Podcasts about gospel who

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus performs a ministry of exorcism that helps to reveal his identity as the Lord, as the Messiah. This is seen especially in the story of the Geresane Demoniac. Join Dr. Luke Arredondo as he explores Jesus' exorcisms in Mark, and the way these stories help us to answer the key question of the Gospel: Who is Jesus?  

“Whose Worse? Rihanna or Sam Smith” “The True Meaning of Gospel” “ Who are the Real Racists” “Dating in 2023”

Particularly “in the L.G.B.T.Q. community, it's not uncommon to find a substitute family, colloquially known as a chosen family,” Dani Blum recently wrote in an article in The New York Times. According to Blum, a “chosen family” refers to the “intense, intimate relationships … people form apart from their biological relatives; it is the kinship you create outside of a traditional family structure.”   Chosen families are not a new phenomenon, nor are they exclusive to LGBTQ people. But in an age quick to write essential relationships off as “toxic,” they are increasingly common and consequential.  Relationships were designed by God to be a gift of His common grace. Certain relationships, like the intimacy between a husband and wife or the bond between parents and children are distinct in purpose and unique in function, irreplaceable in their roles as building blocks of society. Friendship, from our deepest commitments to common neighborliness, is to be treasured. All of these relational arrangements are increasingly rare and disordered in a techno-driven culture, captive to utilitarian concern.   And it is important to remember that Jesus taught of a tie that binds the redeemed beyond blood relation, secured by His blood. He asked in Matthew's Gospel: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Then, pointing to his disciples, he answered: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  The Church then is a family in an even deeper sense of the word. It is the family that is chosen by God. It has the capacity to fill needs keenly felt by those whose home life has been broken, characterized by absence, abuse, or hostility. In fact, family is the only relationship employed in Scripture as an analogy for the Church, both in the sense of Christ's relationship with us and our relationships with one another.  The troubling thing about so-called “chosen families,” at least in our modern context, is what they are intended to replace. Rather than simply “expanding” the scope of family or letting friends step into a gap, we employ these relationships to shove away and replace our biological families.   The harms of this are most evident to children, as decades of studies have shown with stunning clarity. Biological fathers and mothers each contribute things irreplaceable by any other relationship. Even in the case of adoption, the most redemptive of all arrangements, deep emotional wounds often remain that children must process. Adoption is a beautiful choice, made because something has gone wrong. Thus, adoption is among the family relationships employed by Scripture to describe how God loves and redeems us.  In its glee over creating “family” out of any assorted collection of people, society has forgotten that the biological family is baked into the world by God's intent. Family is no accident of history, no social construct that can be replaced. It is so woven into the fabric of biology that no society that has rejected it has survived.  In fact, “chosen families” are already failing to meet people's basic relational needs. As Joshua Coleman wrote in The Atlantic, “Studies on parental estrangement have grown rapidly in the past decade, perhaps reflecting the increasing number of families who are affected.” In one survey of mothers aged 65 to 75, one in 10 reported being estranged from an adult child. Some 62% reported contact less than once a month.  Part of the beauty of biological families is that they are not chosen. In essence, they are built around obligation, a duty to the other, not merely as a means of self-fulfillment. By contrast, if we can opt into a group of friends, we can just as easily opt out.   There are certainly cases in which family members are abusive, controlling, or in the true sense of an exhausted word, “toxic.” Still, the spirit of the age is one that teaches us to prefer the company of those who ask less of us. Will these “chosen” replacements endure the demands of life, illness, and aging?   In such an age, the Church's calling to be a family for those who have none matters all the more. Like the family, the Church is no social construct, but a reality baked into the world by the One who created it. He is the same One who included man and woman, husband and wife, mother and father in the design specs of humanity. Any society that tries to write these relational realities out of the story of the world will not fare well. 

Loving our neighbor isn't an exercise of semantics (as in the Gospel): “Who exactly is my neighbor, Jesus?”. Our neighbors are the ones we like, the ones we abhor, and the vast majority who fall between those extremes. Human Flourishing invited us to grow empathy for all people: to imagine the sociocultural obstacles that prevent our neighbor from living into the fullness of the person God created them to be.

