Last week Jesus first mentioned to his disciples about his suffering, rejection, and death that was to come. Now Jesus talks to his followers about Dying to Live. The week we start a new topic set within Mark entitled "Jesus [Uncensored]". As we see in Mark 8:33-38, Jesus starts to emphasize topics that are not so popular to his disciples. Disciples that are expecting Jesus to overthrow Rome and bring peace to Israel. Yet Jesus has a more eternal mission to accomplish. Not just saving Israel, but providing salvation to all of humanity. When you follow Jesus, you sacrifice everything that is worth nothing for the one thing that is worth everything.

As a society or an individual, we long for freedom and look for a hero. As we see Mark 8:27-33, Israel was also looking for a hero to overthrow the rule of Rome and bring freedom. Jesus' disciples saw who he was in title as The Christ, yet his mission was not what they expected. Here Jesus first tells his disciples of the suffering, rejection, and death that was to come. As we celebrate Easter today, we see that Jesus died for our freedom and rose as our hero.

How we see something is at times a matter of our vantage point. This is how optical illusions work. This week Pastor Andrew takes us to Mark 8:22-26 as we see Jesus continue to change lives from three different perspectives, from the blind man to the disciples to us today. Because Jesus came, we can see clearly.

Compassion: a feeling of deep sympathy for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
Jesus has been teaching a large group of people for three days having nothing to eat. He has compassion to not send them away without feeding them. The disciples seem to have forgotten how Jesus fed an even larger group not long before. This week Pastor Andrew takes us to Mark 8:1-21 as we see how Jesus starts to bring his ministry "In Focus" with God's overall plan for mankind. We see Jesus clearly when we take our focus off ourselves.

Through these first seven chapters of Mark, we continue to see Mark emphasize with each miracle who Jesus is. The healing, the casting out of demons, the feeding multitudes, and even raising the dead show the people who Jesus is. As if to say "Can You Hear Me Now?". Today Pastor Sam Cassese takes us to Mark 7:31-37 and shows us Jesus speaks so loudly that even the deaf hear him. For us today, in Jesus, God is asking "Can You Hear Me Now?".

When something is strained, it does not take much for something to come apart or fall down. This is the basis for the phrase "The straw that broke the camel's back".
This week we see Jesus moving along, trying to be unnoticed. Yet, a Gentile woman recognizes him and begs Jesus to deliver her young daughter from a demon. This woman crossed all sorts of cultural and religious barriers to seek Jesus.
Pastor Andrew takes us to Mark 7:24-30 and shows us how Jesus continued to outline his mission to the Jewish people. And yet Jesus shows his love and compassion for all mankind, even women and Gentiles. This woman crossed the lines that Jesus came to erase and scaled the walls that Jesus came to tear down.

Rules, how many of you grew up learning church rules? "Don't run in the church." "Heads bowed, eyes closed." This week we see the Pharisees travel from Jerusalem to see what Jesus was doing. They see Jesus and his disciples were not following the rules. As we come to Mark 7:1-23 we see how Jesus questions the rules that the Pharisees were making. Pastor Andrew shows us that unrighteousness works from the inside out, not the outside in. A surface level solution won't solve a heart-level problem.

Lunchable - we know this as a small amount of pre-packaged food sent with a young child as a lunch. This is virtually what Jesus used to feed as many as fifteen thousand individuals. As we come to Mark 6:30-52, Pastor Andrew unfolds the story of how Jesus broke five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the multitude of people that were following him and his disciples. Jesus was teaching his disciples that His broken loaves fed the masses that his broken body came to save.

As Jesus' fame increases, he is noticed by King Herod. And yet King Herod does not recognize Jesus. As we come to Mark 6:14-29, Mark shows us a flashback of what previously happened to John the Baptist. King Herod had John the Baptist beheaded at an earlier time. Others believed Jesus was Elijah or a prophet of old. Yet, King Herod was convinced this was "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. King Herod did not recognize the One that is greater than John, Elijah, or one of the prophets - Jesus. Pastor Andrew shows us how opposition heightens as God's kingdom advances.

The 12 disciples have been watching and learning from Jesus for a period of time. Jesus now sends them on a mission in pairs around the region to do in smaller groups what they have been doing together, to proclaim repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick. Pastor Andrew brings us to Mark 6:7-13 this week as we see: This mission is urgent because the message is clear: "Salvation is found in Jesus alone."