Turner Christian Church

Introduction The way of discipleship is hard. Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for…

Introduction READ MARK 13 What is Jesus talking about? We assume he's talking about the end of the world. He talks about “the end” coming (7, 13) The Gospel must first be preached to all nations (10) “Days of distress will be unequaled” (19) Dramatic language of sun darkened, etc. (24) People will see…

Introduction READ Mark 11:27-33 Read Mark 12:1-12 The Temple leaders defended themselves based on their authority. Jesus said that their authority doesn't matter if they refused to respond to the Gospel. The question is: The Question: What does God really WANT FROM US ? (11:27-12:12) Read Mark 12:13-15…

Introduction The Question of the Temple ( Mark 11:12-19 ) This is weird. Jesus seems to act very out of character: Fig tree Temple For the disciples, the temple cleansing was what they had waited for. But the way Jesus did it was disappointing. The fig tree is there to asnwer the question of the temple…

The Triumphal Entry Read Mark 11:1-11 This story, especially as Mark tells it, is anticlimactic: Jesus decides to make his move during Passover—the new exodus! Disciples proclaim Jesus king Crowds join in the procession The temple leaders are supposed to respond. They ignore him completely. We are not…

sddasc Read Mark 10:17-31 Jesus challenges this man with a particular version of “deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Jesus looked…

Recap Read Mark 9:14-29 Central question of the story: why can't the disciples cast out the demon? Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to…

Now we come to the midterms. Anxiety of the pharisees. Lesson of the Loeaves—I am completely dependent on a generous God. Jesus tells them to watch out for the yeast of the pharisees. The disciples start worrying about bread. Read Mark 8:27-9:1 There is one question on the midterm: who do you say I am?…

Read Mark 7:1-23 We often get this passage backwards—we think that the Pharisees were focused on the outside—ritual and behavior—while Jesus is focused on the in keeping the inside clean. But that's because we get confused about the point they are arguing. We think Jesus is abolishing dietary laws. “Are…

Coming out of COVID we were in a really good financial position. We found ourselves sitting on a good sized checking account. From that position, we made several decisions at various points: We increased the size of our emergency reserve fund We invested more of our money with church investment groups.…

Introduction Read Mark 6:46-52 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. They were surprised when they shouldn't have been. They wouldn't have been if they had understood about…

READ MARK 5:1-20 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. Jesus sees the Gerasene cemetery as it really is: JUST a PLACE . v. 1-2 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore,…

Background Jesus ended the last story by saying, Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. How can I "do God's Will?” Do I have to BE CHOSEN…

READ Mark 3:7-19 There is a huge groundswell of attention on Jesus. He's doing all these remarkable things, and the movement is growing. Jesus invites the twelve to make a deeper commitment to him--from disciples to THE disciples. The twelve agree, and are probably pretty excited and optimistic. If you…

When the Jews came back from exile, they had high hopes for God to return to them and set everything right. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the Lord 's favor by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets,…

Read Mark 5:21-6:6 These three stories connect faith and healing. Jesus constantly connects faith with healing and power. Faith is essential to following Jesus. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” “ ‘If you can'?” said Jesus. “Everything…

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of…

1 Samuel 1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had…

Genesis 18:1-15 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses…

We spent 5 weeks talking about doing nothing. The basic idea is this: God is the one in charge, who has the plan, who knows when and how to fix things. The logical conclusion: there will be (many) times when I want God to act, but he has not decided to act yet. The right thing to do then is “nothing.”…

BIBLICAL Thanksgiving begins and ends with DOING NOTHING . ( Leviticus 23:33-36 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord 's Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For…

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written:…

Luke 4:1-4 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” The Obstacle: Fixing It We live with the belief that EVERY problem MUST be fixed……

Jesus committed time to doing NOTHING . ( 5:15-16 ; Exodus 16:29 , 20:8-11 ) Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath;…

We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that…

Light vs Darkness (5:1-20) Be light: follow God's WILL instead of the WAYS of darkness. 3-7 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse…

Congregational Unity ( Eph. 4:1-6 ) Our first calling is to build LOVING , united CONGREGATIONS . 4:1-3 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort…

Sermon Points Christians need to be FAITHFUL to Jesus and rooted in his LOVE to fulfill their mission. 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his…

The Problem Human beings are caught in a cycle of sin, ANXIETY and DEATH . v. 1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, How are we already dead? We think Paul is talking about a spiritual reality, but that's not it. He's talking about the fact that mortality works back into our lives…

The Letter from Jesus Imagine you are part of Ephesus Christian Church Rich, prominent city Pastors: Paul, Timothy, John (last apostle) Received three letters that would end up in the Bible Your pastor, who is in jail, sends you a letter What they are doing right: They work hard They cannot tolerate…

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.' ” Why would God lead us into temptation? When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil,…

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.' ” What is Jesus talking about? Why the three terms? The Debts of Israel Deuteronomy 15:1-11 ; Lev. 25:8-13 ; At the end of every seven…

What is our “Daily” bread? Give us today our daily bread. This seems like the easiest part to interpret, except that we don't actually know what “daily” means. There are three possible interpretations, and they are all Biblical. Give us today the bread we NEED to SURVIVE . The whole Israelite community…

The Prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray: One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give…

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. What does this passage mean? It doesn't mean: “God, please take control of the powers of the world to bring peace and justice.” “God, please bail us out of this hopeless world and build us a new one.” “God, we give up trying to do your…

As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher,…

They recognized God's POWER and ORDER in creation around them. Psalms 93 , 29 , 104; The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. Your throne has been established from the beginning; you are from eternity. The…

Job's Situation There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female…

DEATH is a ravenous monster that CONSUMES everyone and everything. Ecclesiastes 1:14 ; 9:2-3 , 11-12 ; Numbers 16:31-33 ; I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. Everything is the same for everyone: There is one fate for the…

The dragon stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon…

As I mentioned in the beginning of this series, my original plan had been to preach through the visions of Revelation, but I realized that we need a ton of background in order to understand the imagery. Now that we have studied dragons, we are ready to examine the Great Red Dragon. This will help us…