What if? This is one of those questions that can lead us on a long and winding path. It’s a question that comes to mind as we think back over our lives – What if this had happened or that? What if I had left or stayed longer? What if that person had done this or that? As Christians we know that behind all of the what if questions is a sovereign God who has never stopped working out His perfect plan for us. We know that nothing in our lives is an accident; and that in good and bad times God is always in control. This should give us peace and hope. But there are good and helpful ways to use the what if questions. They can be used to remind us of God’s care for us. In Psalm 124 the psalmist considers what would have been if God had not rescued His people. There’s a sense in which the psalm starts with the what if question – but behind the question is a declaration of faith and trust in God. The psalm is a call to praise and trust the God who has saved His people and who continues to be their help.

In Psalm 121 we have the song of a traveler who is on his way to Jerusalem - the city of God. It’s a trip that has dangers and difficulties, but the traveler is confident in the help and keeping power of God. While Psalm 122 wasn’t written as a follow up to Psalm 121, their arrangement in the Scriptures is telling a story. While Psalm 121 is about a traveler on his way to Jerusalem, Psalm 122 is about a person’s arrival in the city – a joyful arrival. This Psalm is a song about the traveler’s joy and love for the city, but it’s about more than the city. The city represents the place where God is and where God is worshipped. The psalmist’s joy in coming to the city is coupled with his longing for the good of the city. Again, not necessarily because of the city itself, but because of who the city represents.

Under the Old Covenant faithful Jews made regular trips to Jerusalem. There were three annual feasts or festivals and so three times a year Jews from all around would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts in the city of God. As they would travel, they would often sing; and over time there came to be a set of fifteen songs that provided the soundtrack for the trip. These fifteen songs, were actually psalms and they have been grouped together in our Bibles. Psalms 120-134 are known as Songs of Ascents because they were sung as pilgrims ascended the hills to Jerusalem. While not all of the songs were written with this trip in mind, some of them were – and Psalm121 is one those psalms. It’s written about the journey to Jerusalem, the difficulty of the trip and the need for help; but it’s actually a song of encouragement: Those who travel to the city of God can know that God is their help and their protector for the journey.

In Psalm 116 we have the testimony of a man who was at his lowest point. He feared his life was over – but then he cried out to God. This psalm is the testimony of how God saved him. It’s a testimony to the character of God, of His love for His people and how we should respond to a God who has gone to great lengths to save His people.

If the Gospel of Mark ended with chapter 15 and the sealed tomb was the end of the story, Jesus could be classified as a religious teacher who gathered crowds, unsettled the religious establishment and was killed by the Romans. However, the Gospel of Mark doesn’t end with chapter 15. The story isn’t over, and what happens next confirms the claims of Jesus and secures the hope of all who trust in Him (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). Mark began the Gospel by setting out the aim of the book. He was writing to show that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. If the Gospel ended with chapter 15, it could be argued that the book didn’t accomplish its’ purpose; but the when Jesus rose from the dead all is confirmed: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

We tend to spend a lot of time talking about the cross of Christ and of His resurrection – and we should! The death of Jesus and His victory over the grave are at the core of our faith and our hope. But there’s something that happens in between the death of Christ and His resurrection that all four Gospels make careful note of – His burial. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as Paul summarizes the primary tenets of the Gospel, he includes this threefold summary: He died, He was buried, and He was raised from the dead. It’s clear that God wants to emphasize the burial of Jesus. But Mark’s aim isn’t to tell us the significance of the burial; instead, he focuses on how Jesus was buried – and more specifically on the person who buried Him. In this sermon we are going to see how Christ was honored and God’s plan was fulfilled through the faith and courage of an unlikely disciple.

In the Scriptures God has a lot to say about stewardship. Jesus spoke regularly about stewarding our time and our resources. In His grace God has have given us the privilege to live and minister together as the church and we should desire to be good stewards of this gift. We should desire to use what He has given us in a way that honors Him and impacts our world. In 1 Thessalonians 2 Paul reflects on his time with the Thessalonian church and he says that this ministry was “not in vain.” In this message we will consider Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians and answer the questions: What does it look like to have an unwasted ministry? What part should each of us play in helping the church accomplish the mission of God in the world?

In Mark’s account of the death of Christ we are reminded of the seriousness of sin, how Jesus died as a substitute for our sin, and how Christ’s death brings us into fellowship with God. The goal of this sermon is to help you prepare your own sermons; sermons that you can preach to yourself, so that you can be strengthened and equipped to live for Christ.

Even among those who have been Christians the longest and who know the Scriptures the best, there is this temptation: The temptation to underestimate the fullness of God’s forgiveness and the extent to which He can offer freedom from the power of sin. Now, these may not be things we would admit out loud, and perhaps we would never even think it in such direct ways. But as we live with guilt and shame and as we find ourselves ceasing our fight against sin, this is the lie that resides under the surface: Maybe I’ve sinned beyond what God will forgive, or maybe His power isn’t sufficient to help me overcome this sin. These are in fact lies. And the way we can fight these lies is by returning to the cross and considering all that Jesus did to secure our forgiveness and freedom from sin.

In Mark 15 we read of a group of Roman soldiers who come together and treat Jesus like nothing more than a punch line. He was charged for claiming to be a king – and this provided the Roman soldiers more than enough motivation and material for mockery. As we read about how was Jesus mocked and tortured it should grieve us. It’s grievous to consider the Son of God being mocked, beaten and spit upon. But at the same time, we shouldn’t read this passage without considering our own hearts. How each of us, in our own ways, have failed to see Jesus as the true King and have mocked His authority in our lives. And yet, there’s still more here. Because not only do we see how the Romans mock Jesus, we see that Jesus allows it to go on. He allows these men to treat Him in shameful ways – because this is God’s plan. This is the means through which He is able to rescue us from our shame and save us from the consequences of our sin.