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Ryan Williams (center) Gets Baptized!

Mark 16:15-20
Jesus said to preach the good news to every nation. There was a purpose for the signs: to confirm the message.

Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus has authority of the universe. He tells them to go make disciples, baptizing them, then teaching them to obey everything he had commanded.

Step number one: Go
Step number two: Make Disciples
Step number three: Baptizing
Step number four: Teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded

Luke 24:45-49

Prophecies from the passage:
1. Repentance and forgiven of sins will be preached
2. In His name
3. All nations
4. Begin at Jerusalem
5. Miraculous signs that will accompany: with power

John 20:19-23
Jesus was sending out the disciples to make other disciples. If we do not preach, they cannot hear.

John 17:18
He was telling them what he prayed about.
Matthew 16:17-19
Peter was told that he was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever was bound on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever is loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Mark 16:15-18
Go Preach
The hearers’ part is the decision to follow
Then the signs that followed

Acts 1:7-8
God wanted to gather us and start a movement, then scatter across the world

Acts 2:36-41
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is for everyone: Repent and be baptized. He pleaded with
them to be saved. When they were baptized they received the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of
sins.

Acts 4:1-5
They were seized, and five-thousand men were added.

Acts 6:1-7
First they are increasing, the leaders stayed focused. The numbers increased rapidly. We need to
stop grumbling.

Acts 8:1-25
(v1) God used the murder of Stephen to progress to Judea and Samaria.
(v4) Phillip preaches and does miraculous signs. It was God’s power through them.
(v9) Simon the sorcerer was converted
(v16-17) Everyone that is baptized gets the Holy Spirit. Here Peter and John were trying to give
the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(v18-25) Simon tried to buy the gifts.

The gifts were given to bring God glory. Moses was able to turn a stick to a snake, so were the magicians. This is not absolute truth.

1 Corinthians 12:1-13
There was a purpose. Some had different gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:6-12
They were misusing the spirit so Paul was brought clarity. Use the gifts to build up the church

1 Corinthians 14:22-25
Tongues was meant for unbelievers not believers. Again there was a purpose.

1 Cor 12:27- 13:10
They had different gifts. It was about love. Love never fails.
When perfection comes, these will cease.

James 1:22-25
When we read the word, we need to make changes. The Bible was called the perfect law when appeared.
We were given the Bible, the perfect law.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
There are counterfeit miracles. They are every sort of evil. You must love the word, otherwise you will be decieved.

What is stopping you? Get ready, set, go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything and Jesus will be with you till the very end of the age.

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Mikaele Fere (3rd from left) Gets Baptized!

The Resurrection was the most important day ever, in the history of the world. Everything about that day was foretold. Jesus himself told his disciples repeatedly that he would suffer, die, and be raised again on the third day. So why wasn’t the biggest party in history planned? Why weren’t the disciples waiting with cake and streamers to celebrate when Jesus woke up? Reading the account we see how sad and discouraged they are on the third day, having no faith that he will raise that day. How was it that they didn’t believe? Let’s put ourselves in the apostle’s shoes and see if we can’t understand.

Mark 16:1-14
- How is it that we don’t believe what God has said will happen?
- God says “Believe and I’ll show you.” We say “Show me and I’ll believe.”
- Why Galilee? That is where he first called them. Sometimes we have to look back to where we started to see how much God has done.

Luke 24:1-32
- (v.8) We can get Spiritual Amnesia: by Old Age spiritually… ‘been there done that’ attitude. OR by having hit your head… hard times knock you out and make you forget Jesus’ words
- (v.11) Worse than forgetting we can think the gospel message is nonsense.
- (v.16) Why were they kept from recognizing him? God wants us to believe in his word… not in our sight.
- (v.24) But we believe more in what we see then in what God says
- (v.25) Jesus didn’t say “oh you poor disciples” he rebuked them for their lack of belief. Note: Jesus was anonymous at this point – takes away our excuse for not rebuking each other.
- (v.32) Why did he disappear? Again, he didn’t want them to believe in what they saw. Since he disappeared, they remembered how they felt when he opened the scripture to them.

God doesn’t want us to just have blind faith either. That is why there is 400 prophecies about Jesus that were fulfilled. We need to know why we believe in the resurrection, don’t just believe b/c we are told. What was Jesus? Because he claimed to be God he couldn’t have been just a prophet or a good teacher… He’s either a legend, a lunatic, a liar, or Lord? You must decide for yourself. See Andrew Smellie’s article on The Case for Jesus: http://metrodcchurch.org/archives/354

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Sparkle Leonard Gets Baptized!

