OVILLA ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH

This sermon from Mark 11:1–11 calls us to examine how our trust in performance, reputation, and prosperity chokes out true faith. Christ did not come to support our idols, but to replace our hearts of stone with hearts made alive by grace. The Gospel takes root in the soil of surrender, not pride. Only when we lay down our self-sufficiency and submit to the King who came to die can we truly live.

Are you weary of the sin that so easily entangles—selfishness, anger, anxiety, and the endless striving for significance in the eyes of the world? This past Sunday, we opened Mark 10:32–52 and were reminded of the cry that flows from a heart awakened by grace: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. I want to see You. I want to follow You.” In this text, we see not the strength of man, but the mercy of Christ. It is not our desperation that saves us, but the sovereign compassion of the King who hears and responds. When we are brought low in repentance and look to Christ in faith, He opens our eyes—not merely to see, but to behold Him as our all-satisfying treasure. He is perfectly worthy, infinitely glorious, and sufficient for all our need.

This Sunday, we reflect on Jesus' teaching in Mark 10:13–31 and are reminded of a foundational truth: salvation is by grace alone, not by anything we contribute. Christ did not save us because of our morality, our status, or our works. We bring nothing to the table but our need. Like the children brought to Jesus, we come empty-handed. Like the rich young ruler, we are confronted with the idols we cling to—status, wealth, self-righteousness—and called to lay them down. The gospel demands our total surrender. This passage calls us to repent of trusting in ourselves and to rest fully in the sufficiency of Christ. Let us cast off our worldly ambitions and self-importance. Let us cling to one call, and one call alone: All we have is Christ.

This Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing from one of our elders, Pastor Logan Garrett, as he walked us through Mark 10:1–12, where Jesus teaches about divorce. As Christians, we're called to take marriage seriously while striving to be faithful in our commitments, reflecting the way God is always faithful to us.

This week's sermon focused on how Christians are called to live differently from the world. True followers of Christ are marked by valuing people who offer no advantage to us, resisting the pull of comparison, competition, and self-promotion. Instead of seeking status, Christians seek to see others joined to Christ. Listen to the full sermon today!

Because Jesus rose from the grave, He offers new life to all who are in Him. If you belong to Christ, you can be confident—one day, all things will be made new, and you will rise again. Death does not have the final word. Celebrate the hope of the resurrection and enjoy Sunday's sermon!

The goal of Jesus Christ was to scream into your grave, "Come Forth!" In our Good Friday service we rejoiced that Jesus has defeated death, he has raised the dead to be with him, and on Easter Sunday we rejoice in his victory over the grave. It is finished! He has done it!

This week we continued our sermon series through Mark as Pastor Matt walked through Mark 9:30–37. In this passage, we see the disciples struggling to understand Jesus—more focused on their own desires than their true need for Him. How often do we do the same? In what ways are we tempted to reshape Jesus into the kind of King we want, rather than submitting to the one He truly is? And what keeps us from fully embracing His mission for our lives? Listen to this past Sunday's sermon. 

Join Pastor Joe Etter as he walks us through Mark 9:9–29, exploring what it means to trust and seek the Lord—even in the midst of doubt. Is your heart posture one of dependence, recognizing your need for Him? May this message lead us all to cry out: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

Join us in our last week in the passage on the Transfiguration. God has given us his son and there is nothing more that we need. In our suffering, heart ache, confusion in life, poverty, and frustration, we can say, "Hallelujah, all we have is Christ!" Listen today as we complete our discussion on the transfiguration. 

This Sunday we turned over to another account of the Transfiguration in Luke 9. Come along as we reflect where Moses and Elijah are seen in the transfiguration. Have you ever wondered why they're part of this scene? Join us as we unpack this passage and talk about how rich treasures can be found in the Word of God. 

As we journey through Mark 9, we continue exploring the idea that, for now, we see only dimly—but one day, we will behold Christ in His fullness. Though we catch glimpses of His glory, the complete picture is yet to come. The truth is, our deepest longing is to see God's face, even if we don't fully realize it. And one day, those who are in Christ will shine with His radiant light, fully united with Him. Listen to Sunday's full sermon today!

As Christians, we are called to set our minds on things above, allowing our hearts to be transformed through the renewal of our minds. By confessing our sins, we receive healing and the freedom to move forward as kingdom-minded people. Don't miss this past Sunday's sermon!

We kicked off a new sermon series in the Gospel of Mark, focusing on the Transfiguration. We began in Mark 9:1-8, where Jesus is revealed in His divine glory before Peter, James, and John. What can we take away from this moment? Listen as Pastor Matt unpacks how Jesus deeply cares about our suffering and assures us that, for those in Christ, all pain will one day come to an end. The ultimate answer to our struggles is Jesus Himself. Will you trust that the goal for your existence is to be with Him?

“‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me…'” Join Pastor Logan Garrett this week as he dives into Mark 8:34-38, exploring what it truly means to follow Christ. Together, we look to engage with this world in such a way that they would see Jesus, our suffering Savior, clearly. 

What is a Metanarrative? Join our ministerial staff as they explore the grand storyline of the Bible—its overarching theme and how we are called to read Scripture within this context. This discussion serves as a powerful reminder to all believers of what was, what is, and what is to come, helping us grasp the full scope of God's redemptive plan.

As we continue through the Gospel of Mark, we see how Peter and the disciples struggle to recognize Jesus for who He truly is. Like them, many remain blind to His person and His work, often viewing Him through the lens of their greatest needs or desires. Yet for the Christian, a day will come when our vision will be made clear, and we will sing with clear eyes—seeing Christ as our ultimate desire, the One we want the most.

As we journey through the Gospel of Mark, we once again find the disciples in a boat with Jesus, caught up in a discussion about bread. But why? While they may be concerned about their physical needs, they fail to recognize their deeper need for Him. Don't we often downplay our sin, convincing ourselves it isn't our greatest struggle? Jesus alone is who and what we need. Join us for this sermon as we see that Jesus is everything we need in this life to struggle forward with confidence to serve Him until we see his face. 

This week we continue in Mark and we land on the passage where the Gentile woman fell at Jesus' feet, begging Him to heal her demon possessed daughter. In this passage, we see how the bread of life is for all people and it never runs out. There is perfect abundance in Him.

This passage this week begins with Jesus responding to a question from the Pharisees: "Why do your disciples not follow the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" In His answer, Jesus dismantles the notion that external actions can make a person clean or unclean, revealing the true doctrine of sin. Listen as Pastor Matt delves into the text and points us to the One who offers true life.

This week we continue in our Mark sermon series and our discussion lands where Jesus heals the sick at Gennesaret. We often want Jesus to be the Savior we want, rather than the Savior we need. Will you allow Jesus to be God in your familiar places? Listen today to Sunday's sermon. 

This week's sermon centered on the powerful story of Jesus walking on the water toward His disciples. It reminds us how often we rely on our own strength, thinking we are sufficient, when in reality, we are called to acknowledge our complete need for our Savior. Instead of striving, we are invited to humbly proclaim our insufficiency and find true rest in Him. Don't miss the full message—listen today!

Today, we return to the Gospel of Mark after the Advent season. The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, but there's more to it than meets the eye. Join us as we explore what it means to stop trying to make Jesus fit our own expectations and instead allow Him to be the King He truly is. Let's submit to Him and allow Him to fill us up while we live in green pastures.

In the final sermon of our Advent series, we reflect on Christ's ascension to the Father and the glorious promise that one day we will see His face. Join us as we explore the profound tension of the "already, but not yet"—the reality of being spiritually united with Christ while longing for the physical consummation of all things. When Christ returns, our bodies will be resurrected, and the earth will be made new, fulfilling God's ultimate plan of redemption.

Continuing in our Advent series entitled, "From Heaven He Came and Sought Her" we see the pattern continue. Jesus followed his people from the presence of God all the way into death, and we will follow Him out of the grave and back into the presence of God. One with Himself, I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood, so my life is hid with Christ on high, my Savior and my God. 

Continuing in our Advent series, "From Heaven He Came and Sought Her" Jesus continues in this movement, chasing after His people. In Genesis 3, death is introduced to the world and right away, God reveals that He will send Someone to do something about it. Jesus was born to die and to kill death from within, to bring up a host of captives from Sheol, and that man no more may die. 

From heaven He came and sought her: His bride who left the garden in sin. Jesus, who was alive from eternity past as God the Son, left from heaven to be in the likeness of the "created" to seek us. We so often worship the created over the Creator- would we fix our eyes on the Creator who chased after us? 

Advent 2024 is entitled, "From Heaven He Came and Sought Her". We'll see the movement of humanity and that Jesus followed this pattern, and Christians follow the pattern of Jesus. So as Jesus was with God in the beginning, we were with God at the beginning of creation. 

Pastor Matt continues our study in Mark as we come to an interesting passage, acting as somewhat of a bookend between the previous two chapters. In light of the parable of the sower, we learn and are encouraged by Jesus' example, even despite his rejection from his hometown.

