This week is the 4th of 11 weeks on the Gospel of Mark. This is likely the first Gospel written and seeks to tell so many of the important details of Jesus’ three year ministry so that you will believe in him and become his faithful disciple. Today’s passage shows that when Jesus chose the Twelve it became his entire ministry focus to make sure they knew how to become the light on the stand and the tree which would give shelter to the entire world.

Once Jesus became famous, the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law showed up to see if Jesus was who the people claimed he was. When the began testing Jesus, they found that he had answers to all of their questions...and they didn't like it. By the beginning of Mark 3, they were ready to conspire with their enemies to kill Jesus. 

Jesus begins healing, teaching, and casting out demons. The result is that he becomes extremely famous extremely quickly. But Jesus knows that the best ministry is done in small rooms with few people. How can we learn from this model of ministry today?

Mark's Gospel begins, not with genealogies or birth narratives, but with Jesus launching his Messianic ministry. It is immediately clear that he has authority over people, over the spiritual realm, and over the physical realm.

Timothy and Titus have descriptions of Deacons. But Paul gives other examples of the kind of people who should be servants, leaders, and examples in the church. This sermon considers what kinds of people will be servant leaders at Northwest.

This sermon launches our deacon appointment process and follows up on our 2023 study on women deacons. 

In our Northwest tradition we spend this week in August blessing our new babies and children who are about to head back to school.

This sermon explores Paul's appeal to the Romans to preserve unity whenever possible. The Restoration Movement began with the appeal, "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things unity." Are we still willing to be family when small things seem like big things?

In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul gives advice to single people, some never married and some widows. He tells them that if they can stay single they should because they can focus more on serving the Kingdom of God. Do our church leadership decisions today match Paul's advice to the church in Corinth?

David wanted to build a house for God. But God wanted to build a house for David's descendants that would stand forever. While many thought that mean the Temple and the throne of Israel, it truly meant Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. When Jesus died and resurrected to give us his Spirit, we became the new Temple that God dwells in.