4/7/24, What Will You Do With Jesus? (part 2), Mark 3:20-30

Guys and I heard it was awesome good [Music] e Hey Thomas I'm going to I'm going to start out very announc e well test one two test one two test am I on test one two one two can you hear me can you hear me test one two there we go hey good morning church good [Music] morning hey it is H so good to see each and every single one of you my name is Cody I'm the pastor here welcome to First Baptist Church of camton if you are new with us we want to just say welcome glad that you're here if you U look in the chair in front of you should see one of these connection cards fill it out drop it in the offering place that goes by it'd be huge in us being able to connect with you and just glad that you're here I wanted to do something at the very beginning of this service because we need to talk about finances real quick Church finances everyone's talking about finances and all that kind of stuff but we are way behind on our on our budget at this point in time last year we were way ahead of where we are now and actually I've got some fancy graphs for you just to show you because it is concerning and so you guys might remember the scary graph I created this back in 2019 you know year after I became the pastor here to talk about worship attendance and Sunday School attendance attendance this goes all the way back to 2000 I got this from the Missouri Baptist convention and when I got this and I opened it up I said oh no because it's all just a downward

Trend this was plugging in those graphs and everything like that to show well in 2023 if we kept up with that Trend we would have been at about 140 or so in our services and stuff like that clearly we're not there so praise the Lord for that amen these are just these are just old graphs that you know plugged in and stuff this just kind of goes through by quarter just showing you all the different stats from 2008 to 2019 to show you just the trend that we were on now this is where we're at right now this is from 2019 I do not have 2020s numbers in there because you can make up anything at that point in time right they're Pastor numbers so we could put an asterisks there do you go byy views on YouTube because like you know one of our services has over a th views do you do you count that as a as attendance that would just throw off our numbers and so thankfully you do notice that from 2019 to where we're at now we are we've officially reversed the trend we are swinging in the upward Direction so praise the Lord for that and [Applause] yeah this is this is where we're at in 2024 so far this does not include Easter Service okay so we're very thankful for that but you'll also notice this is not growth okay so before we get too excited let's let's be reasonable about it and let's be realistic you guys can come on in guys y'all don't have to hang out there in the in the fourer area we're glad that y'all are here but this is this is just first quarter attendance comparisons okay if we plug it in you know it's virtually the same among when we plug it in annually now here is the first quarter giving Trends we see in 2019 this is where we were at 2020

2021 I didn't plug in 2020s numbers because once again you can throw anything in there so that's 2021 2022 2023 this is the trend that we were on but in 2024 even though we are increasing in our attendance we are decreasing in our giving okay and I'm just being real with you guys okay you know we've got Finance team meeting on Tuesday morning and we're going to have to talk about these things which means you know hey we have to figure this out because we have to be good stewards of the resources that you've given I mean you give sacrificially you give generously you give prayerfully you give hilariously haha but what happens is when there's an economic downturn what do we see we see downward Trends in giving you know just be praying about that be praying for your church because as we just Mash these two things up that's what we see okay and so just be praying about that be praying how the Lord might be prompting you to give be praying about how the Lord might be you know moving in your heart and I wanted to do this last week but it was Easter and you don't do that kind of stuff on Easter and so but I wanted to have this conversation with you right now because why wait until a business meeting to discuss it right so just be praying about that this is my announcement it's not very fun but just be praying about how the Lord might be prompting you to give okay Church all right I love you all right at this time we do have a video to show you about a really great ministry opportunity featuring a couple of Volunteers in the nursery Ministry so if you would turn your attention to the screen morning this is Wayne and this is Naomi and we have the

Pleasure to work with them on Sunday mornings during the Sunday School hour we got Nana Beth here and I'm Papa clam and we have the honor and privilege to work every Sunday morning during Sunday School with these little ones it's a great ministry that we have here at church we have helpers that include some youth we have some moms we even have a dad that joins us and we have some just older youth of which Beth and I are definitely a part of that group we've been part of the ministry for seven or eight years and it's just been a joy for us to be able to work with these little ones we think it's seven or eight years we're not quite sure because we have so much fun we kind lost track of time but would be remiss if we didn't give a kind of a shout out to one of our steadfast workers we got Miss Debby that's been working in the toddler or in the nursery area has been working there for so many years I think we've kind of all lost track and I'm guessing that when she's in there for during the church service she's been there so many years she maybe doesn't even know that Pastor Cody is preaching the sermons so probably should ask her about that but if you stop by the nursery or you see her in church someplace just give a appreciation and say thank you to Miss Debbie she's been doing that for a long time she's been the main state for us originally when we first started working in the nursery we volunteered to work once a month and that worked for a couple of months and on our way home from church one Sunday morning bethod said have you noticed that the kids seem to be kind of apprehensive of coming in there early in the mornings and we started thinking well yeah it can be tough for the little ones to leave Mom and Dad but it's probably tougher at times for Mom and Dad to leave the little ones so what we decided that we would try to do would be to

