We have been given life so we can experience the love of God and learn to love others. We are to live in such a way that we give God glory in all we do. A truly meaningful way to give God glory is to help others follow Jesus.

This Sunday, we complete our Spring series about Discipleship with a look at the gospel of Mark chapter 9.
Following Jesus means seeing the Kingdom of God among us in all its power and glory. We help others understand the identity of Jesus and how to join in his mission. In the gospels, on a high mountain, Jesus was transfigured into brilliant light, and three disciples caught a glimpse of heavenly glory. A voice from Heaven announces, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” The disciples however were baffled. On the way down the mountain Jesus again explains the plan that the Messiah must suffer and be rejected before rising on the third day. Our task as disciple-makers is to help others follow Jesus, even if we don’t fully understand God’s plans.

‘“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.” Psalm 89:14-15 NIV

Much of our lives are driven by questions. Questions about what we should do, who we should spend time with, how we should spend our time, where we are headed, what we believe and the list goes on. As disciple makers of Jesus, we can listen and help people uncover both practical life questions and important big God questions.
In this Sunday’s sermon, we will explore Mark 12:18-34 and see how Jesus answers two questions. The way Jesus responds to these questions will give us understanding about discipleship. We hope to see you there as we worship together, learn about bringing others to Jesus and celebrate the Father’s and men in our lives.

The goal of our current discipleship sermon series is to encourage, challenge and equip you to go out and make disciples of Jesus. To help someone else follow Jesus. Our hope is that each of us will be in life-of-life discipleship relationships, no matter where we are in our walk with Jesus. Perhaps, we need to learn more about Jesus. Perhaps, we can encourage another in their faith.

But make note of this: what Jesus asks for is quite costly. “If anyone would come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” Jesus doesn’t call us only to abundant life, but to abandon our life for the will of God.

Our text this week is Mark chapter 8. A brilliantly written account of Jesus feeding 4000 people, a warning about unbelief, a healing of a blind man, the confession of Peter, and Jesus’ plan to suffer, die and raise again. Then Jesus clearly describes the cost of discipleship: our very lives.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Mark 8:35-36 ESV

As disciple-makers, we are instructed to share God’s Word with people in our lives. Sometimes the Word is received and it produces an abundance of good fruit. Other times, the Word is taken, destroyed, or stifled resulting in no fruit.

This week we will look at Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the way God wants His truth to be planted in good soil to produce a multitude of spiritual fruit.

We hope to see you this Family Sunday as the children and youth stay in service for the duration to worship with their families and celebrate Communion together. We will also introduce our new Deerbrook members.

As the disciples followed Jesus, he modeled how to love God and love others. He shared his life with his disciples “so that they might be with him, and that they might be sent out to preach and cast out demons.” Eventually, the disciples spread the kingdom and reached people just like Jesus would have, because they had been with Jesus and they were obedient to his call. All for the sake of the Kingdom of God, disciples disciple others, apostles are sent, missionaries go. This is how God builds the church.

The stories of Mark chapter six demonstrate how God intends to use us to spread the gospel message. When the disciples returned from their ministry, they went off to rest with Jesus. But when the crowds followed them, Jesus suspended their rest and had compassion on the crowds “for they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
Eventually, they feed over 5,000 people!

The needs of the World are never-ending, but the spreading of the Gospel continues one person at a time. Our success (just like the apostles) in making disciples, is tied to time with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for God to give us the energy and vision to make disciples. “Feed my sheep.”

We are reading the gospel of Mark this Spring. We are looking for clues about discipleship, our calling to help others follow Jesus. After Jesus called his first disciples, he began to preach and people were astonished.
His authority was asserted as he performed a great number of healings.

But as his popularity rose, so did objections to his practices. Jesus responded with persuasive arguments about his authority. “I am the bridegroom.” My teaching is “new wine that requires fresh wineskins.”

“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” In preparation for this Sunday, please read Mark 1 & 2.We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, God making his appeal through us. Jesus changes everything about life and that is what we are trying to help others understand. We hope to see you this Sunday, our graduation Sunday!

The second quote of Jesus in the book of Mark is, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” As we continue our exploration of discipleship, we are going to look at what Jesus did when he invited the first disciples to follow him and their response. Through this narrative, Jesus models what we can do to begin to fulfill Jesus commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

This week we will begin our journey into making disciples of Jesus. Over the next 8 weeks we will discuss the spiritual practice of discipleship as we study the Gospel of Mark. This Sunday, we will unpack Mark 1:14-15 where Jesus says,“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” We will look at how this verse is a foundational component to the destination of discipleship by answering two questions: What gives Jesus the authority to make this statement? & What does this statement mean?

Please join us for worship this Sunday. We will celebrate Communion and the children and youth will stay in service to worship together for Family Sunday.