Mark: The Simple Gospel

Part 36: I Once Was Blind

December 10, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 10:32–52

As Jesus attempts to prepare His disciples for His death, their spiritual blindness was similar to another’s physical blindness. In order to see Christ’s Kingdom clearly, Jesus must heal our blinded eyes in order for us to regain our spiritual sight.

Part 35: When Riches Rob You

December 3, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 10:17–31, Matthew 6:19–21, Luke 12:21, 1 Timothy 6:7–10, Revelation 3:17

On this week’s episode of ‘Jesus says the darndest things’ we learn of camels and the unlikely scenario they could ever fit through the eye of a needle. We also learn that where trusting in riches can rob us of a relationship with God, our greatest riches in life will flow from putting God first in everything.

Part 34: Start Acting Like a Child

November 26, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 10:13–16, Matthew 18:3–4

It’s funny. Many of us experienced several moments in life where we were expressly told to ‘stop acting like a child!’. And then there is Jesus, how according to Mark’s gospel, tells us to ‘start acting like children!’ What on earth did he mean by this? Join us this week as Pastor Brian unpacks what Jesus intended for His hearers.

Part 33: What God has Joined Together

November 19, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 10:1–12

Jesus was questioned regarding the nature of marriage and the opportunity for divorce. When an eternal God puts something together, it should last forever. That said, people are imperfect. Marriages break, lives can become shattered, and hearts become hard. So, what then do we do with these difficult sayings of Jesus? How should we live in light of His Words?

Part 32: If You Play with Fire, Someone’s Gonna Get Burned

November 12, 2023 • Tim Ganske • Mark 9:42–50, Mark 9:38–41, John 6:53–58, John 6:60, Hebrews 3:12–15

Join us for week 32 in our series on Mark as we dive into a big issue. Sin. Its an uncomfortable topic but so important to dig into. So, listen to this message brought by one of our church elders, Tim Ganske, today.

Part 31: The Measure of Greatness

November 5, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 9:30–41, Ephesians 4:12, James 2:1–4

While the world fills bookshelves and digital outlets with content focused on the topics of self-help, self-promotion, success, and prosperity, the gospel of Jesus moves in what seems like the opposite direction. Rather than working so hard to make or think of ourselves as great, Jesus calls on us to flip the script. He makes it clear, that the call to be a Christian is to seek the well-being of others. If we truly want to be great in God’s eyes, we will humble ourselves and place ourselves in the service of others.

Part 30: Three Horrible Words

October 29, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 9:14–29, Matthew 17:20

There are certain things you just don’t say to another person. Somethings just aren’t nice to say, and other things are simply untrue. In the case of Jesus, you might get away with calling him a ‘friend of sinners’, or ‘critic of the religious’, or maybe even ‘an angry table flipper’; but one thing you don’t do – accuse him of being powerless to do good.

Part 29: Turning a Catalyst into a Monument

October 22, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 9:2–13, John 1:14, 2 Peter 1:12–21

Everyone loves a mountain-top experience. Whether literal or figurative, they are moments that mark our lives and serve to inspire us and often propel us forward to what lies ahead. However, when it comes to faith, it seems that when people have ‘mountain-top’ experiences, they often desire to stay there on the mountain and linger or memorialize the experience in such a way that it can obstruct their realization of the very reasons and purposes for which God intended.

Part 28: Wherever He Leads

October 15, 2023 • Brian Stanley • Mark 8:34—9:1, Luke 9:23, 1 Corinthians 7:31, 1 John 2:17, Romans 1:16–17

Every one that wants to sell you something works hard to convince you of all the many ways whatever it is will make your life better. Some unscrupulous salespeople will even tell you whatever they think you want to hear to close the deal. However, Jesus does what no one else does when inviting others to follow them, He tells them it will cost them their very lives. He is shockingly honest about the cost and difficulty of being His disciple. What’s more, he surprisingly does not ask His followers to do or give anything He Himself was unwilling to do or give.

Part 27: Wiki God

October 8, 2023 • Brian Stanley

Wikipedia is one of the internet’s oldest institutions. Countless people drop by seeking knowledge and truth however Wikipedia itself admits that it is not a reliable source, because as a user-generated source, it can be edited by anyone at any time, and any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or simply incorrect. Very often when people do not care for the information they find, they freely edit it to design their own definitions. Similarly, people like trying to do this to God as well. Whenever they encounter something Jesus said, what the Scriptures record, or where God has defined something Himself, people often try to edit God to fit the narrative they would prefer. When it came to the moment for Jesus to test what the disciples truly understood about who He was and what He came to do, they got it only half-right. Jesus sets them straight when they try to change the narrative.

Lifehouse Community Church

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