Seeking Greatness in Jesus's Kingdom

2 Timothy 2:2

Simeon Stylites

We are royal priests, not royal monks or royal knights

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Opening story: Campaigners at Glenoak talking about following Jesus through pain and suffering.

Football player adds in about bicep curls and pain.

definitely missed the idea

Transition: Throughout covid, the social and political unrest of 2020-21, ministry looking vastly different, my personal heath, and my families health, I have often stepped back and asked myself… “Jesus am I about your kingdom or my own”

Questions and times of reflection are important because it allows us to remember who Jesus was and what he came to do, what he is accomplishing now through his Church, and how we are allowing our lives to reflect and glorify him.

with these questions we dive into The Gospel of Mark Today...

The Request Mark 10:35-38.a

James and John - we want you to do whatever we ask

Jesus, what do you want?

Such a great question!!!

Have you ever wondered, what is it you really want?

Vs 37- Let one of us sit at your right and one at your left!

We want POWER!!!

Jesus Face Palm’s…they still don’t get it do they

Lord of the Rings, Frodo goes on a journey of Epic Proportions only to fail at the end.

He was so tempted by the ring and it’s power!

These are Jesus’s 2/3 top disciples asking for power.

If you have every asked “is God fed up with me?” I want you to know that Jesus delights in our searching and longing to understand his kingdom…just never stop searching his scriptures to understand them!

They thought Jesus was going to have an Earthly thrown and wanted to be his top 2. They wanted to be great in Jesus’s Kingdom, not understanding what it means to be great in Jesus’s Kingdom

vs. 38.b-40 So Jesus asks them an important question…are you able to drink the cup that I drink?

What is this cup? Why does Jesus bring this up here?

The cup is a theme throughout Jeremiah and the prophets, it is closely connected to “The Day of the Lord”- important word study but not for today!

The Cup is God’s wrath

on the nations

on individuals

communities

vs 39-41

Most probably talking about the 2 theifs hung next to him.

Disciples become angry about power

42-45 The son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give is life as a ransom for many

Memorize this verse, key verse

turning point in the gospel- begin to head to Jerusalem and the cross

APPLICATION: Why this story and what does it have to do with me?

Are we willing to align our hearts with Jesus’s Heart

One of the most beautiful things about this story is that it shows how reliable the scriptures are. Only a cult would make there leaders out to be perfect, but here we see the disciples of Jesus and their failure to grasp who he is and what his kingdom is about. This is a MAJOR theme is Mark, the failure to recognize Jesus.

The ridiculous request of James and John, our requests can be just as rediculous.

Are we trusting in things that cannot Drink the Cup.

I’m so sick of followers of Jesus trusting in someone who can’t drink the cup. Only Jesus.

Vs 43 “But t shall not be so among you.” Jesus calls us to a different vision of this world. A different view of Greatness.

upside down kingdom 1st is last

Power is the cross

leadership is serving

rewards are not seen

Read and reread the Sermon on the Mount

Ending

in the Gospel of Mark Jesus reveals God’s plan to his disciples 3 times. How do they react?

Absolute failure and utter disconnect from what God was doing through Jesus heading to the cross.

in the midst of not understanding and failing, God’s plan is still unfolding through Christ. Greatness isn’t some new path, but the path that Christ walked and impowers us to walk in step with his Holy Spirit.

Great Churches, great disciple makers, and great followers of Jesus don’t reach for power and authority, but rather reach towards the one who empowers us.

END with this, The irony is that we now are seated with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6 “6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”