Greeting
Well, thank you, thank you. Um, you know what? When you finally stopped getting this intro after Easter, you’re going to be like, oh man, I missed the Mark song. Someday, 40 years from now, you’ll hear it and you’ll be like, Mark. Anyway, so yes, I’m Conrad. I am one of the pastors here. Welcome to Surrey CLA. I’m so glad to have you, especially if you’re new.
Anyway, today is sort of a bittersweet day. I always love getting to share with you, but I think this is going to be my last time with you in person preaching. Just preaching. I’m going to be here for the next few weeks. Don’t worry. I’m the last time I think preaching in front of you in person, so a little sad, a little tear. Um, But anyway, let’s jump into today’s message.
I have a little story that didn’t happen to me, but I read about it and I thought it was funny. So there’s a fella in his date who are going to go for a little picnic. And they decide, what is the best possible picnic food fried chicken, of course. So they go to the KFC and they order some fried chicken, and after a few minutes, they’re given a bag, they take the bag, they head to the park, they sit down in the park to enjoy their meal.
Well, shortly after they leave, the manager and the other employee in the store start to freak out because they realize that what they have given this guy is not actually a bag of food. It is the previous day’s receipts and cash. After they’d cashed out. So this guy, instead of having some fried chicken, has like $800 in cash. in his bag.
So he gets to the park. He opens it up. He sitting there with his date and he sees all this money. And immediately he says, well, we need to take this back to the store. So he hops back in his car with his date, they go back to the store, and he gives it to the manager, and she is so relieved because this $800 that was lost is now found. She’s so thankful. She says, thank you, thank you, thank you. You might have saved my job. You know what? We’re going to put this in the newspaper. We’re going to post on social media. You know, we’re going to get you the recognition you need. You a hero.
And the guy says, oh, please don’t do that. And she says, why not? And he says, because the woman I’m with is someone else’s wife. So here she is thinking that this guy is the most honest guy who ever lived a hero, and it turns out that he just couldn’t take the money because how would he explain to his wife where it came from, and he couldn’t take the accolade because who was the woman that’s with him? He looked good on the outside. But on the inside, things were amiss.
With that thought hanging in the air, let’s pray, and we’ll jump into our study and mark this morning.
Opening Prayer
God, thank you for your word. Thank you that you have so faithfully preserved it for us and that there is so much in it that we can mine out. And I pray that as we go through today’s passage, you would convict us, if we need that, you would encourage us, if we need that, and we would walk out of the room with a better perspective on who you are, and a stronger sense of mission and what you want us to do. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
Introduction to Mark 10
So we’re going to jump into the 3rd passion prediction, which is Mark chapter 10, verse 32 to 34. is our 1st section for this morning. That’s again, Mark chapter 10, verse 32. And I’m reading from the new English translation, but you can follow along in whatever translation you are using.
They were on the way going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the 12 aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests, an expert in the law, and they will condemn him to death, and will turn him over to the Gentiles, verse 34. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him severely, and kill him, yet after 3 days he will rise again.
Jesus’ Prediction of His Death
So in verse 32, the 1st thing we read is that they were amazed, amazed and afraid. They were amazed and afraid. What were they amazed and a phrases afraid of? Jesus is just literally walking in front of the group up to Jerusalem? Like, wow, look at him walk. Didn’t he, walker? That’s amazing. They’re fearful of how good he was at walking.
Well, the thing is that the word amazed that we read here means astonished. It’s like dumbstruck, speechless. And the word afraid is a respectful fear. It’s not terror, it’s respect, it’s reverence. So the thing is that the disciples, despite the fact that this is the 3rd time Jesus has predicted his death, are still not quite getting it, they don’t fully understand what is going to come up ahead. Somehow they are still confused. I don’t get it.
But we’ve had 3 passion predictions, and passion is just the term we use for the death, the beating and the death of Jesus, right? So in Mark 831, Jesus says, I will be killed. In Mark 931. Jesus says, I will be killed. And in Mark 10, 32? I don’t know. Who did this numbering? Jesus says he’s going to be mocked, spit on, flogged, and then killed.
This is the most severe prediction that is available. And this word, by the way, flog, that’s translated flog, which is sort of a funny word we don’t really use it anymore, but it means to beat severely. This sort of beating was reserved for the condemned man. He was not expected to live. This is the level of beating that Jesus is talking about.