Create some consistency for the kids so we decided to start working every Sunday morning in there so that they see the same face every Sunday morning so that when they came in there was no stranger there it seems like that consistency has worked quite well for the kids and for us we love the children we love working in this ministry we enjoy our adopted grandchildren which we have started to call them and especially since we have no family around here this is our church church family is really our family and these are our adopted grandchildren little Naomi Wayne and we've got all kinds of them roaming around through the church what we attempt to do every Sunday morning is to show them how important they are that we love them but more importantly that God loves them even more we're planting seeds and investing in their future although we're the ones that seem to get the big blessings out of this ministry you have a little one that comes running in on Sunday morning with a big smile in their face you may be at Walmart and they come running across the store to give you big hug they tell you that they love you it goes on and on I can think of a special thing is when we do prayer time during our snacks the innocence and the prayer that these kids can do is just amazing how quickly they learn and one of the things that I think we probably have noticed is that I think we maybe have a couple of really good Sunday school teachers in the making and we probably even got a couple of pastors based on the way they pray that we'll be having somewhere down the road it's just been a great opportunity for us to be working with these kids as you can you can tell little little Naomi is just smiling

Away again this morning God has entrusted Beth and I to work in this ministry work with the little ones he's also entrusted moms and dads grandpas and grandmas but if you remember when we have children dedication here at the church the church challenges the people that are in the congregation the Christians that are attending here during those baby dedications we're asked to pray for the little ones we're asked to pray or I mean to also help nurture help teach them and as a Christian where do you fit into the filling that charge that's a question that we should all be asking ourselves to work in this little Ministry that we have here there's only three requirements that I see that you have to have one you have to love the Lord two you need to love the children and the third one you got to have a piece of plywood now you probably wonder what do you need a piece of plywood for well when it comes time to read stories and those kids each grab a book they crawl up in your lap there's no way your lap is going to be big enough without that piece of P so I encourage you bring a piece of plywood if you come and work in this ministry would' ask that you prayerfully consider joining us in working in this when we say prayerfully consider you can think about the fact that you can work as much as you want or as little as you want we'd love to have you will never regret working with these little ones and what I would encourage is that we've got some new things that we want to be doing into the Toddlers and the nursery I'd ask you to talk to Thomas he's got some great ideas and also go ahead and talk to Beth Or Thomas or myself if you'd like to volunteer like I say we'd love to have you and you won't regret a minute of the time that you spend with us

Morning this is Wayne and this is thank you papa Nana thank you so much for making that video so yeah what a great ministry the nursery is and we're so thankful for our steady volunteers like Beth and Clen and Debbie and others who are in there consistently week after week but I got to tell you the truth it's a struggle right now to find enough volunteers to keep that Ministry going so over the last couple months we've been praying about it we've been thinking about how are we going to get folks to help out how are we going to make some changes that would be more efficient streamlined and we have two groups of kids we have infants and we have Toddlers and we really need to keep those separated because we need the toddlers to be to have some sort of structure and in order for them to have structure they need to be able the volunteers need to be able to focus on those toddlers so what I did was I went and ordered this great curriculum it's called Truth for toddlers it's from Answers in Genesis and it is really great it is you can see here there's five truths God is good God is in charge of everything God made everything God wants us to pray and Jesus came to save five truths that we just repeat week after week after week one truth per week and it's real simple you as a volunteer you just show up you pull it book there's a there's a schedule that tells you what to do post it on the on the door there's a one minute song there's some easy coloring and sheets to do and it's it's going to be real great and the nice thing is as we get this structure put in place the children are going to know their expectations they're going to be able to just week after okay this is what's expected of me and that's going to help the kids not be crazy okay and

It's going to also help our wonderful prek andk teachers Kelly McDaniel and Maggie Libby help them upstairs as they get these children now once they hit four they can go upstairs and they're going to be mature they're going to be they're they're going to know what's expected of them because these routines have been in place and like I said the only way that this can really happen is if we can focus our teachers on that toddler room and separate the infants from the todders right now we have to blend the two because we don't have enough volunteers so in your bulletin there is this yellow insert and I would like you to at least just look at it pull it out and look at it and prayerfully consider can I serve here should I serve here this is not a guilt trip this is I we want people who want to be there working with those kids if you already do work with those kids please fill it out anyways because I need to know what your preferences are first hour second hour and then you'll see how often one two three four five six times a week six every six weeks yeah not six times a week VBS every day let's do it so please fill that out and hand it in the offering plate or hand it in to myself at the office find a place I'll find it if you fill it out okay that's that let's do the next the next one here we have children's camp coming up June 3rd through the 6th and some common questions are is this our camp whose Camp is this well this is lamine association's Camp it's put on by the lamine Baptist Association headed up by Russ slokum And Russ is the pastor First Baptist Church Otterville and he's a great man sat down with him this last week and talked about it's going to be a great Camp he loves the Lord he's got a great team that's been doing it for a long time so if you are interested in sending your

