“No Middle Ground” – Mark 9:38-40   Introduction: For/against (no fence-sitting) What an interesting couple of verses – a guy is casting out demons in Jesus’ name and the disciples criticize him and try to stop him. And then Jesus spouts off this little self-evident, ten-word saying: “The one who is not against us is […]

“Humility is Greatness” – James 4:6-10 & Mark 9:30-37   1. Who is the Greatest? Who is the greatest? It’s a common question, a common debate. Greatness and value are often determined in our world by education, salary, possessions, accomplishments and things like that. The world is full of it… the baseball season is coming […]

“Humility is Greatness” – James 4:6-10 & Mark 9:30-37   1. Who is the Greatest? Who is the greatest? It’s a common question, a common debate. Greatness and value are often determined in our world by education, salary, possessions, accomplishments and things like that. The world is full of it… the baseball season is coming […]

“Welcome Back, Exiles” – Ezra 2:1; 6:19,21-22   1. Ezra – unfamiliar, but significant! OK, I admit, Ezra isn’t exactly the most well-known book of the Bible, but this “return from exile” passage that I have chosen for our consideration today is certainly significant in the overall message of the Bible. There are many Bible […]

“Ephphatha – Be Opened” – Mark 7:31-37   Introduction – Open and closed sayings There are lots of sayings and idioms in our English language that relate to the words and concepts of being open and closed. Often those sayings have more figurative meanings than literal. Let me mention a few: An “open door policy” […]