So the point of this is that Jesus is telling his disciples, for the 3rd time, that things are not going to go well for him in Jerusalem. Okay? We’re going to take that thought. Things are not going to go well for Jesus in Jerusalem. We’re gonna pop it in our pocket.
Because this is the thing. All these people are following Jesus. They don’t know what’s going to happen. They know that he’s marching up into the lion’s den, right? There’s a bunch of angry people up there, but they’re not sure how it’s going to shake out, and this is the thing.
Jesus never promised us a good time, just good company. Okay? Jesus never promised us a good time, just good company.
James and John’s Request
Our next section of scripture for this morning, a naive request. I love this one. Mark 10, pick it up in verse 35.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. No good request has ever come that way. Then he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? They said to him, permit us to sit, permit one of us to sit at your right hand, and the other at your left hand in your glory, but Jesus said to them, you don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience? They said to him, we are able. We are able.
Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience, but to sit at my right or left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.
Verse 41. Now, when the other 10, the other 10 disciples heard this, they became angry with James and John.
Jesus called them and said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them. Those in high positions use their authority over them, but it is not this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great, among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be 1st among you must be the slave of all, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many.
Now, this passage is, we’re going to spend a little bit longer on this than the 1st one because that was about 12 seconds. Verse 35 They want Jesus to promise first. Jesus, promise you’ll do whatever we ask. Who would say yes to that? You know, I’ve worked in youth ministry for a number of years. And from time to time, you’ll have a youth come up to you and go, you know, something’s heavy on their heart and they need to get it off their chest and they’ll say, Connor, I need to tell you something, but you promise you won’t tell my parents, my teacher, my friend, authority figure, whatever it is.
And as a youth leader, the 1st thing you know to say is I can’t make promises like that, but what’s going on, buddy? Because you don’t want to corner yourself into something that you need to report legally or should report ethically.
The other time you hear a request like this, any parents of younger children ever get this request? Dad, promise you won’t get mad. So of course, my 1st thought is, what has he done that I’m going to be mad about? The very question betrays that they know what your response will be. They would never ask you not to get mad unless they thought you were going to get mad.
And in the same way the disciples would never ask Jesus to promise that he will grant their request unless they thought he’s not going to grant the request. So they try to trick Jesus. into giving them what they want. The audacity. The hubris that they could trick Jesus. And then the patience with which Jesus gives them. It’s unbelievable.
And I think it’s a good testament to us when we fall and stumble over and over again to know that Jesus is patient. He’s waiting for us. He’s like, good try. Why don’t you give it another go?
So anyway, verse 36, Jesus, of course, doesn’t commit, but he says, what do you want me to do for you? What do you want me to do for you? Great question. That’s also going in the pocket for later?
Verse 37, the request to sit at the right and left hands of Jesus. Now, back in those days, the king would sit in the center, right? His number one guy would sit on the right hand. his number 2 guy would sit at his left hand. So the disciples. After Jesus is predicting his death for a 3rd time, are still saying, we need power and status. There’s still looking for power and status rather than servant leadership.
So this is where that idea of things not going well for Jesus in Jerusalem comes back out of the pocket. Jesus just said he’s going to be mocked, spit on, beaten to within an inch of his life and killed, and the following question is Jesus, can we sit with you when you’re ruling on high?
These guys could not have understood what was going on. How is this the follow-up question? So this is my theory. They think that Jesus is talking about the intention of his enemies, right? Because you have to remember, the reason that they’re in awe of Jesus walking up to Jerusalem is because they know that the authorities there hate him and want him dead ever since he raised Lazarus from the dead, right?
So their theory is that this guy has unbelievable power. He’s doing things in a way that we don’t understand. And so when he goes up there, he’s saying they’re going to try to mock me and spit on me and humiliate me and kill me. But the fact of the matter is that it’s going to be like that scene from the Lord of the Rings, remember, where the whole army is just blown away and killed, they probably have something like that in their mind.
They’re going to come after Jesus with whatever implements of torture and Jesus is going to be like, no. And then suddenly his kingdom will just appear. That’s got to be what they’re thinking in their brains because otherwise, why would they want to seat at the cross?