Kid there please there's signups all over the church just find that sign up I will be there for that week counseling the boys so if you are a little bit hesitant and you're like oh man you know it' be nice to have a contact you are welcome to contact me and I can keep you up to date with how your child is doing last thing here for me is we have and there's another insert in their bulletin and it is the VBS and children's ministry training that is happening in two weeks April 21st after church at 12 o'clock it's a potluck please bring your own food this is a very important meeting if you are involved with children this is not just VBS training we're going to be doing some CPR stuff Jeremy rugan has agreed to come in he's going to show us a little bit of stuff mostly regarding choking hazards what to do when should you call 911 I know I've had that question come up many times in myself okay how long can I go and try and get this out before I call 91 Jeremy's going to walk us through that and that'll be very helpful for us we're also going to do child safety training we all need to do this so if you are not involved with VBS but you are involved anywhere's else you can show up for that first part and then you can leave and then the rest of us who are doing VBS training can stay so put that on your calendar look at the insert and we'll see you then thank you Diana scogan Quick Ann y well we have lot going on don't we family I'm not going to take too long but I wanted to give you an update from the loving our world team on Vision 316 because we have some events coming up so we have partnered in our church with vision 316 for 10 years we've had quite a number of people who have washed eyeglasses gone on trips measured eyeglasses so raise your hand if you've

Ever been involved with vision 316 so you can see it's our ministry and I'm so pleased to be able to tell you what's going on the vision part of the ministry is what we think about we're we are washing the eyeglasses on Tuesday I hope everyone will come for an hour or five on Tuesday and get some glasses ready every pair of glasses will reach a person in another country and this year we're adding some people in I Coast that our church will be going to see but the vision thing is a thing we think about but the 316 part is what's really important so every pair of glasses represents a Gospel conversation that will be had with the recipient of those glasses and thousands of people have been impacted and made decisions for Christ as a result of that and that is what it's all about so please come measure and wash some glasses we've started doing some measuring and labeling of the glasses which is the next step if you're interested in doing that I will be happy to train you to do that we're doing that in our little humble L-shaped room up on this end of the building and you can set your own schedule for that we're also going on a trip our church has adopted a trip in September this the 21st through the 28th prayerfully consider if God would have you to go there is an informational meeting at 3:30 during the eyeglass washing down in the gym if that doesn't work for you see me and we'll find a time that does thank all right hey and at this time maybe you have a friend or a neighbor that you'd like to just hug their neck and say welcome to First Baptist church this is a great time for you to do that so what e well good morning ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters it's good to see you all here

This morning it's good to be in the house of the Lord today at this time I'd like to just take a moment with you to prepare our hearts and our minds for worship as we enter into our time of worship through singing and also worshiping through hearing God's word preached and if you have forgotten we're also going to worship in Fellowship after service today at our youth fundraiser soup lunch and dessert auction so if you forgot I'm inviting you again now so come on down a little late to make some soup but that's okay come on down anyway but I invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes and ask the Lord to prepare us for worship Lord I pray that you would help us to throw off the distractions that so easily take our attention away from you God maybe we got up on the wrong side of bed this morning maybe we had an argument with a spouse or a child or a parent on our way to church today and Lord I pray that you'd help us to just leave that leave that at your altar to sacrifice those things to put down our pride and instead Lord to focus completely and holy on you because you are worthy Lord I pray that you would draw the attention of our hearts and our minds to you this morning it's in Jesus name we pray amen Psalm 103: 1-4 say bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your iniquity and heals all your diseases who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy that is the God that we worship today amen I invite you to stand and join me as we sing together all creatures of our God and King [Music] All Creatures of our God and

King lift up your voice and with us Oh Praise Him hallelu th burning Sun with golden th Silver Moon with softer GLE Oh Praise Him Oh Praise Him hallelujah [Music] hallelujah let all things their creator bless and worship him in humbl oh praise him halelujah praise praise the father praise the son and praise the spirit 3 in one Praise Him Oh Praise Him hallelujah hallelujah all the Redeemed wased by his BL and rejoice in his great love oh praise him Hallelujah Christ has defeated every cast all your burdens now on him Oh Praise Him Oh Praise Him hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] he shall return in power to rain Heaven and Earth will join to say oh Praise Him Hallelujah then who shall fall on me all creatures of our God and King Oh Praise Him Oh Praise Him hallelujah and he is worthy of Our Praise amen today and every day all the praise we could ever give this next song we're going to sing is Our Song of the month and it's one that it's not new that's for sure it's a o for a thousand tongues to sing in the first verse we're singing o for a thousand tongues to sing our great my great Redeemer's praise and really what we're saying is how cool would it be to hear that many people singing his Praises isn't that have you ever been in a room with thousands of other people singing I mean it's just something different it feels like a little taste of what heaven's going to be like gathered around the throne in

