Christmas according to Mark
Notes
Transcript
Call to worship
Welcome everyone!
Announcements:
I want to thank Breanna and Jessica (and anyone else who helped) for this excellent job decorating our church. It looks great!
Remember our Christmas Eve service on the 24th at 5:00. This will be a time of worship and fellow ship, and outreach. Please invite others to come.
Pray for Clarksville and the people who were impacted by the tornadoes yesterday.
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord,
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord,
SERMON
Introduction
This morning, as promised, we are going to look at the Christmas story from the Gospel of Mark. And if you (by chance) read Mark 1 this week to prepare for today, you noticed Mark does not record the traditional Christmas story of the birth of Jesus. That is because Mark gets rights down to business.
Mark has written the shortest gospel account (only 16 chapters), and most scholars agree that Mark was the first to write. When you read the gospel of Mark, you will find the word IMMEDIATELY repeated over 40 times. The word “immediately” means “without delay or hesitation”.
Marks Gospel makes clear the message of urgency to respond to the gospel message:
When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, they immediately left their nets and followed Him. (1:18)
Jesus went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath He went into the synagogue and began to teach. (1:21)
Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere (1:28).
All of this in only the first chapter
Mark is fast paced, exciting, full of drama, and right down to business
And that is why in the beginning of Mark, he gets right to the heart of the matter. There is no description about Zacharias and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. There is no story about Mary giving birth to Jesus in a stable. He gets right down to a call for people to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus. He is here, and the call to get right is URGENT!
Mark begins by describing the messenger sent by the Lord to prepare the people
Mark begins by describing the messenger sent by the Lord to prepare the people
Follow along with me as I read the first 3 verses of the Gospel of Mark 1:1–3
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’ ”
Explanation
Christmas is about the coming of Jesus to earth. His incarnation, His birth, His appearing to mankind. In every gospel, God sends a messenger before Jesus arrives with a message to prepare them for His arrival
In Matthew the messenger was an angel of the Lord.
Do you remember the message the angel gave Joseph? He told him to take Mary as His wife because the child has been conceived of the Holy Spirit, to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
In the gospel of Luke the angel is Gabriel. And He gives a message to Mary. We will study that next week.
In the Gospel of Mark, the messenger is John the Baptist.
(BTW) In the Greek, the word angel or messenger comes from the same Greek word ἄγγελος where we get our English word “angel” from
John the Baptist was God’s messenger sent before Jesus to prepare the people for His coming. And just how did John prepare the way for Jesus?
(v 3) “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness”
The word “cry out” means “to shout”
It speaks of an urgent need to respond!
John was not just talking to people, he was proclaiming a message from God to people. He was shouting from the depths of his heart, Jesus is coming! The time to get right is NOW!
Application
That is the call of preachers today!
It is a call to be a herald of a message!
Paul told Timothy “preach the Word” meaning proclaim the Word of God to the world
John the baptist was a preacher of preachers!
I believe if John the Baptist stepped into the pulpits in our churches today, many would not return to hear him next Sunday to hear him
They would be offended at his straight forward approach
John clearly did not sugar coat the gospel
He called the Pharisees a brood of vipers!
His clear cut preaching cut right through the fluff to penetrate the heart!
And Jesus said this about John, “among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”
Bridge
God has raised up men today to “cry out” “to proclaim” to the people of this world a message of urgency!
By no means are these men “John the Baptists”, nor are they prophets speaking some kind of prophetic revelations from God.
These are preachers who proclaim, who shout, who preach the Word of God with conviction and power!
Who preach NOT from mere knowledge about God, but from a personal, living, vital relationship with God.
They proclaim the gospel message of Jesus Christ with urgency!
Sunday after Sunday, these messengers called by God “cry out” to people from all walks of life who make their way into churches
Some who have lives that have been wrecked by sin. They are hurt, angry, sad, and broken.
Some who come in and look like they have perfect lives and need nothing. Dressed perfectly, always smiling, nice kids, great careers, good parents, still got all their teeth.
Others come in and look totally and completely average, mellow, quiet, just following their weekly routine.