And this, the other thing in our pocket, why were they speechless and awestruck? I think that they were speechless and awestruck because they thought that Jesus was going to do something incredible, walking into the lion’s den, leading the charge, not hanging back, not with the crowd, but leading the crowd up into this glorious battle that will happen. That’s my theory. I’d be happy to be told that I’m wrong, but that’s the only way I could make sense.
Why are they awestruck of this unless they think they’re going to see something really good. So verse 38, 39, and 40, the next section I’m looking at here, Jesus asked them, I love this question. Do you even know what you’re asking? Are you aware of what you’re actually asking for? And they say, oh, yes. Oh yes, we know what we’re asking for. We want a seat at the table when you wipe the floor with these guys.
And Jesus basically looks at them and he goes, oh, honey. Bless your heart. That’s essentially what Jesus is doing to these guys because they have no idea what they’re asking. He remains non-committal, and I think that that is a good thing. He doesn’t say like, no, this is what your fate is. He says, it’s not for me to decide. It’s already been chosen by the Father. But we’re not ready to go there yet.
So now that we have a slightly lighter pocket, we’re going to drop that idea in there that Jesus does not tell them what the future held for them in any specific way.
In verse 41, we see that the other disciples are mad at the Zebedee Brothers. This is James and John, the sons of Zebedee, the Zebedee Brothers. The worst Mario Brothers knockoff in history.
Now, why are the disciples mad at these guys? Because obviously they’re stepping outside the heart of the gospel, they’re seeking to enrich themselves to elevate themselves above the rest of the group, right? No. It’s because when James and John say, we want the left and right seats, that is the only 2 seats. That means there’s no seats for the other 10 guys. They’re like, well, I want the right seat. Who are you to ask for the right seat? Maybe he wants to give it to me.
They’re not thinking about the kingdom. They’re thinking about themselves. That’s why they’re mad. Because this request by James and John necessarily excludes them from those seats of authority and power.
The disciples are just not getting it. They’re too influenced by their culture that says status and power is what’s important, and they’re ignoring the servant leadership that Jesus is calling them to.
Servant Leadership
So if we continue on verses 42 to 44. We see Jesus talking about the abuse of power. And I think this is important to know because power corrupts us. Okay? Non-servant leadership is not just a bad idea. It is actually an affront to the kingdom of God. It is a total inversion of the way that God has set up his kingdom.
So when we seek to have power, We’re seeking not what God wants, but what we want. Because power, by its very nature, is self serving. And unchecked power is the enemy of love. Don’t miss this. Unchecked power is the enemy of love.
Why? Because power is hungry. And the only thing that makes power happy is more power. Power cannot be happy unless there’s more and there’s never enough.
And so this is why the leadership style of Jesus is bottom up rather than top down. Jesus himself, this is God. God, himself, the creator of everything, okay, comes down in the person. Turns off as my, comes down. Dies a torturous, humiliating death to show us the way of servant leadership.
So here’s the question, gang. Are we better than Jesus? When we say, okay, well, hard times, maybe that was for him. He had purposes to accomplish, not me. He’s going to elevate me. I need to be something special and important. Jesus himself does not say, look at how great I am. We don’t see it. It doesn’t happen.
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. The person through whom all of creation was made, the living word of God, goes out of his way to point to his Father in heaven. Say, it’s his plan, it’s his purpose, it’s his will. Certainly, Jesus is worthy of praise, honor, power, glory, recognition.
But just like his charge into Jerusalem, he is at the front of the pack leading the way by example. And that’s our job too. If we’re going to follow in the way of Jesus, that means that we’re leading the charge from the bottom up, and we’re not taking glory for ourselves, we’re pointing to God and saying, his will, his plan, his purpose. And I’m so grateful that he’s allowed me to be a part of it.
So friends, this is why it’s critical that we do a motive check, okay? I know a number of people in this room are involved in leadership because I get to work with you in that capacity, both here at Siri CLA and our sister organization metro kids.
But why are we doing the things that we’re doing? Always be checking that motive. Do we want acknowledgement from others? Do we want do we only do it because we want people to say how good of a job we’re doing? Are we trying to impress people with how spiritual we are or our holiness?