The second verse we Proclaim why we're singing that my gracious master and my God assist me to Proclaim because it's only by his grace and his mercy and his power that he draws Us near to his throne so that we might worship Him isn't that amazing he enables our worship and now because it's Family Worship Sunday I'll say a little bit about the fifth verse hear him ye deaf Praise Him ye dumb now kids this might be the only time you get to sing the word dumb in a church service so have fun with that but what we're saying the whole the whole verse is talking about the ailments that we face in this life and that someday those things will be gone for the record kids dumb means you can't speak okay that it's an old usage of the word all right but it means that someday those ailments will all be gone because of the gracious mercy of Christ and the sacrifice that he made on the cross let's sing [Music] together oh for a thousand Tong to sing my great Redeemer praise the glories of my God and King the triumphs of his gra my gracious master and my God assist me to Proclaim to spread through all the Earth abroad the honors of Thy [Music] Name Jesus the name that charms our fears thats my sorrow music in the S ears life and he peace he breaks the power of he sets the priser free his blood can make the foulest clean his blood availed for [Music] me him ye prra your loosen Tong ye blind behold your Savior come and leave ye lame for Joy glory to God and praise and love be ever

Again by Saints below and Saints above the church in Earth and heav [Music] you can be seated as our ushers come forward to take the offering well what some great songs this morning and my wife and I was talking this morning and sometimes just songs come in my head and I started singing them and one that came this morning was bright in the corner where you are you know we have a lot of retired missionaries with us people who are still missionaries we have some students who are going to become missionaries and we expect them to brighten the corner where they're going or been but you know what we need to brighten the corner where we are too whether it's setting in here we need to have a brighten Corner out in the community we need to have a brighten Community people recognize us that when we're coming they're going to be happy you know they're glad to see us so just be thinking of that and but let's also just give praise to our God that we have the privilege to giving back a portion of the blessings he's given to us let's pray God our Father we do thank you for who you are and what you've done through US blessed us in so many ways showed us grace and mercy we thank you now we can give back a portion of the blessings you've given to us we just ask that we give cheerfully and as you desire just bless it for the further use of your word in the Gospel we pray this in Christ's name Amen Let us read from Romans ver 5: 20 and 21 now the law came in to increase the trespass but where sin increased Grace abounded all the more so that as Sin reth in death Grace also might Reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord praise the Lord his Mery

Is stronger than Darkness every our sins they are many his Mercy more [Music] what love could remember no wrs we have done all knowing he counts not there into us without bom our sins they are many his Mercy is praise the [Music] Lord his Mercy [Music] is stronger than Darkness to every our they are many his Mercy [Music] is [Music] what patience would wait as we constantly what father so tender is calling us home Hees the weakest of VI the our s they are many his Mercy is more praise the Lord his Mercy is Lord stronger than Darkness to every our s they are many his Mercy [Music] is what Riches of kindness he lavished on us his blood was the payment his life was the cost we stood the debt we could never our s they are many his Mercy is more praise the Lord his Mery is [Music] more stronger than Darkness you every our sin they are many his Mercy is more praise the [Music] Lord his Mercy [Applause] [Music] is strong than Darkness every our are many his Mercy is more our they are many his Mercy [Music] is

[Music] what GI of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer there is no more for heaven now to he is my joy my righteousness and freom my steast love my deep and boundless peace to this I hope my hope is only Jesus for my life isly bound to his oh how strange and divine I can sing all is mine yet not but through Christ [Music] in the night is dark but I am not forsen for by my side the Savior he will stay I labor on in weakness and rejoicing for in might his power is display to this I hold my shepher will defend me through the de this Valley he will lead oh the night has been one and I shall over yet not I but through Christ in [Music] me no fate I gr I know I am forgiv the sure the price it has been paid for Jesus BL and suffered for my paron and he was raised to overthrow the grave to this I hold my sin has been defeated Jesus now and ever is my oh the chains are released I can sing I am free yet not I but through Christ [Music] in he has conquered and we've been set free with every breath I long to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew until I stand with joy before the to this I hope my hope is only Jesus all the glory ever to him when the race is complete still my