Rev. Ben Jones continues our morning series entitled 'Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?' Reading: Mark 15:1-15

Rev. Ben Jones continues our morning series entitled 'Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?' Reading: Mark 15:1-15

Tors Jones continues our Lent series entitled 'Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?' Reading: Mark 14: 27-31 and 66-72

Rev. John Adams begins our new Lent sermon series entitled 'Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?' Reading: Mark 14:43-52

Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:27-9:1. As Jesus prepares for His journey south to Jerusalem, He goes to the northern region of Israel. He eases His disciples into answering the question that stands at the center of the Gospel: “Who is Jesus?” The answers of the people in Israel are on the right track, but they are incomplete. The disciples cannot be bystanders to this question, however. Jesus asks them directly, and Peter answers correctly: “You are the Christ.” Jesus uses this as His opportunity to teach them plainly that He must suffer, die, and rise. Astonishingly, Peter rebukes Jesus, showing that Peter and the other disciples do not fully see Jesus yet. Firmly, yet graciously, Jesus puts Peter and the others in their place and continues to teach them. To follow Jesus is to follow Him into death and then resurrection. Although this is paradoxical to sinful sensibilities, this is the Christian life that seeks God’s kingdom above all else. Jesus does not simply serve as the example for us, though. He is first and foremost our Savior as He sacrifices His own life for ours. “The Gospel in Action” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the Gospel according to St. Mark. The Evangelist hits the ground running with the very first verse of his Gospel account, and he never lets up the pace. As one deed of Jesus comes right after another, always paired with His authoritative Word, St. Mark proclaims the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, revealed conclusively by His death on the cross.

"Sharing the Gospel" Who is the great commission for? What does it all involve?

Phil and Jase talk about creative (and delicious!) ways to cook deer, why eating game is biblical, and why young deer are way better than big bucks. Phil likes to eat wild game, but mounting it on the wall isn't really his thing. Jase explains the concept of email to Phil. The guys respond to a question that comes up when we go public about the Gospel: "Who do you think you are?" And Phil laments that in today's culture, the "truth" doesn't include Jesus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rev. John Adams completes our series entitled Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?

Rev. John Adams continues our series entitled Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?

Rev. John Adams continues our series entitled Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?

Rev. John Adams continues our 'Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?' series.

John Adams continues our Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What? series

John Adams' begins our new series entitled Jesus in Mark's Gospel: Who, Why, So What?

We come to the last of the 10 Commandments: “You shall not covet...” As Paul pointed out in Romans 7, this commandment is explicitly internal. If we wanted to dodge the others as merely a checklist of actions to avoid (i.e., "don't kill people, cheat on your spouse, steal or lie - got it!"), the tenth commandment will not let us off the hook so easily. Coveting does not outwardly injure my neighbor. It is something in my heart. It is a disposition. We are getting a strong reminder that these commands are not merely rules to be enacted, but a glimpse of God's heart being inculcated among his people. But saying that is the goal doesn't solve the underlying problem: why does my heartburn like this against my co-worker's success? Why am I envious of my neighbor's possessions or my friend's seemingly better romantic relationship? Woody Allen famously said: "the heart wants what it wants." But what if the heart's desires are themselves broken? The tenth commandment is an exclamation point on the problem of the human condition. So, doctor, if that's the diagnosis, what's the prognosis? Where is the hope? Let's talk about why we all sing "I can't get no satisfaction..." and how God actually gives it. Discussion Questions Name three things your neighbors have that you don't but wish you did. Name three things God has done in your life in the last month. Which of those tasks is easier for you? Why? Read Romans 7:7-12. Restate verse 8 in your own words. What is he admitting about his own heart? Do you assess your own covetousness fairly or woefully underestimate it? Try to go deep: How does your sin (behavior) and covetousness play off of one another? Recall the difference between jealousy and coveting. Is it merely semantic or substantive? Does it depend on the nature of the particular object/person being coveted? Give real examples. Neighbor What is the most repeated word in Exodus 20:17? Who is that in your life and what are the variety of ways in which you can covet their lives, according to the verse? How has social media expanded this sense of neighbor in your life? Are there people, brands, or hashtags you need to unfollow; because they aren't helping you with any of this? What is underneath all of these objects of our desire in Exodus 20:17? How is the 10th commandment a threat to our envisioned lives? Finish the sentence: "I'd be ok if I only had..." What is the big picture answer to that question? Does that differ from our day-to-day answer to that question? Accordingly, how might seeing what our neighbor "has" trigger active coveting? What does that reveal about our demeanor toward God (and what he has given us)? Let's be plain here: do you think and act like you deserve more? FOMO "The secret of envy is that somewhere down deep I enjoy my best friend's failure." (Foucault) Why is it difficult for us to cheer for others, especially if they excel in areas where we struggle? Read the parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). Would you want to trade circumstances someone like that, especially if you could avoid the harsh ending? What are we afraid we are missing? What is the lie Satan is selling Eve in Genesis 3:4-5? What does Satan covet in Isaiah 14:13-14? If coveting leads us to want to trade places with others, what is the ultimate form of that demonstrated here? If you think about who you want to trade places with, what lie are you chasing? When was the last time you thought, "if I were God, I would do it differently"? Why is it so hard to relinquish (the illusion of) control? Where does the compulsion for control show up in your life? How can we change? Satan wants to ascend the throne in Isaiah 14. Contrast that with Jesus in Philippians 2:5-8. If coveting is yearning after what is someone else's, what does Jesus covet? How is his pursuit of the cross the antithesis of our sinful coveting? Who would want to trade for a life like his? And yet Jesus says, "if any man come after me, let him take up his cross, deny himself, and follow me" (Lk.9:23). Is that attractive to anyone? Why would anyone covet such a thing? If coveting is wanting to trade places with someone else, how is Jesus' version so utterly contrary to how we normally think? Gospel: Until we see Christ joyfully trading places with us, giving his life away in our place, we will not trust what he provides so that we begin to want to give our lives away. Only to the degree that we experience that will we begin to enter (Willingly? Regularly? Eagerly?!) into others' suffering to see them gain healing, joy, and life. Applying the Gospel: Who in your life would you willingly trade places with, knowing you'd get the worse end of the deal? Who, if they were sick or dying, would you rather ask God to let it be you who was sick or dying instead? What is it about that relationship that draws that out of you, organically? How is it different from how we think about our neighbors, especially when we covet? How is this "life to the fullest" (John 10:10) a way to answer the lie we tell ourselves when we covet?

