Sunday, July 28, 2019

July 28, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Lord Over Disease and Death: Salvation Has Come | Mark 5:21-43


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July 28, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Lord Over Disease and Death: Salvation Has Come | Mark 5:21-43

The Lord Over Disease and Death: Salvation Has Come
Mark 5:21-43

    Before we have focus upon each of these three illustrations of Jesus’ lordship over the fallen world, let us review Psalm 24;1 which states: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”

    Mark is writing to a suffering community of Christians. His audience is in Rome during the ferocious reign of Nero Caesar. He has presented two powerful illustrations from the life and ministry. First: he shows that Jesus is The Lord Over the Creation, in which Jesus with a word calmed the winds and the waves on the Sea of Galilee. Second: he presents Jesus as Lord Over Principalities and Powers as He drives out the legion of demons from the maniac at the caves in the region of the Gerasenes. Today, in his third installment, Mark will bring us into the lair of the final enemy, death and it’s grave companion, disease. All three of these conditions strike out at the Roman church and continue to seek a foothold in our lives today. What is the purpose of suffering? What is the point of death? Today we will look closely at these issues through the eyes of a grieving father and an woman stricken with a deadly disease. May we come from this study praising God through Jesus Christ that He has set us free from our last enemy, death and encourage our hearts as we cling to Him in our suffering.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

July 14, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Lord Over the Sea and Wind: Why Are You Afraid? | Mark 4:35-41


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July 14, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Lord Over the Sea and Wind: Why Are You Afraid?  | Mark 4:35-41

The Earth is the Lord’s: Chapters 4:35- 5:43
The Lord Over the Sea and Wind: Why Are You Afraid?
Mark 4:35-41

Psalm 24 states: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” In the next section, using three illustrations of Jesus power over the fallen world, Mark will raise the understanding of his suffering audience to a new level. Though men may cause you to suffer, God is sovereign over the natural powers of the fallen world– illustrated by Jesus dominion over the sea and winds. God is sovereign over the spiritual powers of the fallen world – illustrated by Jesus dominion over the demonic forces. And, God is sovereign over the last enemy in the fallen world, death – illustrated by the raising of a dead girl and the healing of a sick woman. In His death, Jesus would bring a final resolution to the powers of the fallen world. Here Mark provides his audience and us with a foretaste of the power of the Son of Man at work in His world.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

July 7, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Parable of the Sower: From Small to Great | Mark 4:30-34


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July 7, 2019 | Pastor John Bayles | The Parable of the Sower: From Small to Great | Mark 4:30-34

Parables of the Kingdom of God: Chapter 4:1-33
The Parable of the Sower: From Small to Great
Mark 4:30-34

In these four Kingdom of God parables, Mark examines the entire scope of how the Kingdom of God advances. He is clearly using botanical metaphors, but the Lord’s message is even more clearly a spiritual application. We need not parse the words in any of these four parables to see if Jesus really was omniscient, all-knowing. If he is God, then why doesn’t’ He know that there are seeds smaller than Mustard or that his calculations on the aeration of soil are off, or that ... on and on it goes until the entire point is lost resulting in agreement, denial and ultimately (the devil’s real goal) to bring the Christian life and the Kingdom of God to spiritual unfruitfulness. We see a progressive pattern in the four parables: The first verse, The Parable of the Sower highlights that our ministry is to share the Gospel, sow the seed of the glad tidings in whatever soil, whatever type of life we encounter. It is not an examination of soil or life types to sow into or from which to withhold the previous seed. This parable shows us that our redeemed purpose is to so the message of the Gospel into every life we encounter. Sow the seed! The next verse: The Parable of The Parable of the Lamp on the Stand, is again an exhortation to sow the seed. It is inconceivable that anyone who has been touched by the light and filled with the light could or would then seek to hide its rays from others. This Parable shows us that we must let our light shine. Even the smallest ray will bring illumination to others. The third verse: The Parable of the Growing Seed brings us to marvel at the power of God in regeneration, bringing something to life that is dead and hidden in darkness. But the seed, though hidden in the depth of the soil, is touched by the very breath of God. “All by itself,” automatically, by the power of God alone, it germinates, comes alive and begins to grow. It is God’s work. This parable teaches us how the Gospel grows in the heart of the believer. In this last verse: The Parable of the Mustard seed shows us the capacity of the message of the Gospel. Though it begins as a small, seeming insignificant part of someone’s life, it grows and becomes the defining factor in the whole of each believer’s life.