Lips shall yet not I but through Christ in me to this I hold my hope is only Jesus all the glory ever [Music] to when the race is complete still my lips shallat yet not I but through Christ in me when the race is complete still my lips shall repat yet not I but through Christ in me yet not I but through Christ in [Music] me Lord help us ever to sing yet not I but through Christ in Me God remind us that our strength is not found in ourselves or in the things of this world but it's found in you and in the sacrifice of the cross that Jesus came to live a perfect life and bled and died on our behalf to pay the price that we couldn't pay Lord help us ever to rejoice in the great news of the Gospel it's in Jesus name we pray amen all right children it's that time for our children's lesson how you doing Lily I'm doing good just hold so it doesn't fall than awesome welcome here guys today we got a lesson that corresponds with Pastor Cody's sermon and you know there's a story in Mark the story that we're going to talk about today about Jesus you know he's going around and he's healing people and he's and he's casting demons out of folks well it's one particular time he casts a demon out of a out of a man who was blind and mute or dumb he saying about that he couldn't speak and you know Jesus does this all the time but this time was unique because this time something happened to

Somebody was there that didn't like that there were religious leaders who showed up who love themselves they love themselves and they love things of this world and they were afraid of Jesus not because Jesus was scary not because they respected Jesus but rather because Jesus threatened their position and their popularity and their influence and because they were threatened by this they did something really bad do you guys know what that is what do they do they made him they made him die on the cross they eventually they yes they said Jesus should die rather than the murderer but that wasn't this time no what they did was they said that Jesus and Satan we on the same team and you your first thought might be well that's kind of silly how can Jesus is good and Satan is evil how can two people good and evil be on the same team wouldn't they just fight each other all the time yeah it doesn't make any sense right it's kind of yeah it's just it's it's lunacy well they said it yes and also why would he cast demons out of people if he was with Satan which is with deons exactly that's right yes the logic doesn't work because they're well hold on we'll get there okay yes they it doesn't make sense and then your second thought might be you know what I would never say something like that I would never accuse Jesus of being on the same team as Satan and I think there's and I hope that's true because there's there's something here in this story that if we dig a Little Deeper we're going to we're going to see that you know there is something that we can all identify with and it's in the beginning of the story let me read it to you and he came home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even me eat a meal that means it was a big crowd and when his

Own people that means his family heard this they went out to take custody of him for they were saying he has lost his senses his own family grabbed them tied him up and accuse him of being insane you know my family lives far away okay I sometimes go back home to Canada and I visit and all my family is there and when I show up or when we show up you know my mom usually puts together a big Gathering and all my cousins and uncles and aunts they all get together and we have a good time visiting catching up and bugging one another but never have I gone home and had a family gathering where all of a sudden they all tie me up and drag me out into the street and wait for my enemies to show up and humiliate me I'm thankful but that's what happened to Jesus okay Jesus's family did this they grabbed him they put him in custody and they said you have lost your mind you are not normal you are speaking nonsense who do you think you are you know the people who were closest to Jesus the people who knew Jesus the best the people who seen all of his miracles and his works of God should have been the ones who have recognized who he really was but they didn't do you know why that is because there his brothers like they would might have thought like he was C well they thought he was crazy and also they might have thought he was working with dark magic or something like that yeah they did maybe they didn't recognize him because we don't see with our senses the kingdom of heaven we see with our heart and they were blinded they loved the things of this world and they loved the opinions of those leaders more than the truth of who Jesus said he was you know it makes me sad to say that to say that we are all capable of rejecting Jesus in this way you know I

Have done it I've rejected Jesus I've I've said things in my heart that I wish I never would have said I have blamed Jesus for terrible things in my life things that he didn't do to me I did to myself because my heart was hard you know but I'm here and I tell you guys that I that this happened to me because Jesus forgave me Jesus reached into my heart and he made it soft and he forgave me he brought me to the point where I said I'm sorry Lord you are you are the king of my life you are the true and living God okay and I tell you what Jesus loves to forgive us and he loves you guys so much that even when we betray him he forgives fores us and brings us back to him all we need to do is believe and confess our sins to him and he will forgive us you know when we believe that Jesus is the son of God and when we repent of our sins we become part of God's family his real family a family that is perfectly safe in The Father's arms we become part of a family that loves us perfectly and where no one would tie us up or and tell us that we have lost our minds thank God for that let's pray dear heavenly father Lord we thank you so much for who you are you have said that you are the one and the Living God you sent your son Jesus Christ to die to live a perfect life and to die for our sins and pay a debt that we could not afford Lord thank you for loving us and we cannot love you I pray that you would soften our hearts that you would change our hearts and you would bring us to repentance and show us that you are the truth the way and the life pray all these things in Jesus name amen so we should just move into the invitation time right thank you Thomas for doing such a great job weekend week out with our with our students our children thank you

