Sermons on Mark

Sermons on Mark

A Chariot of Fire

A Chariot of Fire Mark 9:1-9; 2 Kings 2:1-12 Transfiguration Sunday February 11, 2024   Introduction: Something rare Certain things are rare in Scripture and that makes it hard to see how it relates to following Christ today.  For example, the experience of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is an experience that applies only  to her.  We can learn from her experience, but there will never be another Mary, the mother of Jesus.  I read this about rare things in…

Purpose

Purpose Sunday, February 4, 2024, at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Mark 1:38But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” Opening Remarks: A Joke about purpose I’d like to begin my remarks by mentioning a philosophical conversation between an employee of a company and his supervisor in which the employee waxes eloquently about the nature and purpose of time.  He…

Authority in the Spiritual Realm

Mark 1:21-28; Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Sunday, January 28, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa 4th Sunday after Epiphany Authority-who belongs on the church board “There will be a meeting of the Church Board immediately after the service,” announced the pastor.  After the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the sanctuary for the announced meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst — a visitor who had never attended their church before. …

The Beginning of the Gospel

Mark 1:1-8; (Isaiah 40:1-11) Sunday, December 10, 2023 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Mark is the Gospel that “gets right to the point.”  Believed to be heavily influenced by the preaching of Peter, Mark spends no time on the birth of Jesus and gets to action right away.  The words “baptize” or “baptism” show up more than once in the passage, so baptism, for Peter, is right at the beginning of the Gospel, the story of redemption…

The Christ

The ChristMark 8:27-30 2 Timothy 1:10Sunday, September 12, 2021 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa• Introduction: your goal in life is a person, not an accomplishmentIn ancient times the empire of Rome considered Christianity an illegal religion, so it was dangerous to be public about your faith. From what we understand of those times, if you were in a public place and you suspected that the person next to you was a Christian, you could use your big…

Jesus Gets Pestered

Jesus Gets PesteredMark 7:24-30Sunday, September 5, 2021 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa• IntroductionMany years ago I heard a divinity student from a prestigious university preach on this passage. His main point is that Jesus had to outgrow cultural biases just like the rest of us and this mother, whose child was very ill, helped Jesus to grow. But I don’t think that Jesus needed to outgrow any cultural bias, but rather this episode was a lesson in…

The Spirit is Willing

The Spirit is WillingMark 14:38 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa IntroductionI stopped making New Year’s Resolutions many years ago, mainly because the resolution to stop making resolutions is the only resolution I have kept. I remember, years ago, resolving to become more organized so I bought a datebook that came with a “how to organize your life”…