A SERVANT But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” —Mark 10:43-45             Are you self-centered or others centered?  Servants will be focused on others.  The self-centered will be focused on themselves.  I… me… mine… myself…  What is best for me?  They are not really concerned for others.  They are not expressing the truths of what love is according to 1st Corinthians 13.  The loving servant will be focused on what is best for…

JESUS HAD TO SUFFER FOR OUR SALVATION And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. —Mark 8:31 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.  The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.  He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the…

A GRATEFUL HEART TELLS OTHERS ABOUT JESUS As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.  And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.  —-Mark 5:18-20             Follower of Jesus… are you grateful?  Are you understanding more of what you have been saved from and what you are saved to?  How…

BEARING FRUIT The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.  And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.  And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,  but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for…

CALLED TO BE FISHERS OF MEN! And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” —Mark 1:17 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. —Acts 1:8 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Therefore go and make disciplesof all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded…

THE WICKED SUPPORT WICKEDNESS Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.  And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”  For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.  Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”  Now the chief priests and the elders…

NO GOOD REASON FOR NOT BEING A SERVANT! For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ —Matthew 25:35-39             Many wonder about what…

BE FLOURISHING IN PROCLAIMING OUR LORD The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. —Psalm 91:12-15             Are you flourishing?  To flourish is to grow and thrive, to increase and prosper, to be doing well.  Are you?  Think of a healthy tree that is really thriving.  Are you like that in your relationship with our Lord and…

HE INVITES “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers…

HARD, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE, FOR THE RICH TO BE SAVED Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. —Matthew 19:24        I’ve read that in some eastern countries the proverb reads that “it is easier for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle.”  The main point of this proverb is that it is hard for a rich person to be saved.  Why?  Because they trust is in their riches and they will not trust the Lord.  “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and…