Youth Lesson: "Substitution of Christ on the Cross"

Last night Jason Sessoms taught our youth about the substitution of Christ on the cross. I firmly believe that there is no topic more important than this one. He has made his lesson available here. I urge all of you to download the lesson, read it over carefully, and then once again be utterly amazed by God's incredible and generous mercy.

"Sermons You Need To Hear"

No surprise to those who know me well, but I listen to a lot of sermons. So I decided that one new way I could serve you better is to pass some of these along to you! I'll call it "Sermons You Need To Hear" (creative, huh?).

Just finished listening to my friend Jim Upchurch's sermon about serving. In it he mentions that he uses the word "great" way too much and subsequently, if everything is great... then nothing really is. His point was obvious: Jesus defines "greatness" very different than our culture does. It is an excellent sermon and I recommend you go listen to it. He has a one-two punch combo near the end that should cause you to repent of serving out of selfishness... I know I did.

You can find this sermon here.

Sunday Quotes!

Yesterday we examined and reaffirmed our belief that our great Savior is "fully man" and "fully God." This truth is beautifully laid out for us in Mark 4:35-41. This is where we find Jesus, fully man, resting sound asleep in a boat during a raging storm. Next we see him, fully God, commanding the storm to stop... and the wind and waves obey the voice of the Creator. These quotes were helpful:

"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man." -Nicene Creed

"As Man he had slept. As God He stilled the storm." -JC Ryle

"Who is this man? He is the Lord of the storm. He is Lord of death and the grave. He is Lord of the seas, indeed of all creation. And since he love us and has purchased us with his own blood, he will never leave us nor forsake us, even when things look bleak and no hope is to be found. The wind and the waves obey this man because he is Lord. He is our Lord. For he is our God and we are his people." -Kim Riddlebarger

Sunday Quotes!

Yesterday I preached from Mark 3:20-35 and we examined two false accusations about our Savior: (1) He was out of his mind (verse 21), and (2) He was possessed by the devil (verse 22). These three quotes were helpful to us as we looked more closely at this text:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." -CS Lewis

"It is a strange paradox that in any times of religious revival or obvious working of God's Spirit, it is often the religious leaders who oppose the work of God most strenuously, and seem to misunderstand it most willfully." -Alan Cole

"It is interesting to mark the quiet, firm perseverance of our Lord, in the face of all discouragements. None of these things moved Him. The slanderous suggestions of enemies, and the well-meant remonstrances of ignorant friends, were alike powerless to turn Him from His course. He had set His face as a flint towards the cross and the crown. He knew the work He had come into the world to do." -JC Ryle

JC Ryle Quotes

It's no secret at our church that one of my favorite dead guys is JC Ryle. He is probably the (deceased) author that I quote the most in my sermons. His writings have had a large influence on me and I appreciate his theologically sound insights - especially in the area of the doctrine of sin. This is why I was very excited when Jason Sessoms shared a new JC Ryle website with me. It's a site that offers a new Ryle quote each day (I've added these quotes to the bottom of this blog). Check it out for yourself: www.jcrylequotes.com

"What Is This?"

Today's title is taken right out of Mark 1:27. It's the question that people ask after their (otherwise) ordinary worship service is turned upside down by two unusual events, of which Jesus is responsible for both. First, he teaches with such authority that the people are blown away. They obviously weren't prepared for this kind of teaching when they arrived at the synagogue that morning. And second, he casts a demon out of one of the people who was actually there attending the service - and it doesn't go out quietly! I doubt that the Order of Service included that. Imagine how that would look in a bulletin...

Opening Prayer
Psalm Reading
Hymn of Praise
Welcoming Guests
Sermon
Demonic Interruption
Loud Exorcism, complete with convulsions and screams
Benediction

No, I think it is pretty accurate to say that the members of that synagogue had a service that they would not soon forget. This is what we will look at this Sunday as we continue our walk with the Savior through the gospel according to Mark.