Volunteers for doing a great job if you have your Bible and I hope that you do turn with me to Mark chapter 3 Mark chapter 3 we are going to be in verses 20 through 30 kind of went back and forth on this one this week just simply because of the topic it we're talking a little bit about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and that could lead to some confusion so parents listen close that way you can do some discipleship in your home as your kids ask you questions about all of this we are in this little Series in Mark as we go through the Book of Mark we're asking this big question what will you do with Jesus Christ that's the question that we've been asking and we're going to continue asking it but before we get there I wanted to tell you guys a story about CS Lewis anyone CS Lewis fans in here yeah all right you know I'm a big fan of The Lion The Witch in the wardrobe I'm a big fan of the screw tape letters anybody ever read the screw tape letters it's a fascinating read of course it's fiction but it really I think it's got some elements of Truth just like all good fiction does borrow from our world I think that does a fantastic job this is CS Lewis here you know Clive Staples Lewis and this is U he really illustrates very powerfully what we're going to talk about today in The Book of Mark he was raised in a Christian home in a presbyterian home and he became a very devout atheist at the age of 15 absolutely crushing his family he was a vem opponent to the Gospel he described himself as very angry at God for not existing okay while he was working at Oxford he and several Christians they would get together at little pubs and things like that most famously with JRR Tolkien

The author of the greatest fictional novel in all of history the Lord of the Rings and yeah but they had a lot of a lot of great discussion about Christianity how it is reasonable how it's totally plausible if God is who he says he is then we can expect God to do Godlike things including raising himself from the dead and this is what Lewis writes about his own testimony in his words in his testimony surprised by Joy he says You must picture me alone in that word in that room in meline night after night feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work the steady unrelenting approach of him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet that which I greatly feared had at last come upon me in the third term the Trinity term of 1929 I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed perhaps that night the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet but who can duly adore that love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking struggling resentful and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape the words compel and TR compel them to come in have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them but properly understood they Plumb the depth of the Divine Mercy the hardness of God is Kinder than the softness of men and his compulsion is our Liberation amen we don't write like that anymore do we this great thinker of the 20th century created what's famously known as the trilemma and he explains it in his book the Mere Christianity and I know that

I'm quoting a lot right here at the beginning please forgive me but it ties directly into this passage Mere Christianity he writes I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying a really foolish thing that people often say about him Jesus I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but I don't accept his claim to be God that is the one thing we must not say a man who is merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher he would be either a lunatic on the level with the man who says he's a poached egg or else he'd be a devil of hell you must make your choice either this man who was and is the Son of God or else a Madman or something worse you can shut him up for a fool you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God but let us not come to him with any patronizing nonsense about him being a great human teacher he has not left that open to us he did not intend to and so with that thought in mind let us ask this question what will you do with Jesus Christ let's stand in honor of God's word as we read Mark chapter 3 vers 20 through 30 God's word says this then he went home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat and when his family heard it they went out to seize him for they were saying he is out of his mind and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by beel and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons and he called them to him and said to them in Parables how can Satan cast out Satan if a kingdom is divided against itself that Kingdom cannot stand and if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand and if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided he cannot stand but is coming to an end but no one can enter a strong man's house and

Plunder his Goods unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean spirit let's pray and so Lord we ask that right now you would please move in our hearts and grant us great understanding by the power of your spirit bless the preparation and the prayer that I've taken this week Fill Me Lord with your spirit and may these words be words that fall on good Hearts receptive to your word that we would walk in your truth help us Lord to Delight in you to serve you to honor you to praise you to glorify you and to conform ourselves to what you have to say we ask Lord that you would move hearts Lord that maybe they don't know what to do with you this morning perhaps they think that they can just treat you like a good teacher or maybe a Heavenly grandpa that you can call on when you need help occasionally Lord but you haven't left that open to us help us to consider the truth of Who You Are and move among us today in Jesus name amen I know I'm going to make some people mad with these first words but neutrality is a myth neutrality is a myth can't cannot be cannot be neutral about anything let me illustrate this if I put anything out there every one of you has an opinion on it okay every single one of you does you cannot be objective about it if I were to talk about family everyone has different ideas on how to lead your family how to discipline your children well that's a big one right if we were to if we were to go into the realm of politics there would be all sorts of different opinions within this

Congregation right if we were to go down the path of Education there would be all sorts of different philosophies and Strate IES and thoughts good and bad right and wrong neutrality is a complete myth and especially when it comes to Jesus and we see that increasingly in our culture the line between conservative and liberal gets wider and wider we all have these different opinions but everyone also has presuppositions every single one of us morality kindness family Society everything is between everything in between and because we have those what's called presuppositions people cannot be neutral and because of this Christians cannot be neutral either when thinking through issues why is that well one God has something to say about everything always does he has something to say about everything even when God doesn't speak specifically about a particular issue the principle that are in God's word are just as sacred secondly we should apply Scripture to every area of Our Lives bringing it under the authority of God this is sanctifying in its process but then thirdly the world is not neutral and is actively opposed to the things of God and we see in this passage today people are also married to their presuppositions Jesus went to his home in capernium and Mark he will soon be referencing Christ's home as the house and people they would gather there by the hundreds anytime that Jesus was there anytime that Jesus was at home and there wasn't any room for the people to even eat now Jesus has friends the ESV renders this word family the nasb renders this word his people yet the word family doesn't appear in the Greek that would be the word genos as we see in Acts chapter 4 or senen which is used in Mark 6:4 to describe family particularly so I believe personally

