Saturday, June 13th, 2009 by Pastor Josh

When we come to our text tonight, we get the feeling that we’ve witnessed this situation before. These verses seem full of similarities to a story we just heard:
* In v. 1, we find a hungry multitude.
* In v. 2, Jesus has compassion on the multitude.
* In v. 3, the disciples ask “How can we feed this multitude?”
* In v. 4, Jesus asks them for a food count.
* In vv. 6-7, we find that they have just a few loaves and fishes, but Jesus multiplies them to feed everyone.
* In v. 8, the disciples collect baskets full of leftovers.
And the first thing we think is: “Didn’t this just happen? This feels like déjà vu.”
Friday, June 12th, 2009 by Pastor Josh

The NT word “offend” is used 4x in our passage, Mark 9:38-50. It means to trip, to cause someone to stumble.
And we can all identify with this, because whether intentionally or unintentionally, we’ve all probably tripped someone, or been tripped, or seen someone tripped.
Maybe it was at a restaurant.
One of the first Sundays I was [...]
Friday, June 12th, 2009 by Pastor Josh

Last time we looked at Christ’s Transfiguration in Mark 9:2-13. Here you can see Raphael’s painting depicting that scene.
Raphael was a famous artist, maybe not quite as well-known as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci– unless you grew up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Raphael actually died at the age of 37 before he could finish [...]