Breaking Culture 7

Well it has certainly been about 3 weeks since we’ve been in here and had service and it feels GOOD to be back! Let me just share that we are getting right back into the Gospel of Mark with what I’ve been calling “Breaking Culture,” and tonight, we will be in Mark chapter 3! So, with a Bible, go ahead and turn to . We are gonna be in verse 13-21 tonight.

As you turn there, let me catch us up to speed.

Mark is the shortest Gospel out of the 4 that are written in the New Testament. 16 chapters written with purpose and precision. Mark was called and used by God. In one of the MANY ways he was used, he was used, to record the good news of Jesus Christ for God’s people like today.

We need to view this Gospel as if Mark himself asked us to join him on the journey as he recorded all the Apostle Peter told him to record. In fact, on this journey, it’s kind of moving fast. Mark literally records the word “immediately” a bunch of times to emphasize this journey that he’s taking us on as he shows us, Jesus really is the Son of God who is the Messiah come in to the world.

So as he writes, we’ll notice that he begins the Gospel with this 30,000 foot view of what God has done and he did it by recording what the Old Testament said God would do.

Mark 1:1–8 ESV

Mark 1 ESV

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. 21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. 29 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Mark begins the process of revealing what God has chosen as His plan to restore all things to Himself. As we work through this Gospel we’ll see that Mark does what is called a chiastic structure. He starts us off way back here and carries us into the deepest part of God’s redemptive plan in chapter 8, ironically in the middle of 16 chapters, and then leads from that outwardly. In Chapter 8 is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus tells the disciples exactly what the redemptive plan is. It says in...

Mark 8:31–32 ESV

31 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. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

This plan is how God is going to restore all things unto Himself and let me take a minute to help strengthen what restored means.

Entertainment Piece

If you have been to my house, there’s no way you can miss the piece of furniture that our tv sits on. It’s huge, blue, and kinda cool. However, it’s just a piece of furniture, just like the rest of the random furniture Erin and I have acquired. Throughout our marriage, I’ve had the privilege of watching Erin shop for little antique pieces of furniture. At first, it was super boring and didn’t make any sense as a newly wed, but as I’ve consistently been there with her to help move the “new furniture,” I’ve come to appreciate her excitement about old furniture made new. Erin gets really excited about it and when Erin is excited, I’m excited! She’s taken multiple pieces of furniture in our home and restored them to something beautiful by using what’s been purchased or given. She puts a ton of time into looking for the right furniture and also painting, staining, and adding to what somebody got rid of.

This hobby of hers is what God’s game plan looks like in each of our lives. Each piece of furniture we have has a neat little story with it that Erin and I appreciate and remember. Even in just 4 years of marriage, we have a lot of furniture with cool stories to each!

Of course, when the plan is revealed it scares the mess out of Peter and I can imagine he was embarrassed or at least uncomfortable telling Mark what Jesus told him after he said that. Jesus called him Satan and to get behind him!! Haha I don’t think Mark’s Gospel gets anymore personal than a recorded conversation than that!!

God is restoring all things back to Himself because of the consequences of ever present domination of sin. Within this plan, God, Himself crushes death by resurrecting from the grave and declaring He is King and Lord. He was and IS completely capable of restoring the brokenness and is does it through discipleship.

This redemptive mission is so on point that says angels long to look into this as well as where God reveals his manifold wisdom to the greater powers in heaven.

But anyways, Mark, again, is taking us on this journey of God’s redemptive plan through Jesus. And the plan…is discipleship.

Here’s the set up. Look with me in , starting in verse 13.

Mark has been showing us the compassionate and merciful authority of Jesus for 3 chapters, and now, He’s about to use his authority to call disciples into this redemptive mission. Look with me...

Mark 3:13–21 ESV

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

What we see in this, specific passage, is Jesus appointing, those whom he desired, the disciples responding to him and him appointing them to:

be with him

to preach

to cast out demons

This passage, given exactly where it’s at in this Gospel, is the beginning of God gaining momentum that will flip the world on it’s head. Mark will be very faithful, as he records first hand from Peter, to explain and reveal that discipleship is the universal call Jesus’ is giving.

The Number 12

So verse 14 states that he began with 12 disciples. 12, is actually an interesting number. Jesus did not randomly select 12 people or choose from the crowd around him and stop at 12. No, 12, is actually a very important representation that speaks to the eternal plan God has declared long before Jesus came to the Earth as Messiah.

Back in the Old Testament. Where did Israel get its name? Answer: Israel comes from the book of Genesis where God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Jacob had a brother named Esau who’s father was Isaac. Isaac was the promised child from Abraham. Abraham was the man God promised the entire world would be blessed through. This blessing was the Gospel message of restoration that is here today being shared right now. It’s very interesting, that within that lineage of people, Jacob, “Israel,” had 12 sons! Each of those sons eventually made up 12 tribes of Israel. Those 12 tribes grew into a massive nation that Moses would lead out of exile into a promised land, led by a God who has consistently been restoring everything to Himself.

The highest and most important part of this restoration is His Son on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the entire world and the resurrection over death.

BREAKDOWN

I believe Jesus picked 12 disciples to remind us of this plan. Here it is plainly put.

Discipleship is…Everybody Called, Anybody Can Do It, Somebody Needs To Know It.

Everybody called

Anybody can do it

Somebody needs to know it

Everybody Called

- EVERYBODY CALLED -

Here’s why everybody’s called, in , God told Abraham...

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

“All the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Wow, all means all.

- ANYBODY CAN DO IT -

Later in the Bible, there’s a moment, after Jesus’ resurrection, where the momentum of the Gospel is rockin’! There is a moment where Peter and John are recognized as men of power and authority. In fact the scriptures say...

Acts 4:13 ESV

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 3:14 ESV

14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

“they had been with Jesus.” That’s very powerful.

Looking back at this passage, it can be easy to understand how regular these people were. Very regular individuals whom Jesus called and they responded.

- SOMEBODY NEEDS TO KNOW IT -

Somebody Needs To Know

If this message of restoration is for all peoples to be blessed, and anyone can be used and do it, then I guarantee there’s someone you know or don’t know yet, who needs to hear about restoration. They need to hear the call from Jesus to follow Him to the Father. The question is, will you go OR…perhaps....will YOU follow? Our GROW Groups are the best means of discipleship that we have in RUSH. GROW Groups model what Jesus did with his disciples for 3 years. He called them to be with him, to share the message of His kingdom, and to cast out all wickedness based on His authority.

This is a VERY important. The best thing you can do right now is evaluate. Evaluate these scriptures and evaluate yourself. Take a selfie of the deepest parts of yourself and ask…am I following Jesus with other brothers & sisters as a disciple, AND/OR, is there someone I know or DON’T know yet who needs to know that Jesus is calling?

If you’re not convinced yet, let me share just a little more about the authority of this message. From just the small amount of time we’ve been in Mark so far, we’ve seen a significant amount of compassion and mercy. We saw

Jesus heal a man with an unclean spirit

We hear of him healing “many”

We saw him cleanse a leper

Heal a paralytic

Forgive Sin

And call sinners to discipleship

The authority of this message rests on all of those things Jesus did, but also in the fact that God is personally at work to restore things to himself. Remember, 12 disciples, 12 tribes, 1 promise that is being fulfilled in your hearing today.

Evaluate yourself, pray, worship God. Come talk to me or an adult. Jesus is calling us to discipleship. Let’s be about that.

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