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Following Jesus Into the Dark

Bible Text: Mark 16:1-8 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Gospel of Mark

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The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future.  The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.
—Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust
Sermon Summary: This week we begin a new sermon series in the gospel of Mark. We worship Jesus as our risen Lord, and we are called to follow him as our King. But what does that mean, and how can we follow him when we can’t see where he is leading? Come and hear what the gospel of Mark teaches us about following Jesus.
Passage to Consider: Mark 16:1–8

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

 

Confession of Sin:

Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, you shattered the power of sin and death.

We confess that we live as if we remain captive to doubt

and fear, bound by the ways that lead to death.

We overlook the poor and the hungry,

and pass by those who mourn.

We despise the weak

and abuse the earth you made.

(Silent confession)

Forgive us, God of mercy. Make us new, through the power of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

Amen.

God is Love

Bible Text: 1 John 4:7-19 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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“I loved not yet, yet I loved to love.
        … I sought what I might love, in love with loving.”
—Augustine, Confessions
 

“Love is all you need.” —The Beatles
Sermon Summary: How can we know what love is? Does the love we have been given require anything of us? Come and consider God’s sacrificial love as we continue our study in 1 John.
Passage to Consider: 1 John 4:7–12; 15–19

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

 

Confession of Sin:

Eternal God, we confess that often we have failed

To be an obedient church:

We have not done your will;

We have broken your law;

We have rebelled against your love;

We have not loved our neighbors;

We have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Song to Consider:

Assurance, the Judgement, and the Love of God

Bible Text: 1 John 3:19-4:19 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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“When love comes, fear goes.” —William Barclay

 

“Sinner, thou thinkest that because of thy sins and infirmities I cannot save thy soul, but behold my Son is by me, and upon him I look, and not on thee, and will deal with thee according as I am pleased with him.”
—John Bunyan
 

“Fear is a sign that he considers himself worthy of punishment, because it is punishments that instil fear.”
—Philo of Alexandria
 

Sermon Summary: Is it possible to live in confidence of God’s love even when we are confronted with our weakness and failures? Come and hear how God’s love overcomes our fear as we continue to study 1 John.

 

Passage to Consider: 1 John 3:19–20; 4:16–19

3:19-20

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

4:16-19

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

 

Confession of Sin:

Compassionate God, you love us with unfailing, self-giving mercy;

Forgive us for not returning your love.

-silent confession-

Jesus Christ, you ask us to love others sacrificially;

Forgive us for walking away from our neighbors in need.

-silent confession-

Holy Spirit, you equip us to love unconditionally;

Forgive us for caring more for our own concerns than for the concerns of others.

-silent confession-
God of grace, we repent of our lack of love for you and others and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.  Amen

Assurance and the Tests of Life (Part 2)

Bible Text: 1 John 2:3–6 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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Is my relationship with God simply a matter of personal, private faith, or does it impact my relationships with others? Consider as we continue to study 1 John’s teachings on the “tests” of true faith.

Assurance and the Tests of Life (Part 1)

Bible Text: 1 John 4:13–15 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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Does it really matter what I believe about Jesus? If so, what must I believe in order to call myself a Christian? This week, we will consider these questions as we look at passages from 1 John 4 and 5.

Cry of the Soul

Bible Text: Psalms 42:1-11 | Preacher: Johnathan Keenan | Series: Guest Preacher

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“The Psalms help us articulate and understand what we feel, but they also dare us to struggle. Even more, they give us words to vocalize our deepest struggles with the Lord. The Psalmist felt, and publicly expressed, the gamut of emotions, from hurt to fury, from desire to vengeance, to contempt against God. How comforting to know that we are not alone when we ache with loneliness, burn with anger, and tremble with fear. Someone before us has faced these emotions and in the midst of that conflict learned to love God.”
—Dan Allender “The Cry of the Soul”
 

Sermon Summary: Psalm 42. How do the themes of God’s love, nearness, commitment and faith exist with the human experience of sorrow, sadness and struggle?

 

Passage to Consider: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

Confession of Sin:

God of mercy,

You sent Jesus Christ to save the lost.

We confess that we have strayed from you

And turned aside from your way.

Lord, Have mercy.

 

We are misled by pride,

For we see ourselves as pure when we are stained

And great when we are small.

Christ, Have mercy.

 

We have failed in love,

neglected justice,

and ignored your truth.

Lord, Have mercy.

 

Have mercy, O God, and forgive our sin.

Return us to paths of righteousness

Through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

 

Song to Consider

 

Test the Spirits

Bible Text: 1 John 4:1-6 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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“The gospel, like its faithful preachers, is ‘of God’, and the people of God recognize it as such through the inward witness of the Spirit in their hearts.”
—F.F. Bruce
Sermon Summary: We are called as a corporate community to test the spirits. All persons speak by the inspiration of one Spirit or another. Because the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus Christ—the truth—we can be confident that we know the truth by testing things against the standard of Christ.

 

Passage to Consider: 1 John 4:1-6

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

 

Preparation Question: What is truth? What is your process of discerning it?

 

Confession of Sin:

Gracious God, we pray for your church universal, that you would fill it with truth.

Where we have corrupted it, purify us.

Where we are in error, direct us.

Where we are amiss, reform us.

Where we are in want, provide for us.

Forgive us when we are indifferent to your word and deaf to your Spirit.

Lead us to Jesus Christ, who is the Truth. For his sake, Amen.

 

Song to Consider

What is Love? Baby Don’t Hurt Me

Bible Text: 1 John 3:10-18 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: 1 John

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I wonder which brother is better
Which one our parents loved the most
I sure did get in lots of trouble
They seemed to let the other go
—Avett Brothers, Murder in the City
 

Sermon Summary: Am I my brothers keeper? We have answered this question in various ways and struggled with the question’s implication that we must love others that are different from us. This week in the book of 1 John 3 we take another look at love, what is it, and how we are to live it out.

 

Passage to Consider: 1 John 3:10-18

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

 

Preparation Question: What are some ways that you may have loved someone who was different that you less because of the fact that they were different?

 

Confession of Sin: 

Have mercy on us, God, according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions.

    Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin!

For we know our transgressions, and our sin is ever before us.

    Against you only have we sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

You delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach us wisdom in the secret heart.

    Hide your face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities.

Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us.

    In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen