South Lansing Christian Church

While the rich people came to ostentatiously give large sums to the temple treasury, the poor widow quietly threw in her last two coins. Jesus pointed out that her gift was the greater. When it comes to giving today, how much should we give? Whatever amount God has placed upon our hearts, rather than what we think will impress others.

In the Torah, God’s people are to either sacrifice their first born (animals), or to redeem them with a sacrifice (humans). They are called to give the first fruits of their crops and vineyards. Today, followers of Jesus are expected to give the first parts of their time, attention, and money to God, not the leftovers.

In the Torah, God’s people are to either sacrifice their first born (animals), or to redeem them with a sacrifice (humans). They are called to give the first fruits of their crops and vineyards. Today, followers of Jesus are expected to give the first parts of their time, attention, and money to God, not the leftovers.

We live our lives like we own everything. We work hard so we can have our stuff, so we can do what we want. We allow what we have to drive jealousy, desire, and status. We see the effects of it in the story of Cain and Abel. God, wants our best. God wants us to be Stewards of his creation. We are Stewards of the good news. To be good stewards, we have to give God total control.

Why serve? (To make disciples in Jesus name) Let’s not let the cart get ahead of the horse – serving is good, but anyone/any organization can serve. We are the church and we have something unique – the words of eternal life. “Silver and gold I have none, but what I do have, I do have, I give…”

Sometimes, we making the idea of serving too complicated. The Parable of the Good Samaritan gives us a picture of serving in simplicity. When it comes to finding ways to serve, we can start by asking, “what would I want done for me if I were in that situation?”

Ambition drives almost everyone. Much of what we do is an effort to be seen, recognized, and elevated. Jesus tells his disciples that it should not be like that among them. Instead, they should choose the path of quietly serving others. The same goes for us today. When we serve, we should do so with others in mind, instead of our own reputation.

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT THAT EVER HAPPENED. The story is not over. Mark’s gospel ends in an unsettling way, with a seeming cliff-hanger. Why? Because the story continues on. Be encouraged: God’s story is not finished. Be challenged: There’s work to do.

Mark 14 records the last moments of Jesus’ time with the disciples. As they celebrate the Passover, Jesus is drawing God’s original covenant with Israel forward to establish something new—something that the disciples and his followers will be able to return to understand their place in the Kingdom.

In Mark 13, Jesus gives a much-debated teaching that touches on both the destruction of the temple and his second coming. While we get lost in the details of what he said, Jesus’ main point here is to encourage his disciples to be alert. Today, we too must be alert to guard against false teaching and to actively live out our faith.

Jesus continues to spar with the religious and legal authorities of Jerusalem in Mark 12. He ultimately silences their questions with a restatement of the basics of faith: love God and love people. For us today, while we often chase the novel or exciting in faith, what we need most is to live out those basics.

In Mark 11 Jesus behaves in a seemingly erratic manner, cursing a fig tree and chasing people out of the temple. When we slow down and read carefully though, we see Jesus teaching his disciples that the Temple was corrupt and needed to be closed down. Although it looked healthy from the outside, it was bearing bad fruit. God expects his followers to bear good fruit.

In Mark 10, Jesus is headed up toward Jerusalem to begin his final week. On his way there, he takes multiple opportunities to teach his disciples about what God truly values. In every instance, the assumptions of this world are countered and opposed. The values of God’s Kingdom remain the same, and Christians today must examine our own assumptions by the light of God’s standard.

Throughout Acts 15 to 21 we see Paul completely sold out to chasing God and proclaiming the Gospel. There is nothing else that distracts him. His believers seem to do the same. What’s our problem? Why not us? How do we die to ourselves to live for Christ? We need to live Gospel Focused lives.

Paul’s speech before Festus is carefully worded and clearly structured. Paul was well-prepared for his moment to share the gospel, and he is an example for us. Followers of Jesus today should take conscious steps to be prepared to tell others about him!

https://vimeo.com/909859390

The account in Acts 2 tells us that the earliest Christians experienced deep fellowship – and their faith was stronger for it. One of the reasons our faith can feel shallow today is because we don’t experience that same level of fellowship. The believers in Acts modeled a way for us to deepen our fellowship: to share.

We often struggle to pray because we’re distracted, out of time, or are entirely self-focused. Jesus’ prayer life was much different, and when we read Luke we see how highly Jesus valued prayer – often slipping away from everyone else to focus on God. We can learn a great deal today from Jesus’ example.

We nearly never approach human relationships like we do our relationship with God. People who are close want to spend time together. When we want to get close to God, we often turn to spiritual disciplines and checklists. Psalm 84 teaches us that instead of a flurry of activity, faith is a relationship that requires presence.

This year at SLCC is all about what’s NEXT. A new year gives us a chance to make a clean break with the past, overcome things that have been holding us back, and set a new course with purpose.