This is Part 39 in a year-long series on the book of Mark. Today's teaching is by Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC.

Subtitle: Jesus Anointed

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MARK 14:1-5

 

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.  “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.

She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

 

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MARK 14:6-9

 

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” 

 

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“Love does not do only good things. Love does lovely things.”

William Barclay

 

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MARK 14:10-11

 

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money.  So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

 

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ADVENT CATECHISM

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year,

she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah,

for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming,

the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.

 

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THE FOUR ADVENT CANDLES

1.Hope.

2.Love.

3.Joy.

4. Peace.

 

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How do we make attractive that which is not?

How you sell emptiness, vulnerability, and nonsuccess?

How do you talk descent when everything is about ascent?

- - - - -

How do you talk about dying to a church trying to appear perfect?

This is not going to work

(which might be my first step).

Richard Rohr

 

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A RESPONSIVE PRAYER ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Take time, in the busyness of this season, for quiet reflection

For the light of God’s love is discernible everywhere. 

We will let ourselves be surprised by wonder,

And set aside time to offer quiet thanks.

Christ is coming.

Christ is always coming.

God is always preparing something new.

Loving God, in this time of preparation and planning,

we thank You for Your gift of love

shown to us perfectly in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Help us prepare our hearts to receive Him.

Amen.

This is Part 38 in a year-long series on the Book of Mark. Today's teaching is by Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC.

Subtitle: Hope

 

MARK 13

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’[a] standing where it[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.

20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

24 “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,    and the moon will not give its light;25 the stars will fall from the sky,    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[c]

26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it[d] is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep

This is part 37 in a year-long series on the Book of Mark. Today's teaching is by Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC. 

Subtitle: The Widow's Offering

 

MARK 12.41-44

The Widow’s Offering

 

 

MARK 12.41

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put

and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.

 

 

MARK 12.42

 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,

worth only a few cents.

 

 

Cents

Mites

Farthings

Quadrans

Lepta

Denarius

1/64 day’s wage

$2.40

$1.28

 

 

2 Corinthians 9.6,7

Each of you should give

what you have decided in your heart to give,

not reluctantly or under compulsion,

for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

hilaros - cheerful, joyous

Root: hileos - merciful

Possibly from haireo - choose

 

 

MARK 12.43,44

 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you,

this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth;

but she, out of her poverty,

put in everything—all she had to live on.”

 

 

Deuteronomy 14.28,29

At the end of every three years,

bring all the tithes of that year’s produce

and store it in your towns, so that the Levites

(who have no allotment or inheritance of their own)

and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows

who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you

in all the work of your hands.

 

The Widow’s Offering

This is Part 36 in a year long series on the Book of Mark. Today's teaching is by Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC.

Subtitle: The Priest King Messiah God

 

MARK 12:35-40

The Priest King Messiah God

 

PSALM 110:1-4

LORD

lord

Melchizedek

 

GENESIS 14:18

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.

 

COMMUNION PRAYER

Lord, as we eat this bread and drink this cup, linking arms, pour your grace into us all.

Grace us with Your presence as we quietly and loudly pray to You.

May we see in each other Your light, Your love and You.

May it not matter our difference, our names, our languages, our looks, and our way of doing things. May what matter today and everyday be that we are one in You.

May You bring comfort to those who are grieving, lonely, heartbroken, ill or broken of spirit.

May You strengthen those whose lives feel shattered, don't make sense, in crisis, and experiencing loss.

May You say the healing word to those who need it.

May You love the unloved through us.

May You shine Your light into those whose world is covered in darkness.

May You use us to feed the hungry, clothe the ones who need clothes, give a cup of water to those who are thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and those in prison.

May lives be awakened to You, Lord, to Your love and to Your kingdom

Whose door is always open to all.

Amen.

This is Part 35 in a year-long series on the Book of Mark. Today's teaching is by Josh Anderson, Community Life Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC.

 

Subtitle: Love God. Love People.

LOVE GOD

Mark 12:28-30

 

28) One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

29) "The most important one," answered Jesus, "Is this: 'Hear, O Israel: 

The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

30) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind 

and with all your strength.'

613 LAWS

285 to govern each member of a person's body.