I’ll have you know that I prayed for 27 hours yesterday and read the Bible cover to cover 4 times this morning. Do we think that God is maybe some sort of prosperity genie, where if we just spend enough time with him, like Kenneth Copeland says, he will rain down health and wealth and wisdom upon us, and will be better than everyone else because of the time we invested in God, like he’s some sort of savings account.
Now, I’m being a little bit, I don’t know, dramatic over the top with these examples, but if your motives are anything other than serving the people in an effort to serve Jesus. If that describes you, then here’s something that you might not want to hear, but that you need to hear, your worship of Jesus is just worship of yourself.
Because it’s not Jesus centered, it’s self centered. It’s not Jesus focused, it’s self focused, and it’s not Jesus interested, it’s self-interested. And in those cases, we have nothing to do, or excuse me, in those cases, what we’re doing has nothing to do with God or others, except insomuch as they can give us something that we value.
And what we do for God is not transactional. It pours out of an abundance of love. We expect nothing in return, and we should expect nothing in return.
In fact, this brand of Christianity, and we see it, you hear the memes about televangelists all the time. The reason that this brand of Christianity is so awful is because it has done more damage, the name and work of Jesus, than any penalization or punishment or persecution or prosecution ever could.
Because we as Christians dirty the name of Jesus by turning into something that he never wanted it to be. And friends, the worst part of this is that it can happen to any of us. It happens slowly, slowly, slowly.
Maybe you get up and you share a testimony. And someone says, oh, that testimony was so good. You were so eloquent. You spoke so well, it was very encouraging. He started thinking, yeah, you know what? Maybe I am a good speaker. And then you start speaking, and you just feel down unless 3 people have come up and said, how great it was this morning.
You’re like, now I’m feeling good. You’re not saying, was I faithful to the word? Did I preach something of value? Did I give people a fresh perspective on Jesus? You’re saying, did they like it? Did they like me?
We have to be so careful, friends. It can happen. It can happen, it can happen.
Now, there’s 2 words in this passage I want to draw our attention too. First one is slave. Right? If we want to be first, we must be the slave of all. What does this word slave mean? Okay, now this is not a voluntary servant? Someone who is paid as a hired servant? This does not mean an indentured servant.
Now, the idea of indentured servitude was that if I owed, say, gram, a debt I couldn’t pay, then I could work for him as a slave until my debt was paid and then I’d be free to go again. That’s not what this is either.
This sort of slave, we must be a slave to all. is the sort of person who was, it literally means bound, tied, ensnared, captured, taken against their will, pulled into slavery. This is the sort of thing that when we think of slavery, we think of the American South, this is the kind of slave that Jesus is talking about.
That’s what we should aim to be. Now you say, Conor, what does that mean? This means that these people were at the bottom of society at that time. because its power structure. Whoever has the most powers at top, whoever has the least power. Now, the person who is taken into captivity certainly has the least power. That’s who we should aim to be.
Okay. Now, does that mean we need to, like, you know, rend our clothes and, you know, go live on the street and strip ourselves of everything. No, it doesn’t. But what it does mean is that we can’t say that person is below me. No one is below us. We should be in a race to the bottom to see who can serve the lowliest person. That’s what the race should be.
Okay? We are trying to get to the bottom so that we esteem others better than ourselves. Does that make sense? I’m gonna take your silence as a firm, yes.
The other word I want to draw your attention to is ransom. This is the payment of a debt to purchase a slave. Now, I use the example of maybe IO gram money, and so I’m working for him as a slave. And then Mike comes in and says, oh, I’ll pay that debt. And now Conrad, you owe it to me.
But instead, what Jesus did was paid that debt and said, now you may go free. And I think that is the thing that we should be sharing with people. That’s what we need to be telling people.
You don’t need to be a slave to your circumstances, your surroundings, whatever it is, because you can be free in Jesus.
Healing of Bartimaeus
So that brings up the idea then of why back out of the pocket. Why wouldn’t Jesus tell John and James what the future held for them? Why is it a secret? I think that we would do really poorly if we knew what the future held for us.
Imagine now, you find out that you’re going to die at the age of 106 years old. Of old age, in your sleep, very peacefully. Wonderful. Do you think that with that knowledge, you might start to abuse your life in your body? You know, like, oh, I’m going to live to 106, I am definitely going skydiving, base jumping. I’m going to try some hard drugs. I mean, I’m going to make it. I know it.
