St Marcus Mke Sermons

This week we continue our theme of St. Marcus CORE VALUES. We’re moving on now to our 2nd Core Value: Sacrificial Love. We’ll take a look at the world’s definition of love, how that impacts us, and how a biblical definition of love has and will change us. We’ll be studying 1 John 3:11-20.

This week we continue our theme of St. Marcus CORE VALUES. Core Values are the durable identity that you take with you wherever you go. The first of our 4 Core Values is Christ First. Last week, we saw that if “seek first His kingdom and righteousness”, we find the solution to our worldly fears. This week, we want to take a deeper look at what it means to embody of this trait, living by Jesus’ Spirit. We’ll examine Romans 8:1-6.

For the next 8 weeks we’re finally doing a series I’ve been hoping to do for almost 2 years now – St. Marcus Core Values. Core Values function somewhat like your organizational identity – the durable, fundamental center that you carry with you everywhere you go. The first of our 4 Core Values is Christ First. This week we’ll be studying what it means to “seek first His kingdom and righteousness” as we study Matt. 6:25-34.

As many of us prepare for a day off on Labor Day, we take a look at what the Bible says about what our attitudes towards our daily labors should look like. Slavery was abundant in human history and is mentioned in the Old and New Testament numerous times. In Colossians, Paul has a message for slaves and masters (if written today, it would be more akin to addressing employees and bosses), in which he urges workers to obey the masters in authority and to work with sincerity and reverence for our God.  Colossians 3:22-4:1 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you willreceive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slav

Originally preached on March 17th, 2018 and part of the series: The Gospel of Mark, From Throne to Cross and Back. Based on Mark 12:35-44. We look at what it means to be a friend of Jesus, how one becomes an enemy of Jesus, and what Jesus has already done FOR his enemies. 

Our series is called SATAN’S SLEIGHT OF HAND: The mostly untrue things we really need to stop believing.   This week’s lie is “GOD JUST WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY.” Well…..yes, God certainly desires our long-term wellness. But the question remains as to what exactly that means for this life. This week we’ll learn lots from a remarkable description of Moses, from Hebrews 11:23-28, who voluntarily gave up everything Pharoah’s palace had to offer in order to suffer with his people in order to get them to the Promised Land.

Membership in social clubs have declined over recent years. More and more people are stepping away from these types of membership clubs and clinging to their own personal networks, online or otherwise. Hebrews 10:19-35 teaches us perseverance in a different kind of membership - that of our own congregation in the Church of Christ. Our membership into God's "club" was paid for by the sacrifice of his Holy Son, Jesus Christ. We are able to witness and encourage one another through the Sacraments and can be confident with our unlimited access to God.     

Today, we dig into what it means to truly love our God. We turn to the end of the Paul's letter to the Ephesians, where we are taught how to live our lives as Christians to the fullest, and to base all our love in Him, and give our lives back to Him. Ephesians 6:23-24 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.  

The lie for this week is “A LOVING GOD WOULD NEVER SEND ANYONE TO HELL.” Modern America is what philosophers might call a “soft closed religious society.” What that means is that it’s technically not illegal to discuss matters of faith in public, but it’s considered socially inappropriate. Particularly inappropriate would a discussion of Hell. But it’s actually impossible to be a Christian witness, without modifying the gospel of Jesus, if you never address Hell. So the end result is that most Christians today simply don’t witness their faith in any sort of true, vocal way. If we are called to be witnesses, we need to be confident, and biblical, and loving in our witness of Christ. This week we’re going to learn about how to talk about Hell in a true way, but one that resonates with contemporary culture. We’ll be studying Matthew 25:31-46.  

Jesus is the Bread of Life and is the only "food" that can nourish the human soul. In John 6, we take a look at how Jesus is the Bread that came from heaven, and how he is the Bread that leads us to Heaven.

The lie for this week is “THAT SIN CAN’T BE FORGIVEN.” In a society that has almost tried to get the word “sin” out of circulation, it’s fascinating that self-loathing over unresolved guilt anger over unexpressed forgiveness is still one of the largest drivers of behavior. This week, we look at the most famous fail of processing guilt in history, the story of Judas Iscariot, to see the necessity of finding forgiveness, including self-forgiveness. We’ll look at Matthew 27:1-10.

