Sermons on Mark

Sermons on Mark

The Urgencies That Deserve to Claim You

Mark 13:1-8 and Hebrews 10:11-25 On Wednesday mornings, I get together with the Worship Connection group to delve into and discuss the scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. It’s an opportunity to dig deeper into the passages and to engage in dialogue about what we read. An opportunity that a sermon alone doesn’t always provide. We try to remember the importance of not only being attentive to what is going on in the story—the actions and reactions of the characters…

Keeping In Character

Mark 12:28-34                In a church that I previously served, there was a small group of members who shared an interest in the dramatic arts. A few of them had experience performing with a local theater group. Others had no experience but a lot of interest and enthusiasm for acting. So, we decided to create a “drama ministry” in the church. The director would periodically submit scripts for me to review, and those that were a good match for a particular…

On the Way, By the Way, or In the Way?

Mark 10: 46-52 The four Gospels all tell the same story of Jesus’ life and ministry, but each one tells it in its own unique style. Reading Mark’s version can feel like sitting in the back seat of an Uber whose driver is careening down city streets and running red lights to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, while avoiding any small talk on the way. Jesus is portrayed as always active, always on the move. Some…

A Naked Intent Toward God

Job 23: 1-9, 16-17 and Mark 10:17-31 There’s an old story, more of a parable really, that is attributed to the philosopher Heidegger. It tells of a carpenter who owned a well-equipped workshop. The carpenter never had to worry that he might lack the right tool or the right material for any project he had to do. Until one day when the carpenter is working and his hammer breaks. Despite all the other equipment in the shop, the carpenter’s work…

A Children’s Sermon for Adults

Mark 9:30-37         Even though this is not a Family Sunday, and the kids are enjoying their first day of a new Church School year, I’ve still got a Children’s Sermon for today. Only this is a Children’s Sermon…for adults. You might not think so, but sometimes, the most challenging part of preparing a worship service is preparing the Children’s Sermon. It’s not like preaching to adults, who have a longer attention span than the youngsters who join me up here…
wisdom

Wisdom Cries

Proverbs 1:20-33 and Mark 8: 27-38   Today is one of the rare Sundays that the Lectionary offers a passage from the Book of Proverbs as one of the readings. If you look up the word “Proverb” in a dictionary, what you will find is some variation of this definition: “A proverb is an easily memorized nugget of wisdom.” And that is exactly what you can expect to find when you open the Biblical Book of Proverbs. Page upon page of…

The Wounds That Make Us Open to Grace

Mark 5:21-43 Last Sunday, our journey through the Gospel of Mark gave us a lesson about believing in God’s grace when we feel powerless over some chaotic circumstance in life. Mark delivered that message through the story of Jesus calming a sudden storm that threatened to sink the boat that he and the disciples were using to cross the Sea of Galilee. Even though the details of that perilous journey were graphically presented in the story, most of never have—and…

SOS

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 and Mark 4:35-41 When I was young—about third grade, or so—my father often worked multiple jobs and irregular hours. It seemed to me that he was always either away at work or getting some much-needed sleep before heading out to another job. Looking back, it was totally logical that the household rule was never to wake him up when he was sleeping. But, to an eight-year-old who had recently received his first ever fishing pole for a…

Like Watching Grass Grow

Mark 4:26-34 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17 Today is Children’s Sunday, which is typically a day for celebrating the young people of the congregation and the church’s ministry of planting the seeds of Christian discipleship in their young hearts and minds. Of course, there was nothing typical about this past year. The pandemic erased any chance for holding Church School classes or group activities. Appropriate to how the year unfolded, the theme for the Church School year was “We Walk…

Call Me Crazy

Mark 3:20-27, 31-35 In the factory where I once worked, someone had a sign over their workspace that said, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here… but it helps.” Sometimes, I think we should hang a sign like that over the entrance to the church. Or… print it on our worship bulletins. You don’t have to be crazy to fit in here…but it helps. After all, Jesus himself was labeled crazy. In the story I just read, Jesus…

Anatomy of a Temptation

Mark 1:9-15 In the Netflix series “Lucifer” the Devil takes a vacation form his job of overseeing Hell to assume human form and have some fun on earth as a glitzy playboy. In the opening scene of the pilot episode, Lucifer is breezing around the brightly lit streets of LA in a flashy sports car–until he is pulled over for speeding by a Highway Patrol Officer. As the officer approaches the car, Lucifer pulls out a wad of cash and…

Group Portraits

Mark 9:2-10 and 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Precisely one year ago to this day, just shy of a couple of dozen Holy Land pilgrims from this church and a couple of Connecticut congregations, were setting foot on American soil again. Nearly every one of us carried the same souvenir carefully packed away in our luggage. It was a group picture of us all taken in the city of Jerusalem. The panoramic view of Jerusalem in the background lent an unmistakable context…

Mic Drop

Mark 1:21-28 The breaking news coming from the city of Capernaum was that the Jesus train was gathering steam and picking up passengers. In the short space of just the first half of the first chapter of his Gospel, Mark traces Jesus’ meteoric rise from obscurity to celebrity; bbeginning with a ringing endorsement at the Jordan River by his opening act, John the Baptist, to his gathering of followers from among the fisherfolk in Galilee. Even his fiercest critics —…

Schadenfreude

Jonah (selected verses) and Mark 1:14-20 Very few Christians would dispute Jesus’ reputation as a miracle worker; what with a resume of healing sick people, calming storms, and turning water into wine to his credit. I would argue though, that two of his most remarkable miracles are the ones he performed in this morning’s Gospel reading. You might scratch your head and wonder—what miracles? There’s nothing miraculous in this passage, you might say. No blind receiving their sight. No multiplication…

Oath of Office

Genesis 1:1-5 and Mark 1:4-11 Certain positions of public trust carry such solemn responsibility, coupled with such potential for the abuse of authority, that they may only be assumed after first taking of an oath of office. There is an oath of enlistment for members of the Armed Forces, an oath taken by Judges and police, a Hippocratic Oath for doctors, vows taken by ordained clergy, and an oath that comes with the office of President. Most of these oaths…