And message is the same for us all. THE TIME TO RESPOND IS NOW
No matter what walk of life, no matter how much we look like we have it all together, no matter how much things seem to be going our way, we need to respond to God!
And we do not need it softly spoken to us, we need it proclaimed with power because we need it to penetrate deep into our hearts!
Application
But I wonder, even when it is proclaimed, how well we listen?
The messenger can proclaim the message, but that is all he can do! He cannot make the people hear it.
QUESTION: How often does a sermon impact your life?
Now I know there are far better preachers than myself all around us, but I am the man God has called to deliver messages to this church.
And let me say this, every message I preach first goes to my heart before it ever reaches my lips. They are for me as much as they are for you.
What can we do to be better listeners?
Come in expecting to hear a word from the Lord. Be looking for it with your ears, eyes, and with your heart.
Come with your Bibles open, and pens in hand ready to underline or jot something down, ready to take a note, something that God applied to your life.
And take what you heard and put it into practice! What good will it do if we forget all we hear as soon as we leave this room? What a waste of time. But if we will take that word from the Lord, and live it out, we will be forever changed!
I am confident, if the Word of God being proclaimed, God is speaking to His people!
If we are not getting anything, it is because we are not listening
Are we listening?
What was the message that the people of Israel needed to hear from John the Baptist?
How was God preparing them for the incarnation of Jesus? What is Mark’s Christmas message?
It is a call to repent
It is a call to repent
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
Explanation
“A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”
What is a baptism of repentance?
The word “repent” (μετάνοια metanoia) means to change one’s mind about our former beliefs and behaviors.
Repentance happens when one is confronted with truth, and because of that confrontation with truth, we choose to change the way that we live our lives.
The OT term for repentance means “to turn around” (or to go the other way)
What was this repentance for?
“the forgiveness of sins”
John the Baptist was calling people to turn from their sins so that they could receive forgiveness for their sins.
This forgiveness John was speaking of, does not come by repenting
If that were true, there would be no need for Jesus Christ.
We could just change our mind about sin, and then all our sins would be forgiven
Some times, people do fall into this error
They may practice some kind of sin and when they finally free themselves from that sin they believe they are saved and right with God.
I think this is common is recovery programs
Sobriety comes so they must must have gotten saved
But that’s not true. Sobriety does not = salvation
Salvation does mean sobriety, but not the other way around
So if they were not being forgiven by this baptism, then what was John doing?
John was preparing the people for Jesus who could forgive them
John was doing the preparatory work necessary for God’s forgiveness
That is the job of a preacher today. He cant forgive anyone! Only God can do that! He merely delivers the message to point them Jesus.
Bridge
What must happen in a persons heart, before they can ever come to Jesus is to change their mind about sin
We must be fully decided that sin will no longer have any part of our lives
The things we used to do that God calls sin, must go
There is no room for a calloused heart who thinks a little sin will never hurt anything and God is is going to overlook our sins
No, a truly repentant heart will not want any sin whatsoever is their life
True repentance will earnestly desire and battle to rid themselves of any sin
Ands what is produced is a life style of righteousness
John’s repentance was preparing the way for Jesus to come in and bring true reformation
It is the first thing that begins to take place in a persons heart before they come to Christ
And it initially begins with confession
(v 5) “and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan river, and confessing their sins”
What does it mean to confess our sins?
It means to admit and agree with God that what we have done is a sin
Notice it says “sins”
This was not a general confession, “Lord I am a sinner”
This is a confession of individual sins that we have personally committed
They were saying God I am have done this, I am turning from this, and will you please forgive me?
Application
Now what can we as a church take away from this baptism of repentance?
JC Ryle was a puritan preacher who said, there will not be one soul in heaven who has not repented of his sins.
Repentance is a serious thing and it is always wise to make sure we have truly repented of our sins.
When people came to John, confessing their sins, and claiming to have changed their mind he would baptize them to symbolize a ritual washing away of sin
This is why it is called a baptism of repentance
BUT, John would not baptize just anyone
In Matthew, the Pharisees come to John to be baptized, and he called them a brood of vipers and tells them to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”
This means true repentance is evident in people’s lives
There must be fruit from our repentance (evidence that this has happened)
We will no longer live practice the lifestyle of sinfulness if we have truly repented.
