Sermon Tone Analysis

Greeting

Mark 1:9

Jesus did not appear as a conquering king, but as one who is plain and common from a place that is not even mentioned at all in the OT.

Not they type of person that the proud and powerful would follow or even give any heed to.

Jesus did not appear as a conquering king, but as one who is plain and common from a place that is not even mentioned at all in the OT.

Not they type of person that the proud and powerful would follow or even give any heed to.

Many came out, perhaps for the right reasons or maybe just for the spectacle, but only one truly understood what it all meant.

Jesus was not baptised because He needed forgiveness, but as a proclamation to God and an example to us that He was devoting Himself to His Father's will fully and completely.

He was humbling Himself even more by coming alongside and identifying with the lost and broken people around Him.

He who knew no sin would become the servant of all sinners in obedience to God.

Mark’s Purpose

Mark leaves out many details about Jesus and the events that took place.

It's easy to get caught up in the details of who, when, where, why, and how.

Again, we have to take into account the context of when this was written and audience to which it was written to.

Mark's target audience were Gentiles.

There was a purpose behind Mark's writing.

He wanted his audience to focus, not on who Jesus was on earth but in heaven, He is the Son of God, and also on what occured at the baptism of Jesus and what it meant for them.

When the heavens were opened in the OT, it meant that God was about to speak or act, but the terminology is very important here.

When something is opened can usually be closed, but literal translation here is 'torn apart' as some of your bibles may read.

This is important to us because it means that God tore open the universe for us!

He didn't just open it, but He tore it apart so that it would not be easily undone.

It not only signifies our access to God as His children to be able to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, but it signifies His access to us!!! Now the barriers of sin and death have been torn down and through Jesus, God was among us!

He loved us so much that He tore the heavens open so that He could have access to us and we could have access to Him.

Like A Dove

Again, showing Jesus' humility and surrender.

The Spirit did not thunder out of the heavens, but came upon gently and quietly, like a dove.

Just as we read about the Spirit of God hovering over the formless void before creation and just as we saw the dove after the flood of Noah as a promise of a new creation, a new beginning, and salvation here in Jesus Christ.

Only Jesus sees the heaven's torn apart and only Jesus hears the voice from heaven.

Not to be confused with what happens later when the voice is heard by others.

This is a private interaction between God and Jesus.

Only Jesus sees the heaven's torn apart and only Jesus hears the voice from heaven.

Not to be confused with what happens later when the voice is heard by others.

This is a private interaction between God and Jesus, just as God's interactions are with us.

God anointed, prepared and sent Jesus to complete the work of His Father's will, and Jesus surrendered to that will.

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It can be frustrating at times for us as we read through the bible because we are able to see things that the people in the stories did or could not see.

We get insight that they were unable to attain in the moment.

Like watching a movie and yelling at the actors about how stupid they are.

Knowing what we know and seeing what we see, we are still no more faithful, no more discerning, and no more willing to give ourselves completely to Him.

We are the stupid actors in this movie!!!

All the heavenly hosts are looking down on us wondering why we can’t see it!

There was no time to lose, Jesus went out immediately into the wilderness.

Notice that it doesn’t say Jesus chose to go, but that He was sent out by the Spirit.

As He was out there, He was surrounded by scary things, but He was also strengthened and ministered to by angels.

Jesus overcame.

Just as Adam was in the beautiful garden surrounded by all of God's beauty and fell to temptation, Jesus sat in the cursed land which we created surrounded by evil but overcame it through the power of the Spirit in Him.

The Point

The Point

So do you and I, have the choice of whether we will fall or overcome.

We are no longer bound by the curse of sin and death, we have the choice and power of heaven at our side to claim the victory.

So why don't we?!

Knowing what we know about Jesus and seeing what we see throughout scripture, we are still no more faithful, no more discerning, and no more willing to give ourselves completely to Him.

We know how it began and we know how it will end, but we continue to live as if we don’t see it.

We are the stupid actors in this movie!!!

All the heavenly hosts are looking down on us wondering why we can’t see it!

Jesus was sent so that you and I could have that personal relationship with Him and just like Jesus, He moves and works in us personally so that we can go and love publically, competing the work of His Father's will.

Again, if it's not personal for us, we will never be able to set the example for others.

Jesus was sent so that you and I could have that personal relationship with Him and just like Jesus, He moves and works in us personally so that we can go and love publically, competing the work of His Father's will.

Again, if it's not personal for us, we will never be able to set the example for others.

Jesus was sent so that you and I could have that personal relationship with Him and just like Jesus, He moves and works in us personally so that we can go and love publically, competing the work of His Father's will.

Again, if it's not personal for us, we will never be able to set the example for others.

Keeping with the ‘big picture’ style of Mark, the truth is that we can do everything Jesus did.

We can come out of nowhere and surrender to God’s will for us.

We can receive the Spirit upon us and be loved and encouraged by the voice of God in our lives.

We can humble ourselves and come alongside the lost and broken around us.

We can go out into the wilderness and defeat the evil that tries to tempt us.

And we can do all these things with love in our hearts and with a spirit of excitement and victory because it’s what we were created to do! Just like Jesus, we were anointed, prepared, and sent here to complete the work of our Father.

The question is, will you see it?

Will you surrender to it?

Will you make it personal?

We cannot call ourselves Christians, if it’s not.

The question is, will you see it?

Will you surrender to it?

Will you make it personal?

We cannot call ourselves Christians, if it’s not.

Invitation

Introduce new theme and logo, challenge church to make it personal.