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| Summary: Prophets aren’t so much people who predict the future as people who give us the hard truths about the world we live in. They are the ones who tell us how it is and help us repent and turn back to God so we can be more open to the transformation God brings to us through the incarnation. |
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| Summary: The Christmas message without distortion is “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” |
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| Summary: When we feel ourselves in the wilderness, hungering and thirsting for God, God will be there for us. And when we are feeling strong and refreshed, God calls us to move out into the world to serve others in need, all in the name of Jesus Christ. |
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| Summary: John the Baptist announces a new era of God’s salvation and invites his audience to realign in light of its coming. John’s preaching creates an expectation that the age of darkness is over. |
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| Summary: Baptism has both short-term and long-term benefits for believers, even today. |
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| Summary: John the Baptist proclaims that, in Jesus Christ, God has saved the best for last. |
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| Summary: Christ was baptized not because he was a sinner but to show his commitment to live righteously as God’s Son and to identify with those who are in need of repentance and baptism. That, of course, includes us all. |
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| Summary: The act of baptism brings pleasure to God. |
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| Summary: Jesus didn’t explain why he felt he needed John to baptize him, but the act revealed who Jesus was and what his mission would be. Although Christians have shed blood over how to do and understand baptism, the important thing to remember is that baptism marks our individual entry into the communal mission of the church to spread Christ’s good news. |
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| Summary: Jesus started his mission by allowing John the Baptist to baptize him. As Christ’s followers, we are ordained to follow his directions and his example. If we are open to the presence of the Holy Spirit we will find the power to serve in ways we can scarcely imagine. |
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| Summary: In Mark 1:14-15, Jesus gives us the essence of his good news. |
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| Summary: God’s love is present even in the wilderness, which can give us hope to carry on. |
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| Summary: When we are on the wrong path, we need someone to tell us so — maybe even Jesus! |
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| Summary: The beginning of each Christian life, however that takes place, is important, but that life is a continual response to God’s call. |
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| Summary: Jesus calls the first four disciples and they immediately give up everything they have to follow him. There is no process of building faith or learning discipleship. Instead, there is instant obedience. While we tend to stand in awe of the disciples’ response, we must also be awed by Jesus’ instant grace. Jesus works in our lives in the exact same way. He encounters us, accepts us immediately and summons us to follow him. |
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| Summary: Mark doesn’t waste words in getting to the heart of his message. The Baptist’s arrest reminds us of dangers as Jesus comes proclaiming God’s kingdom. Because the reign of God comes near, people are called to change their thinking and become part of that movement. And Jesus calls four fishermen to be the first of many to be instruments of the reconciliation that he brings. |
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| Summary: The alarm has gone off! The kingdom of God is near, in the sense of being close by and in the sense of being on the way. There may be a cost to count, but the kingdom of God trumps the kingdoms of this world, whether political, economic or entertainingly distracting. Turn around. Change your way of thinking. Follow Jesus. |
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| Summary: The way to the good news of the kingdom of God is through a difficult door, repentance. Jesus said so |
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| Summary: Jesus invited his disciples to cast their nets widely and “catch” men and women to serve the kingdom of God. They fished with faith, trusting that their prayer and action would yield good results. |
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| Summary: Following Jesus means recognizing his authority in our lives, and using the authority derived from him to exorcise the unclean spirits of our age. |
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| Summary: We should never give in to despair, even when our efforts seem to make no real difference against the suffering of the world. Jesus’ victory over the unclean spirit teaches us that God ultimately will win the victory over evil. |
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| Summary: What does the New Testament mean when it speaks of the authority that people saw in Jesus? Is this authority something that was available only to him, or is it possible that his followers might have at least a measure of it? And if so, what is the secret? |
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| Summary: Our gospel reading is the first of six stories in the New Testament about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Usually that provoked criticism. But if we look at the full significance of the Sabbath in scripture, we see that it was just the right time for healing to take place. It was a sign that the kingdom of God, the goal of creation, was breaking in. Now, in the renewal of creation brought about by Jesus’ resurrection, we are on our way to that goal and are called to be God’s instruments for the healing of the world. |
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| Summary: In the story of the demoniac in the Capernaum synagogue, we are shown someone who can be found in the midst of the community of faith, yet who is isolated and all alone. When Jesus heals, Jesus restores the relationships between God and all of us. It may not occur to us that people in our midst feel isolated even when they’re sitting in our midst. But it happens. For that matter, some of us may not have figured out we’re the ones who feel apart and lost. We have a part to play in the healing, in the restoration and in the salvation. |
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| Summary: Jesus’ initial public act of ministry in the synagogue at Capernaum called the community to realign its life and values around the announcement of the coming of God’s age of salvation. His ministry to us calls for a similar realignment from us. |
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| Summary: We need regular times of retreat and spiritual renewal. |
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| Summary: We can look at Jesus in more ways than one, but the way we choose to look will have an impact on the depth of our faith and will determine how we can make the difference that he calls us to make. We might even say that the way we look at Jesus determines whether our Christianity is genuine. |
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| Summary: Jesus resists the temptation to build a huge following using miracles and healings as the draw. He stays focused on his mission. |
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| Summary: Mark tells the story of Christ’s coming to a world out of joint and in need of a compassionate Savior. |
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| Summary: In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins ministry right away, defining his identity by action. In the midst of all of Jesus’ teachings and healings, and a battle with evil, Jesus takes time to pray. Prayer empowers us for our ministries. |
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| Summary: Sabbath time is a different quality of time — and that’s subversive! |
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| Summary: While God is clearly able to do anything, he is not always willing to do everything. When we pray, “Lord, thy will be done,” we concede that, perhaps, God will not act in ways that we think best. There is never any legitimate excuse for disobedience, even experiencing the miraculous. When the Lord’s directions are clear, we must not deviate from them, no matter how attractive the detour. |
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| Summary: Righteous indignation has an important role in the Christian life. Its energy can melt the ice of indifference. But once we have acknowledged our anger, would should let compassion, not wrath, win the day. |
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| Summary: Jesus heals a man of leprosy, a disease that made him ritually unclean and a social outcast. Jesus’ response shows his compassion for sufferers, and he restores the man to physical health and membership in the community. Jesus goes about his saving work, healing humanity of even deeper illnesses. |
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| Summary: Just as Jesus healed the leper of his illness and his isolation, so the Risen Christ heals us of our alienation from God and one another. Christ then calls us to love others in the same daring way. The risen Christ will do what it takes to reach us. |
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| Summary: This ancient story showcases Jesus’ compassion and provides a powerful message about asking for help. When we recognize our need and open our hearts to God’s healing presence, our lives and spirits can be renewed. |
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| Summary: Jesus touched a man with leprosy and healed him, and then instructed him to say nothing to anyone about who had healed him. But the man proclaimed it to everyone he saw. This man who could previously go nowhere now moved about freely; Jesus, who had been going anywhere he wanted, could now no longer go into town openly. Jesus paid a price to heal, and he paid a greater price when he went to the cross for us all. |
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| Summary: This passage tells a story of God’s wrath that turns the usual stories of God’s wrath upside down. The wrath of Jesus, and the wrath of God, are aimed at those who would declare that sickness and disease are signs of God’s wrath. |
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| There are 38 sermons in your results. |
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