The Crucifixion

Chris and Theresa Broom shared:
- Mark 14:1-11 The conspiracy against Jesus by the religious leaders. Jesus had the last word about the woman being able to come to him.
- Who are we to speak up for God’s Word? Proverb: The righteous will be as bold as a lion.
- John 12:4-6 This may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Judas. Judas had a problem with Jesus’ decision. Don’t let a bitter root grow up.

Cornel Buckner and Maria Cortez shared:
- Mark 14:12-31 Jesus’ surrender prepared his disciples. Jesus was singing with his disciples before he went to the Mt. of Olives. See Psalm 116:15, 118:6-7, 118:20,22.
- Luke 22:31 One moment does not define your faith. You cannot live beyond what you believe. Be willing to go to death with your answer, “Jesus is Lord.” Peter went on to live what he believed.

Pat and Pam Boea shared:
- Mark 14:32-42 Jesus chose, loved and poured his life into his disciples. Yet, his friends fell asleep and another betrayed him. He found them sleeping not once, but 3 times!
- Mark 14: 43-52 He spent everyday teaching, but they still didn’t believe. Abandoned, misunderstood, but God’s will is still good. Do we pull back, give up, get discouraged? We can’t let sin- our own or others’- discourage us.

Jay and Barb Shelbrack shared:
- Mark 14:53-15:15 Jesus told Peter he would deny him, but Peter didn’t get it. We can deny Jesus in our conversations, by what we say or don’t say. Do our family, friends etc. influence us more toward the world, or do we influence them more towards God? Did Jesus do anything wrong? No. Did he get what he deserved? No. Life is not fair. This is our world.
- 1 Peter 2:18 It is commendable to suffer for doing good. we are called to suffer.

Chip Moody and Brittany Parlour shared:
- Mark 15:16-32 Chosen to carry the Cross. Simon was just a bystander, yet called to carry it.
- 2 Peter 1:10 As disciples, we have been called to carry our Cross. Let’s treat Jesus as the king he is.

Joel Parlour and Nikki DeBarras shared:
- Mark 15:33-47 Mark mentions the woman who followed Jesus. Psalm 38:11 “Those who are close to me will watch from a distance.” Commitment defines this scene. The womens’ nurturing side was useful in Jesus’ life.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 Fix our eyes on the eternal. The temple curtain, 30 ft. high, 3 ft. thick was torn in two. We can now have a relationship with God on a new level. “The curtain was torn so you could be reborn.” You are also personally responsible for your relationship with God. How much responsibility do you take for the relationship? Are you taking care of his Spirit within you? Do you just live out life taking advantage of all God’s given you? Are you going to lie on the Cross or be the one driving in the nails?

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Buyandeiger Gansukh (center, also known as BD) gets Baptized!

Mark Series part 26: Faithful to the End – Outline

Today we’ll look at Mark 13, known as the Olivet Discourse, it is the longest of Jesus’ monologues in Mark. There is much we don’t know about Jesus’ return, and that is often the subject of much debate. Why has God kept it such a mystery? As some young teens recently responded, “If we knew when he was coming back, we’d all live however we wanted to until just before he was to come, then we’d repent and have one really good Sunday before he came.” Today we are not going to talk about what we don’t know… we are going to talk about what we do know and what that means for how we ought to live!

1. Jesus prophesies the destruction of the temple (Mark 13:1-2)
- Stones were massive: 37 ft long, 18 ft wide, and 12 ft high
- The temple was magnificent – whatever wasn’t overlaid with gold was the purest white
- In AD 70, the temple was destroyed. Romans pried apart the stones to get at the gold that had melted between them when the roof was burned
- We are in the end times right now: the time between Jesus’ orientation and second coming
- Satan is offering us M&M’s (massive and magnificents) to catch us off guard
- There is nothing bigger than God, but when we get our eyes on other things we forget
- We have to realize that all these things are STBA (scheduled to burn anyway)

2. Jesus’ answer to the question “When will all this happen?” (Mark 13:5-31)
- Don’t be deceived… don’t be arogant and think you won’t be one of the many, know the scriptures for yourself
- Be on your guard… we are not on our guard in peacetime, but in wartime. (The war began right away – things in verses 9-11 can be seen happening in the book of Acts)
- Stand firm to the end. Be faithful.

