithful practice of mutual discipline.