Another 365 to govern each day in the life of a Jew.

613 to 6

Walk righteously

Speak what is right,

Reject gain from extortion

Keep from accepting bribes,

Stop against plots of murder

Shut eyes against contemplating evil

Isaiah 33:15

613 to 3

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly

and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

613 to 2

"Maintain justice and do what is right"

Isaiah 56:1

613 to 1

"Seek me and live"

Amos 5:4

THE SHEMA

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

4) Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

5) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

THE SHEMA

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

6) These commandments that I give you today 

are to be on your hearts.

7) Impress them on your children. Talk about them 

when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, 

when you lie down and when you get up.

8) Tie them as symbols on your hands and 

bind them on your foreheads.

9) Write them on the doorframes of your 

houses and on your gates.

FULFILL THE LAW

Matthew 5:17-18

17) Do not thank that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; 

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

18) For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, 

will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

LOVE IS ACTION

Visible action shows our love for an invisible God.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

Mark 12:31

ONE FATHER

Malachi 2:10

10) Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? 

Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?"

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

Love that is expressed is love that is realized.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us." 

-Tim Keller

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

"Self-righteous service is temporary. It functions only while the specific acts of service are being performed. Having served it can rest easy. True service is a lifestyle. It acts from the ingrained pattern of living. It springs spontaneously to meet human need."

-Robert Foster

The Outward Disciplines

LOVE NOT SACRIFICE

Mark 12:32-33

32) "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?"

33) To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

THIS IS LOVE

1 John 4:10

10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE

Mark 12:34

34) When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far 

from the kin

This is Part 34 in a year-long series on the Book of Mark. Jason English is the Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart church in Boone, NC.

 

Subtitle: Pharisees, Sadducees, Caesars, &  Kings

MARK 12:13-27

Pharisees, Sadducees, Caesars & Kings

MARK 12:13-17

Paying the imperial tax to Caesar

(Pharisees try to trap Jesus)

"The Separated Ones"

Greek

Pharisaios

Hebrew

Parushim

MARK 18-27

Marriage at the Resurrection

(Sadducees try to find a flaw in Jesus' theology)

"The Righteous"

Greek

Saddoukaios

Hebrew

Tzadukim

1 CORINTHIANS 15:42

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.

The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.

EXODUS 3:6

I am the God of your father,

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

Today's teaching is Part 33 of a year-long series in the Book of Mark. Jason English is the Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart in Boone, NC.

Subtitle: Hosanna

 

MARK 11:1 - 12:12

Hosanna

 

 

MARK 11:1-11

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

 

 

ZECHARIAH 9:9

Colt

 

 

PSALM 118:25, 26

Hosanna

 

Hoshiya na

MARK 11:12-26

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

and

Clears the Temple Courts

 

 

Figs

JEREMIAH 7:11

ISAIAH 56:7

Turning Tables

Den of Robbers

House of Prayer

 

 

MARK 11:27-33

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

 

 

MARK 23:1-12

The Parable of the Tenants

 

Isaiah 5:1-7

 

Prophets

Matthew 15:7,8

 

Isaiah 29:13

Today's teaching is a follow-up to last week's dialogue on racial reconciliation.

GENESIS 1:27 - Image/Likeness of YHVH

GENESIS 15:5,6 - Count the Stars

JOHN 4:1-10 - Samaritan Women at Jacob's Well

ACTS 10:9-23 - Peter's Vision and Cornelius

GALATIANS 3:26-29 - One in Christ Jesus

EPHESIANS 2:12-22 - Dividing Wall of Hostility

Today's podcast is a dialogue between Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart and Reggie Hunt, Pastor of Cornerstone Summit in Boone, NC. They discuss Church norms, friendship, racial tension and reconciliation.

Thanks for joining us.

This is Part 32 of a year-long teaching series on the Book of Mark taught by Jason English, Teaching and Vision Pastor at theHeart in Boone NC.

 

Subtitle: Blind. Bartimaeus.

MARK 10:46

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus")

MARK 10:47-48

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 

MARK 10:49-50

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."

 

Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

 

MARK 10:51

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

 

The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see,"

 

MARK 10:52

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.