We see in the "Markan sandwich" found in the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter, that Jesus makes us clean in a faith that keeps us. We remember that Jesus has completely saved us and leaves no work to be done. The work of the cross is finished and complete, so we continue in the faith that has us. 

We're taking a one week break from Mark to talk about the qualifications of Elders, prescribed in the books of 1 Timothy, Titus, and 1 Peter. This is important for us as we look to those who shepherd the people of our church, and that we would live like Elders are called to. 

Continuing in Mark, Jesus shows us that He is not only Lord over demonic powers, but that He is Lord over governments. His kingdom is the only kingdom that will be everlasting, that no king of earth could stand against. We do not tether ourselves to this country, but to the new heavens and new earth

This Sunday, we look at Mark's contrast of Jesus and Jonah. One sleeps on the boat amidst the storm to run away from God's calling- the Better One sleeps in peace under God's sovereignty. Jesus cares that we are perishing and because of this, calms the waves of judgement. 

Understanding the book of Mark means studying a lot of Isaiah. Pastor Matt helps us see Mark's intent of using the form of Isaiah to show that the King that was prophecied and His kingdom are fulfilled in Jesus Christ- so we find rest in that grand picture of Jesus. 

Continuing in Mark 4, Jesus uses the illustration of the lamp, being Himself. God has given light to a people who walked in darkness. That light is His Word revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and it will shine on us forever as our eternal light. We live by that light and we live to reflect the light.

We're back in Mark, right where we left off! The parable of the sower teaches us how Jesus disciples, how we are to disciple, and how God has revealed Himself to those who are in Him. We're reminded that we sow everywhere because God is the One who brings growth, so we should trust Him to grow where we might never imagine. 

This is the last week in our Everyday People sermon series; Pastor Matt is talking about the unexpected beauty we find that God built into the prescribed christian life through the church. We find this unexpected beauty as we purposefully commit to the Lord, His Word, the Family, and the Family Business because it points us back to Himself- our ultimate good. 

Being purposefully committed to the family business is our last measure of how we live as everyday people revealing the unxpected beauty of a life committed to Christ in all we do. Jesus made disciples that made disciples. We follow his example- this is part of the Christian life.

Our next measure of being "everyday people" would be that we are committed to our local church family. God has prescribed a way that christians are to be supported by one another and belong to each other, and that takes place in church membership.

This week Pastor Matt talks through our second measure of being everyday people, purposefully committed to God's Word. We can only commit to the Lord by knowing Him how He has taught us to know Him through His Word, so we anchor ourselves to the book.

We're continuing in week 2 of our Everyday People series and hitting our first measure for ourselves as everyday people: are we purposefully commited to the Lord? Is the Lord our treasure? As we experience our great salvation, we delight in him to endless measure.

This week starts our first of a six week vision series we're calling Everyday People. We come to the church to be strengthened to go back out to our mission fields: the shops, kitchens, and tanneries.  

The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper point us to Jesus' fulfillment. We're reminded who we are, as adopted children of God, unified in Christ and His body, the church. It helps us look forward to the feast that is to come. 

We're taking a quick break from Mark and this week Pastor Matt talks about baptism and how it forms our identities as beleivers. We have died in God's judgement through Jesus to be made new creations in Him, uniting us to Him so that we are no longer searching for an expressed identity but now identify as children and heirs to the Kingdom of God. 

This week, Pastor Matt guides us through our first "Markan Sandwich" of the book of Mark as we see Jesus teach and identify the family of believers that we get to identify with. 

Like the disciples we are made people, sent to preach and go to war with the dominon of darkness. Listen as we continue our sermon series in the book of Mark. We will be focusing on Mark 3:7-19.

We so often create a religion for ourselves, but in doing that we are just like the pharisees. Leaning into the Gospel means coming under the protection of our Good Shepherd and throwing off the bonds of our self-made, sinful religion of rules to live throughh the all sufficient merit of Jesus.    

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. This means that we rest in His healing of our sinfulness and our bodies, and we rest in Him as the one that our souls long for. This declaration of Jesus, that echoes David, ties together all of Mark chapter 2 to say: this is who He is, rest in Him. 

This week, Joe Zinkgraf, our minister of family discipleship, speaks on this next passage in the book of Mark- a question about fasting. We wait for Jesus and the uniting of Himself with His people. 

Pastor Joe Mike Etter leads us through Jesus' calling of Levi the tax collector in Mark chapter 2. Jesus was a friend to sinners but we don't live comfortably with sin, we repent and cling to the Gospel. 

In Mark chapter 2, we see Jesus heal the paralytic and say, "Your sins are forgiven." Redemption in Christ will purge all sin, redeeming our bodies and forgiving us our sins.