That knowledge would corrupt us, and then we would not behave in a way that led to the same outcomes. This is why we can’t know the future. This is why Jesus doesn’t tell us the future. This is why he reserves this and holds it back from James and John.
So we ought not think highly, highlier of ourselves than we should. And if we think of ourselves highly or highlier, that’s a word now, than anyone else, we’re doing it wrong. Amen.
All right, verse 46 to finish off our passage for this morning. This is the healing of Blind Bart, MAS. Verse 46. came to Jericho. A blind beggar sitting was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus, the Nazarene, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Many scolded him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they called the blind man and said to him, have courage, get up. He calling you. Go. He, that’s Bartimaeus, threw off his cloak, jumped up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you? The blind man replied, rabbi. Let me see again. And Jesus said to him, go. Your faith has healed you. Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
It’s good. It’s so good.
Application and Closing
So the 1st thing I want to draw your attention to is just in verse 46. It says that Bartimaeus, Blind Bart was by the road. By the road. We’re just going to put that in our pocket. come back to that in a second.
Verse 47, he calls out son of David. Now, son of David is a phrase we see pop up a couple of times in the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, and in the wider culture at that time, the son of David was believed to be the coming Messiah.
So this guy understood that Jesus was the coming Messiah, and he understood that Jesus could bring healing and wholeness. But note, what his request to Jesus is, son of David, have mercy on me. Mercy is a voluntary act. He doesn’t think that he’s owed anything. He just asks if Jesus, out of his mercy and kindness, would do something for him.
He doesn’t say, Jesus, promise you’re going to do whatever I ask. Have a mercy.
Verse 48. Then the crowd plays the gatekeeper. okay? Now, this is not a problem I’ve seen a lot at Siri CLA, but it happens in churches, so I’m going to talk about it anyway. The crowd decides who can come before Jesus.
Have you ever been to a church or seen it maybe here that I just haven’t, where we do the same thing. We play gatekeeper with God. We say, oh, no, no, no, no. You are making the front of the church look dirty. Why don’t you just move along? You, come on in. Yeah.
Sometimes we say only those people who we think are worthy, who meet our standard can come in. Maybe those people who we think can offer something to us or to our community. someone who’s a net positive. We don’t want anyone who’s going to drain on us. We need someone who’s gonna, you know, add good things.
Note, friends, that this is not something that God wants or asked or needs us to do. If you ever find yourself in a church where that’s happening. I want you to go ahead and say to guys, you’re doing it wrong. That guy needs to come into. I duly empower you to say that.
So you see a guy standing by the church, maybe in the front, maybe in the foyer, maybe he’s come inside and he smells funny. Go talk to that guy. You’re below him. Okay, you see a woman who looks disheveled. She is badly in need of a shower. Maybe she’s babbling incoherently. Go talk to her. You’re serving her. That’s your job. Right?
You see a tween with a foul mouth shooting off in the lobby. Go talk to them. You don’t know their story. You’re here to serve them. Right? We see a teenager struggling with their gender identity. We don’t push them aside. We pull them in and say, hey, man, we love you, we care about you. Let me hear your story. We’re here to serve them. Okay?
We’re not above any person. We are striving again in a race to the bottom. But sometimes we feel like they can’t do anything for us. This guy can’t do anything for me. It doesn’t even look like he has a home. Perfect, great opportunity to practice servant leadership.
And also interesting to me is that they’re blocking out. The crowd is blocking out old Blind Bart and he’s and they’re saying, be quiet, be quiet. Shush. Jesus doesn’t have time for you. He says, oh, I didn’t realize you were Jesus.
This man is desperate. Like the woman with the issue of blood. He keeps calling out, he will not be stopped by well-meaning, but horribly misguided followers of Jesus, because the kingdom of heaven is not for the well-meaning it is for the desperate.
And if that’s you, friends, if you are desperate here today or online, keep pressing in. Keep calling on Jesus. Don’t give up. Don’t let anything stop. You don’t let anything slow you down. Call out Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And he will. because he loves you and he cares about you.