3. Christ’s return – what we do know.
- Mark 13:32-37 – the hour is unknown, even to Jesus.
- Acts 1:9-10 – Jesus will be coming on the clouds
- 1 Thesselonians 13:18 – the saved will meet Jesus in the air, anything else is a lie.
- Knowing specifically when the end will come will NOT help our faith!

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Christine Feldmann (middle) Gets Baptized!

Mark 12:35-40 Whose Son Is the Christ?
- Jesus asks sharp questions to make a point and expose the heart. The messiah is more than a descendant of David… much more.

Matthew 22:41 (parallel verse)

John 20:30 Jesus want’s to show us the way. Bible was written so we know how to have life.

John 21:25
- Jesus did many other great things not written. Love and proclaim who he is from what you know in scriptures.

John 1:1
- John links Jesus with the creation, in the beginning. Jesus is the word (logos), the spoken word and still in the mind, reason.

John 1:14-16
- Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We receive one blessing after another from Jesus.

John 3:35
- If you reject Jesus, who made you, wrath comes to you.

John 10:19-30
- Jesus’ words divide people. Some though he’s demon-possessed because of his words.
- Jesus’ followers listen to his voice.
- But some want to kill him because of his teaching.
- We must proclaim

Philippians 2:5

Point 1) Jesus cared more than others thought was normal.
- Died on cross, humbled himself to death

Romans 5:6
- While we were still sinners (unloving), Christ died for you.
- If we knew what others were thinking, you’d back away often. God doesn’t. That’s how much God cares.

Point 2) Jesus Admonished More Than Others Thought Was Kind

Mark 12:38-44
- Watch out for religious people just out to make a buck and lift up themselves.
- Many are hurt by admonishments, good and bad ones. That doesn’t mean you should leave God.
- Jesus watched widow’s offering. The heart behind giving is huge.
- Widow risked all for God

Matthew 5:21-41
- Admonishments about anger, lust, and swearing.

Matthew 7:1-5 Get plank out of your eye, then get speck out of brother’s eye.

Point 3) Jesus Risked More than Others Thought Was Wise

John 3:16 God’s love. Proclaim it.

John 12:44-50
- Jesus’ word is the judge.
- Don’t reject, or you’ll be condemned

1 Peter 2:21-25
- Jesus came to give us an example of how to live. He took the deadly risk for us.
- By Jesus’ wounds, disciples are healed.
- What are you willing to risk so the nations know who Jesus is?

Matthew 6:25
- Do not worry. Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

Point 4) Jesus Encouraged More Than Others Thought Was Necessary

- Don’t worry. Encourage about God through his son Jesus.
- For the next 4 days, put each major point into practice.

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Marc Smith (center) gets baptized!

Mark Series part 24: Proclaim God’s Love to the Nations – Outline

We pick up our series in Mark 12:28. Remember Jesus has just entered Jerusalem and by the end of this week he will be crucified. All the religious leaders are coming out… instead of coming to serve and honor him, they are trying to trap him. Here he answers the question: what is the greatest commandment?

Mark 12:28-34
- This command was written to Jews who were already in a covenant relationship with God. They knew who God was and what he had done for them.
- 1 John 4:19 “we love because he first loved us” – so it’s not like a blind date.
- God has already fallen in love with you.

Dueteronomy 6:1-23
- Children need to know/love God to obey him.
- Don’t be committed to commitment, or disciples of discipleship… be committed to God, be disciples of Jesus.
- He is a jealous God.
- We must know him in order to enter into a commitment with him.
- Commitment to Jesus is just like marriage vows… for better or worse… it’s for life.
- Jesus needs to be Lord – the most important one in our lives.
- Marriage is 2nd. The reason for marriage is to help eachother get to heaven.
- This is the process of falling in love with God.

Luke 15:11-24
- This is highly unusual! But the son wanted to be free of parental restraint.
- God, in his love for us, gives us free will. If you love someone, you want them to chose to love you back.
- He gives us money and we decide how to use it… but there are consequences.
- Isn’t it great when we come to our senses? That is where we should live!
- This is God’s love, his arms are ready whenever we come to our senses.

John 13:34-35
- What shows people God’s love is… us.
- We need to love just like Jesus loved.

John 17:20 – How unified do we need to be? As unified as God and Jesus