St Marcus Mke Sermons

Worship with us on this Pentecost Sunday! Pastor Jeske’s message “We Need The Spirit’s Control” is based on Romans 8:5-11.

This week we will be studying Acts 15:22-35, and worshipping under the theme "THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL: Pentecost Implications." This coming weekend is Pentecost - a week where we celebrate the fact that God the Holy Spirit does not elevate any one human culture above another, but his family boundaries stretch over all nations, languages, colors, and cultures. Based on the past week of social disharmony and tragedy, it's important for Christians to ask how we're currently doing at portraying a light to the world, i.e. a Spirit-given culture that supersedes any earthly culture. The Early Church struggled with cultural superiority too, repented of it, received the grace of Jesus Christ, and then became a more beautiful version. We're looking to be that light to the world too. 

LOOK FOR YOUR KING I.  He's in Heaven, Ruling All Things for Us II. He's on Earth, Doing All Things through Us   Based on Ephesians 1:16-23

This week we will be studying Acts 19:23-41, and worshipping under the theme "THE RIOT IN EPHESUS: The Power and Weakness of Idols." In this account, we actually don't hear any Christians speaking. We only see the secular society in Ephesus responding to Paul's preaching of Jesus & the Resurrection, speaking about how this world's gods can't compare. Paul's message incites a city-wide rebellion. From this we learn how passionately the world defends its false gods and what to expect when we legitimately bring the culture-shaping truth and love of Jesus Christ into the world. We also find motivation to let go of our own idols to which we often  clutch too dearly.

Join us for worship for the sixth Sunday of Easter! Pastor Jeske’s message “The Resurrection Changes Everything” is based on I Thessalonians 4:13-18.

This week Pastoral Assistant Ron Kelly will be lead us in a message from Ephesians 2:1-10. This text is essential in understanding the manner of salvation - by grace, not by works. That message runs counterintuitive to a flesh that encourages us to feel like we are the center of the universe. It runs counterintuitive to the spirit of a society that tells us we can do ("work") anything we put our minds to. The manner of the gospel is something this fallen world rages against. So we remind ourselves of a truth that is alien to this world.

Mother’s Day is our theme for this morning, please join us in worship! Today’s message is titled “Adoptive Mothers are God’s Heroes Too” and is based on 2 Chronicles 22:10-12.

This week we'll be studying Acts 17:16-34 under the worship theme of "PAUL'S SERMON IN ATHENS II: Witnessing to a Post-Christian World." That's right  we're bringing it back for a second straight week. I mentioned last week that Acts 17 may very well be the single most helpful text in the Bible for figuring out how to evangelize in 2020 America. If you care about witnessing as a Christian in 2020, you must wrestle with Acts 17. The highly educated, pluralistic, hedonistic philosophers that Paul meets in Athens are about as close a biblical equivalent to America's cultural moment as one can find.  The Athenians need Law & Gospel, but they need it applied in a  away that resonates to their worldview. In particular, this week we're going to learn the art of convincing someone they're already worshipping an Unknown God. We're also going to see the importance of repeatedly pushing people back towards the Resurrection as the focal point of any evangelistic conversation.  

We focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd in our study this morning. Pastor Jeske’s message is based on John chapter 10 - “THE GOOD SHEPHERD REALLY DOES CARE FOR HIS SHEEP.”

This week we'll be studying Acts 17:16-34 under the worship theme of "PAUL'S SERMON IN ATHENS I: Witnessing to a Post-Christian World." Acts 17 may very well be the single most helpful text in the Bible for figuring out how to evangelize in 2020 America. The highly educated, pluralistic, hedonistic philosophers that Paul meets in Athens are about as close a biblical equivalent to America's cultural moment as one can find.  The Athenians need Law & Gospel, but they need it applied in a way that resonates to their worldview. So we're actually going to spend 2 weeks seeing how Paul teaches us to do that. 

Join Pastor Leyrer on this Third Sunday of Easter as we worship under the theme “He Lives in Our Hearts by His Word.” Today’s message is titled “What a Difference God’s Word Makes,” and is based on Acts 2:36-47.

This week we'll be studying Acts 16:23-34 under the worship theme of "THE JAILER AT PHILIPPI: How a pragmatist gets converted." Acts 16 is a chapter of conversions that are all unique. Timothy, Lydia, The Slaver Girl, and the Jailer are all VERY different people. The gospel works for all of them. And yet God's ministry to them through Paul (and others) is different from one situation to the next. It tells us something about God's personal discipleship plan for us. In particular, we're going to zero in on the category of person that most modern people fall into - the Jailer, i.e. the pragmatist. The Jailer is spiritually apathetic. What can shake someone out of their indifference and lethargy about Jesus? ANSWER: crisis & the practical benefits of Christian faith. We'll see all of that in this lesson as Paul & Silas minister in prison.

For the past 3 years, after Easter, we've taken a look at the Book of Acts, which tells us what the Early Church did after Jesus ascended into heaven. This year we will do the same, moving from Acts 15 - Acts 19, covering incredibly valuable lessons from The Jerusalem Council, Paul's Mission Work in Macedonia, Paul's Sermon in Athens, and the Rioting in Ephesus.  This week we'll be studying Acts 15:1-21 under the worship theme of "THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL: The Gospel is BOTH Non-Negotiable AND Extraordinarily Flexible." The Council at Jerusalem is the single most important event of the Early Christian Church that most Christians don't really know about. Yes, Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave and the Spirit now compels us to believe this. But are there REALLY no further qualifications for salvation? Your flesh and world religions tell you there are. The gospel says otherwise. 

Message from Easter Sunday, based on Luke 24: 13-35.

Pastor James Hein leads us in worship on this Maundy Thursday under the theme “A Union of Things Coming Together” based on Hebrews 10:19:25.

Pastor Jeske leads us in worship this morning as we observe Palm Sunday. Today’s message is titled “I Must Keep Going” and is based on Luke 13:31-25.

This week we'll be studying John 12:20-33 under the worship theme of "Jesus Offers LIFE THROUGH DEATH." Common sense would tell us the way to rise above the world would be to go up. But Jesus' Kingdom is upside-down to this world. In this lesson he'll provide an extraordinary analogy of a seed dying that gives us the secret to Kingdom expansion. The way to LIFE is actually through DEATH. 

Pastor Hein explains why we and other churches keep baptismal fonts visible in their sanctuaries. We can take comfort not only in our own baptism but also the baptism of our Savior. Based on Romans 6:1-4.

Pastor Steinberg centers his message around the figure of Jesus that stands central not just in our sanctuary, but also in our lives.

This week we'll be studying John 12:1-1 under the worship theme of "Jesus Offers THE ULTIMATE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY." Sometimes "zealot" or "fanatic" is used as a dirty word for religious practitioners. The reality, however, is that EVERYBODY worships someone/something, and worship, by its very essence, is extreme. So what does extreme Christian worship look like? We find a perfect example this week in Mary of Bethany.