Everybody has a message, and nobody is afraid to share it boldly. It could be political, social, or even comical. But what about the Gospel? Who are we sharing that message with the same boldness?

Where do we get our courage to believe the Gospel? Who leads us to the font? Who supplies us with Jesus' body and blood? Who provides us with the strength and ability to meet the needs that arise as we do the work God gives to us to do? Who supplies us with the right habits, toughness, and perpetual alertness to keep our eyes trained on Jesus, even when we cower before death and doubt in His resurrection? Who issues us the belief in ultimate victory over sin, death, and hell?

One big idea throughout the story of Acts is that you can’t stop the Gospel. The more the disciples proclaim the Gospel, the more resistance they face, the more that resistance is thwarted. You can’t stop the Gospel.Mojtaba Hosseini, 30, was the leader of a growing underground church in Iran when he was sentenced to 3 years in jail. In an interview with Open Doors he said of his time in prison: “I prayed; that was all I could do... At first, they were prayers of repentance. I thought God was punishing me for my mistakes by putting me in prison... Then the Lord spoke to me.” He said: ‘Stop being selfish Mojtaba, it’s not about you; it’s about Me. Look around you.’” For the first time since being jailed, he began to truly look at people, attempting to see them as God does. “I saw poor people, people who had committed the worst crimes. People that felt so alone.”Mojtaba began to share the Gospel with inmates but didn’t have a Bible. Fortunately the local Imam was so impressed by the Christian’s commitment to God that he began to smuggle in print outs from the Bible disguised as English lessons. Mojtaba translated them and gave out copies to inmates who wanted them. “I never prayed for God to release me from prison,” Mojtaba says. “I can serve God anywhere ... It doesn’t matter what situation I’m in. I can work in God’s Kingdom wherever He places me.”While persecution and jail time may have tempted the Apostles and Mojtaba to stop sharing the Gospel, God intervened to ensure more people could hear it. The Gospel can’t be stopped! Where is he calling you to take it next? DBQuestions Why are efforts to stop the spread of the Gospel so often thwarted?What sort of things in your life discourage you from sharing the Gospel? Who might God be calling you to take the Gospel to?PrayerUnstoppable God, thank you that your Gospel can’t be thwarted. Thank you that the good news of Jesus has come into my life. Help me to be part of your unstoppable movement of mercy, grace, and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.


"Gospel- Who or What?"

What is the Gospel?: Who is the Greatest? By: Russell Joyce Oct. 23rd, 2016  

We begin Mark's account of the Good News about Jesus. What is a Gospel? Who wrote this one? When did they write it, and why does it start (and end) so strangely?