The lie for this week is “RELIGION DOESN’T BELONG IN THE WORKPLACE.” Modern Americans are very familiar with the practice of the privatization of faith. But if good news is, in fact, good, then how private can you truly keep it before you insinuate it’s not all that life-changing? Daniel provides a courageous, humble example this week as we study Daniel 1:8-21. 

The lie for this week is “I NEED TO MAKE SOMETHING OF MYSELF.” Hold onto this thought – if Jesus died for the sins of the world, the thing that now separates humans from God is not sin as much as it is the false-righteousness that we turn to in place of Jesus. One of the great Tim Keller revelations of my life is that even non-believers/other religious repent of “bad deeds,” but only Christians repent of finding their hope and identity in false, performance-based righteousness. Paul speaks about this brilliantly and candidly in Philippians 3:1-11, which we’ll study together this week.

The lie for this week is “YOU’VE EARNED EVERYTHING YOU HAVE.” The Bible’s clear teaching is that the sin beneath every other sin, the quintessential sin, is PRIDE. And yet, it’s so powerful, so blinding, that none of us even realizes we’re guilty of it. In fact, the most humble people you know are the only ones truly aware of pride. This week we’re going to do a bit of a character study of arguably the guy in the Bible who most embodies the ugliness of PRIDE. His name is Haman, and we’ll meet him as we study Esther 3:1-6, 6:1-10.

The lie for this week is “YOUR FAITH IS JUST BETWEEN YOU AND GOD.” Researcher Robert Bellah wrote in Habits of the Heart that 81% of Americans believe that you should come to religious conclusions APART from any religious organization. In other words, the majority of people believe you don’t find God in community. They think you find God on your own. The reality is that Americans today, including many Christians, have never reported that they’ve been lonelier. Gen Z 18-22 year-olds are the loneliest, followed by Millennials. Why? Because we’re trying to do life and faith on our own terms, not cemented into Church community. We’ll see how the Apostle Paul teaches us something different as we look at Ephesians 2:19-22.

On this weekend ahead of the July Fourth Holiday, we reflect on the words in 1 Peter 2:13-17. While our country is far from a perfect and united nation, it is best to celebrate the platform which God has given us to be His leaders; leaders to create a fairer and more just world.

This week’s lie is “WOMEN AND MEN ARE BASICALLY THE SAME.” Whether you’re considering chromosomal pairs in a nucleus, sexual organs, or even brain chemistry, or behavior psychology, there are OBVIOUS differences between women and men and logical implications attached to those differences. The problem arises, however, when those differences are abused for selfish gain. In other words, the problem is not in God’s design, but in humanity’s poor execution. As a result, society has adopted more of an egalitarian approach to the sexes. So when we start to discuss things like gender roles in the home and the church, it seems social foreign, perhaps even oppressive.   This week we’re going to dig into some of the texts that a 2018 postmodern climate tends to find confusing, if not offensive and regressive. I’ll do my very best to clear up what I think are both misunderstandings in society and in some traditional churches. And hopefully we’ll take one step closer to the truth and beauty of God’s plan. Please join me a

Just as Jesus calmed the stormy wind and waves while on a boat with his frightened disciples, Jesus is able to still the storms that occur in our daily lives, as well as in our faith. 

This week’s lie is “MORE MONEY, MORE HAPPINESS.” Most philosophers and religious leaders throughout history have suggested that contentment is the secret to happiness. And yet, modern research also seems to suggest that $34k/year income is a threshold, and $75k/year is another income threshold for happiness. So which is it? Can we be content without X amount of dollars? Should we be content where we’re at and never pursue more money? What can we do with the money we have that will bring greatest joy? The Apostle Paul has some great insights we’ll study this week from 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

E Pluribus Unum is printed on our money, inscribed on government buildings, and serves as the motto of the United States of America. The Latin phrase translates to "out of many, one." It was, and still stands for a goal - that despite the diversity of people, there will be a unity, to stand as one. E Pluribus Unum could also be a descriptor for the Christian Church as well. We look to Ephesians 4, where we stand in unity for our God, even amongst diversity.