Verses 49 to 51. So Jesus calls on him and all of a sudden everyone’s tuning changes. Oh, Jesus wants him. Yeah, come on up here. Hey, look, you guys, come on, look, Jesus watching. Yay. everyone’s happy now.
So he walks up to Jesus and Jesus asked him a familiar question. back out of the pocket from near the beginning. What do you want me to do for you? Now does Blind Bart say, Jesus, I would like to be at your right hand in the seat of glory. Does he say, why don’t you elevate me above all these losers so I can serve you better? No.
In fact, he says, the Greek word is rabbuni, which rarely ever refers to people, even more rarely is used as an address of a person, and is typically in reference to God. He says, Rebel, only let me see again. He doesn’t want to be esteemed. He wants to be equal. He doesn’t want to be elevated. He wants to be on par. He doesn’t want to be above everyone else. He just wants to join them.
This blind man because he has so little, understands the heart of God, better than the disciples who are better off. And those of us who have had nothing or have nothing now, understand the power of God to sustain us better than someone who is rich ever could. That’s what Mike talked about last week.
And I have an illustration that can help us understand what it means to be one of the crowd and how that can feel like a superpower. Has anyone ever been really sick? Back in the 1st week of July, I woke up and I was sick as a dog. I don’t know where that phrase even comes from. Do dogs get really sick? Anyway, I had a headache, I had nausea, I felt dizzy. I had like arthritis, my muscles hurt. I was super tired. And that lasted all day. And the next day, and the rest of the week, and the week after that, and the week after that, and by August, I was still feeling sick, and by September, I was still feeling sick, and by October, I was still feeling sick and I was like, is this the rest of my life now?
And then one day I woke up. I didn’t have a headache. I didn’t feel nauseous. My hands didn’t hurt. My hips didn’t hurt. I felt like I was Superman. Just being normal again made me feel like a superhero.
And when you get over feeling sick, When you lose that ailment, when Blind Bart got his sight back, he must have felt superhuman, supercharged, ready to take on the world.
And that’s what we see, back out of our pocket, where Blind Bart goes from being by the road to on the road. He goes from outsider to insider, one with Jesus.
So let’s bring this plane in for a landing this morning. If you here today are not desperate for Jesus, you’re doing it wrong. If you are not desperate for Jesus, you are doing it wrong.
The disciples, we’re still seeking glory and so they missed the heart of the gospel. The followers who were not the disciples who were also with Jesus are still gatekeeping and building a fence around him, and so they missed the heart of the gospel.
Does that mean they’re not Christians? Not at all. They’re still Christians. They’re still on the road. They’re still following Jesus. We’re all a work in progress. And when you start saying, that guy is a sucky Christian and I am way better than that, a loser. Servant leadership.
So if that’s you, and you’re struggling, and you’re falling, and you’re trying. Good. Keep trying. That’s great. But bring other people with you.
And as we’ve gone through the chapter 10 of the book of Mark here. We’ve seen that discipleship that is following Jesus’ characterized by how we treat marriage, which Pastor Graham talked about in Mark 101 to 12. How we treat and look at children, as Mark Frolick talked about in verses 13 to 16. And then how we deal with the stuff that we are given and asked to steward. That’s what Mike talked about last week in verses 17 to 31.
But don’t miss it. All of this comes in the context of following Jesus. If you’re good at marriage, and you’re good to your children, and you’re good at managing stuff, but you don’t have Jesus, you have nothing.
This is the foundation upon which everything else is built. And so we see Blind Bart move from outside or by the road to insider on the road because he was desperate for God. He understood the heart of the gospel to bring healing and wholeness because he was desperate for God.
Because like I said, the kingdom of heaven is not for the well-meaning, but for the desperate. So let us press on after God, as though our lives depended on it. Let us seek to serve others and introduce them to Jesus, and bring them into the kingdom, as if their lives depend on it, because friends, they do. They do.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray and we’ll turn it over, Jyra, close us off.
Thank you, Jesus, that you are good, that you are holy, that you are righteous, and that you have so much grace for us, as we are struggling to learn, and to come along, and to step into what you have. I pray that you would help us to become servant leaders, seeking to bring your gospel to others, and to welcome people into your presence and into your family.
Thank you, Jesus, for what you are doing in us and what you are going to continue to do to us as we press into you, God, help us to be desperate for you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.