StoneBridge Church // Sermon of the Week

Jesus both demonstrated and proclaimed the good news and power of the gospel. We often want to show when we should be telling, and tell when we should be showing the Truth of God's Kingdom. We need the Holy Spirit to fill us with power and change us into His likeness

In these passages Jesus addresses the problem of our hearts. Following rules and traditions won't make our heart clean. We need new hearts which we can receive by believing in Jesus.

The miraculous events that Jesus performed were signs pointing to who He is-not just the Messiah, but God.

He wants us to know Him, and He will put us in situations where He can reveal who He is.

We have immediate needs, perceived needs and real needs. Jesus meets all of them.

As we do the things God has created for us (our deal) we need to be prepared for: resistance, success and failure. We always need to remember that our identity, as Sons and Daughters, precedes our mission.

When we surrender ourselves fully to God and let His Spirit live in us and through us we will be transformed and bring transformation to the world around us.

There are two ditches we can fall into when approaching Jesus: "The Right Guy" approach or the "Wrong Woman" approach. Neither are good. We need to approach Him based on His grace and what He has done, not based on who we are or what we have done.

Names are significant. We live up to or are lowered down to the expectations given to us by the labels or name tags people put on us. When we know who Jesus has called us to be our lives are transformed by the new name He gives us.

When we face storms, as the disciples did in Mark 4, it can tend to seem like Jesus is asleep in the boat. In order to trust that He cares and will always take care of us we have to know Him and believe He is who He says He is.

It is not good for us to be alone. We all need people in our life who love God and love us. Small groups are a great way to form these types of relationships.