It will be replaced by a lifestyle of righteousness
Here’s the question: Would John Baptize you?
If you came to John the Baptist to seek baptism, would he baptize us now based off the way that we live?
Forgiveness will never happen without repentance.
And repentance is life long! It is never a one time thing. This is why John the Baptist said “in keeping with repentance”
It is the so important was the first thing Jesus preached!
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Let’s take this time just to think about our lives.
Have we truly changed our minds about the way that we live?
Have we whole heartedly decided to leave all the ways of this world behind and follow Jesus?
Not only does our eternity depend upon it, but it Is the only way to have an abundant life:
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
Repentance is not bad thing, is a breath of fresh air!
It what the Lord made us to do
When should we do it? NOW The urgency is now!
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
I told you repentance alone will not suffice. If all we needed to do was repent, then there would be no need for Jesus. This is why John’s call IS TO PREPARE THE PEOPLE. It is ONLY Jesus who can truly transform the people:
John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Point 1:
Notice John’s confession: his baptism with water will not be all that they need. They need something greater than what John the Baptist can give them. They need the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Now this does not discount what John was doing, the initial work was important. God had ordained it.
The messengers who proclaim the gospel today, do an important work. They proclaim the good news, they do the preparatory work of calling people to repentance
BUT, only Jesus can save us.
And Jesus only saves those who truly repent.
What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
Think about what it meant it be baptized by John. Baptism is taking someone under the water which was a cleansing agent. It washed away the filth, washed away the dirt made people clean.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit then would be thought of in the same way, but in a spiritual sense….…The Spirit of God is a cleansing Agent who would washes the people’s sins away and make them right with God
This is what the Lord says about this from the OT about this baptism:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Notice God will wash them and clean them
Then He will put a new heart in them
Then they will walk in obedience to Him
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not about some charismatic excitement speaking in tongues, shouting, crazy stuff
It has to do with Jesus washing away our sins, and giving us a new heart that will be totally devoted to Him
Its not about the gifts, its about creating new spiritual life. Its about a new beginning in Jesus Christ!
Point 2
“I baptize you with water, BUT He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”
I love how John changes the focus from himself to Jesus. He’s like a mirror, directing all the attention to Jesus
John is an ordinary man who has been called to proclaim a message
Jesus Christ is the message!
He is the power
He alone can save
He is the hope of the world
He is the Light of the world
Application
This must be the heart of us all
We must be people who point people to Jesus
Even if people repent, they will never experience the transformation without the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Bridge
This is what NT Christianity is all about
This is what Christmas really is all about
It is looking to the coming of Jesus who could wash away someone’s sins, and guilt, and past, and give them a new heart to follow God forever.
It is about a new beginning in someone’s life. A second chance offered to the entire world to have a brand new life
It is about being freed from the bondage of sin and being forgiven of the things we have done wrong
And it is based 100% upon the free gift of God’s great grace
Romans 6:23 (NASB95)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion
Proclamation: Messengers crying out
Repentance: A changed mind about this life
Baptism of the Holy Spirit: A supernatural washing away of sin and receive the free gift of eternal life
Does this characterize you?
You have heard the message, now the response is to repent. Turn from your sins, all of them (big and small)
Change the way you think, and let Jesus do the rest.
~PRAYER~
RESPONSE
PUBLIC INVITATION
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
OFFERING
We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.
BENEDICTION
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace.’”
COMMUNION
Moment of Silence to confess sin
Father, we ask at this time that you would reveal any sin in our hearts that we may not be aware of. We confess that we are all sinners and are in desperate need of your grace. We ask for your forgiveness at this time and claim the promise of John 1:9, “that we if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
We take Communion to remember and to proclaim the second coming of Jesus.
The bread represents His body
Pray a blessing over the bread
Jesus said: “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Eat the bread
The juice represents His blood
Pray and bless the cup
“do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
And as they went out they sang a hymn
~AMAZING GRACE~
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