Christ Covenant Church In Mesquite

Have you heard the good news about Jesus Christ? Mark wants us to know that the gospel is all about Jesus. He is the one who comes with comfort and power and glory and grace and truth. Clear the debris from your heart and prepare the way for Jesus to come to you as Shepherd and King and Savior.

Jesus saw Simon and Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” What is Jesus calling you to do with your life? What is holding you down and keeping you back from following Jesus?

Which is easier for Jesus—to forgive sins or to heal broken legs? From a God’s point of view it is more difficult to forgive than to heal. Why? The cost is higher and greater. Healing legs requires creative power; forgiving sins requires redemptive power. That means blood must be shed.

We're not really interested in what Jesus would eat. But we are interested in the kind of people he ate with. In the past God ate with people who trusted and obeyed him. In this story God eats with people who had (literally) made their living by walking in unbelief and disobedience.

Why does the Sabbath matter so much? Sabbath is grace for resting your body and refreshing your soul, for remembering the creative and redemptive works of God, for renewing covenant, for rejoicing in worship, for relieving the poor, and for repenting of sins.

Is your heart hard? Jesus can shatter it and soften it. Are you shriveled up? Jesus can stretch you out.

It’s hard for some of us to regard Jesus as a smart, intellectual, thoughtful man. But we must try to envision him as a more than a simple preacher. Jesus was a thinker—a deep thinker. According Dallas Willard, Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived. Listen to find out why.

In this episode of Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus tell a story about a sower, seed, and soils. (Actually, it’s a story about Jesus, his gospel, and our hearts.) The parable of the sower Jesus causes us to think about the gospel and its relation to different kinds of hearts. Is your heart hard, shallow, crowded, or fertile? Why? Can your heart be changed? How?

In today’s episode of Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus explain why he told parables. Parables are stories that contain and conceal the truth. They are like time-release capsules. The more you think about them the more truth they release.

As we meditate on Isaiah 53 let’s answer four crucial questions: Why was Jesus crucified?What happened to Jesus at the cross?What did Jesus accomplish at the cross?Who benefits from his accomplishments at the cross?

Life is stormy. Each one of us is battered by fierce winds and beaten down by ferocious waves. How do you respond to the storms of life? Life is scary, but why are we so afraid? In this week’s episode we encounter the One who controls the storms of life with the power of his word--Jesus the Rescuer.

Think of Legion as the Goliath of demons; he is the devil’s champion; he is a strong man. Think of Jesus as the new David; he is God’s champion; the Strong Man. Just as David the shepherd overcame Goliath the warrior, so Jesus overcame Legion by the power of God.

In this week’s episode of Mark’s Gospel we meet a woman whose life is literally draining away. Why? She is a broken vessel; a weak and sickly woman; a social outcast. In a last ditch effort to save her life she reaches out to Jesus. Does she remind you of anyone you know? Can you relate to her? What can Jesus do for people like her?

Someone has said, “Home is where you can say whatever you want—because no one listens to you anyways.”Apparently that was not true of Jesus’ experience. His kinsmen heard his teaching loud and clear and they were shocked or blown away. Why were they offended by Jesus?

God knows that his people need a shepherd who is weak enough to sympathize with them and strong enough to save the. That is why Jesus entered into our experience as the divine-human shepherd.

Jesus says that our heart is the source of evil thoughts and evil things. Jeremiah the prophet says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Calvin the reformer says "the human heart is a perpetual factory of idols". What is the condition of your heart?I am compelled by personal experience and divine revelation to agree with them.

Cutting room floor material from the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman.

This story shows how Jesus using a bit of ethnic humor and well-played satire in order to destroy racism with the gospel of grace. Jesus calls no one an unclean yard dog. He shows no partiality or favoritism. Any Jew or Greek, male or female, who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.