That this is not his family coming to him okay they're going to come actually in next week's passage that we get to but rather these are friends traveling to see him whether they're from capernium or Nazareth we don't know but it makes perfect sense that his people they hear this and they come out to seize him this is not a positive word that word seizing not a positive word most of the time when it's used in the New Testament it's used in reference to Christ being a rested and taken away to crucifixion in the first century in Jewish culture honor and shame were among some of the most important values to be frank Jesus's actions and his religious Zeal were reflecting poorly on Nazareth and so his friends they were coming to forcibly bring him back to his community why is that well firstly let's just admit that his friends probably had a deep love for him let's at least give them that benefit of the doubt that they were there out of concern for their friend they were wrong their intentions were good they traveled really far in order to have his confrontation but they were wrong but secondly they were concerned for his overall well-being Jesus Christ he was devout to the Lord alone and he was simply too radical for that culture I mean he was staying up all night in prayer that can't be good for your health he was opposing the religious status quo that cannot be safe especially in a culture will they'll put you to death for something like that and he was just an overall threat to the well-being of Jewish life in Galilee and so they simply said that Jesus is out of his mind and if you're taking notes you can write this down he is a lunatic you can NE believe that some people think that many people believe that a quick Google search led to dozens of Articles from men like

Justin migot who is a lecturer at Cambridge University who wrote the book The Madness of King Jesus Jean meslier he wrote his book Testament that says that Jesus was really a Madman a fanatic Lemuel wasburn he wrote Jesus was not Divine but insane Oscar pan he describes Jesus as psychopathological and paranoid Charles Ben sangal he wrote in short the nature of the hallucinations of Jesus as they are described in the Orthodox Gospels permits us to conclude that the founder of Christian religion was afflicted with religious paranoia let me just say this that they're wrong okay I'll put it they're idiots okay I will say that okay I know much to the scr of their phds or whatever but I really don't care there is nothing that indicates that Christ was insane nothing he would have been if he were to have gone up to a leper and say be healed and the leper is still sitting there completely infested with Leprosy but that's not what happened is it what happened to the leper he was he healed that's not the actions of a Madman that's not the actions of an insane person and to say well you know it's just like well I'm don't go down that Rabbit Trail Co don't go there instead here's what Jesus really did he really cast out unclean spirits he really forgave sins he really caused paralytics to walk he really gave sight to the blind speech to the mute hearing to the deaf and he actually did all of those things and it's not uncommon for unbelievers to think that Christians are out of their minds too hey anybody ever been told hey you're just a bit too fanatical about Jesus I have and if you haven't then I would ask why not I mean if we're walking by faith people are going to think that you're out of your mind they thought the same

Thing about Noah before the rain came amen what is this rain that you're talking about don't worry about it I'm taking care of my business and it's certainly common for people to think ill about Bible believing Christians and it's not just in our culture today it was happening to the Apostle Paul look at what fesus says and as he was saying these things in his defense fesus said with a loud voice Paul you are out of your mind your great learning is driving you out of your mind that's kind of to the point isn't it Martin Luther he one of the greatest men in Christian history and as Baptists we owe a lot to him even though he was wrong on several doctrinal issues shortly after Luther posted the 95 thesis on the door of vitberg Pope Leo the 10th he said don't worry about it he's just a drunk German he'll change his mind when he sobers up but then he didn't in fact he continued on writing treaties after treaties after treaties writing with almost a manic Obsession okay about the truth of the Gospel in his book The Bondage of the will he wrote it and it just took off like wildfire because it was all about justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ and arasmus he was a contemporary of Martin Luther's he wrote a note called the DIA tribe against Martin Luther this is how religious debates were handled back in the day rather than through Twitter in Luther he responded to arasmus saying this don't do this guys okay but this is just what happened arasmus you fool you stupid idiot why is it that I even take the time to listen to the flimsy arguments that you give oh you are eloquent and your pen is magnificent but reading the material that you have written is just like watching somebody

Walking down the street carrying gold and silver plates that are filled with dung that's how Luther would engage in theological debating yet he also had remarkable Clarity in his writings he had remarkable Clarity in his defense of what the Scriptures actually say see when you when you walk with the Lord that's probably a negative example but look at the positive examples too missionaries in Moravia they heard about an island in the middle of the car Ian that was that was only open to people that were slaves and so these Moravian missionaries they said we will go we will sell ourselves into slavery that we might go and reach these slaves with the Gospel and for us as 20 21st century Americans we look at that and go that's crazy and yet that was the most valuable thing that they could ever do in their entire life to go and Reach people for Christ Don't Be Afraid when people think that you're insane because of standing up for the Gospel because of living your life and conducting yourself in a way that is most glorifying to God and this passage it continues that the scribes they came down from Jerusalem well why did the scribes come well look at what William Lane Craig said or William Lane not William Lane Craig William Lane says he says Jesus's Ministry had attracted the critical attention of the Sanhedrin the San hedrin would investigate teaching similar to how they conducted investigations in Acts 5: 27 and these scribes they know that Jesus had a large following they know he has power to expel demons and they were there to examine Jesus's teachings and miracles to determine if capernium should be declared a seduced city that is the prey of an apostate teacher and what was

Their conclusion well because of Jesus's opposition to traditional Jewish beliefs at that time they said well he's just possessed by beel notice that they don't think that he's crazy they don't think that he's crazy they attribute it to something nefarious they see the supernatural works that Christ is doing and they have no defense for that so they just attribute it to satanic workings be is in reference to the chief leader of demons that is Satan he's The Great Deceiver and so they accuse Christ of being the father of lies and they say that he is a liar if you're taking notes and I skipped that point to that should say what do you believe about Jesus but the scribes they recognize his power and they challenge the origin of that power ascribing it to Satan rather than God this text it serves as proof that faith and unbelief are not the result of tangible evidences many people will say well I will believe in God if I see him work a scientifically verifiable Miracle well here are a bunch of men that see scientifically verifiable Miracles and what do they say he's got a demon here you have people seeing Jesus working and they say he's not the Messiah they don't worship him as Savior they call him Satan the scribes they have a lot of evidence and yet they don't believe and then seeing the evidences for this for this great work of God it doesn't create Faith because faith is a gift from God and those who trust in Christ are indebted for the faith that we have and so the scribes they elaborate on what they mean by the prince of demons he casts out demons in Jesus he calls them to him he doesn't skirt past them he addresses the argument he doesn't ignore them he calls them to himself is what the passage says and that same word calls is exactly what

It's the exact same word that was used earlier in the chapter of Jesus's calling of the Disciples of the Apostles Jesus here he is teaching with the same kind of a Authority and he had with this effectual call of these disciples and so how often do you think that we allow for people's opinions about us to determine our joy I mean Jesus he could have gotten discouraged at this point he could have gotten dishearted he heartened he could have gotten frustrated he could have put his hands up in the air at this point in time and said I'm done with you people but Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach people using questions and a parable and he asks a reasonable question how can Satan cast out Satan that's like saying Faithfully Unfaithful or falsely true it can't happen it's oxymoronic and Jesus he illustrates it for us practically he says that if a kingdom is divided against itself that Kingdom cannot stand and if a if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand the New Living Translation puts verse 25 in this way similarly a family SPL linered by feuding will fall apart some of us we've seen that in our families we've seen how it's worked out and Jesus he uses both of these illustrations to prove he cannot be of Satan why because if a kingdom is at war with itself it will be conquered and the Israelites would understand this the Israelites would understand that because at one point in time in their history the kingdom was divided Israel and Judah and they were both subsequently conquered by Foreign Nations the same thing with a house greatest King in history in Israel's history King David okay he had a son Solomon and then he had rabam who forgot that his job was not to oppress the people but to serve the people and that house was divided

And it led to the collapse of David's house not completely because we know that Christ came through that davidic line but you see this is what happens in our world too when families bicker and they divide they can't remain together churches that are full of selfishness and greed die Nations that divide over so many issues collapse organizations and businesses that have competing voices in the leadership in a view of influence so confusion and dissension and it leads to its ruin in 2009 Time Magazine they had an article it was 10 ideas that are changing the world right now and it listed a man named Mark Driscoll at his church marsill in Seattle some of you may know him he was part of that and this church Mars Hill Church in Seattle in that whole surrounding area had 15 campus locations okay nearly 6,500 members over 12,300 in attendance every week weekly viewers of over a quarter of a million people tuning in and supporting that Ministry but he was also a leader that rejected accountability and when his Elders came to him and said hey this is what we're hearing we want to hold you accountable in this area he resigned in October of 2013 in January 1st Mars Hill Church was no more three months for that collapse division destroys it's a true principle whether you're natural or even Supernatural That's why God is one he is Triune yes he is one yes Satan doesn't allow dissension in his kingdom either it's probably very well organized and very strategic there's no dissension among the Devils they have one goal to hate God the best that they can likewise the kingdom of God is undivided and those who find themselves dividing are actually doing the devil's work if there was division in Satan Satan's kingdom then it would be

Destroyed and Jesus States it this way in verse 26 and if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided he cannot stand but is coming to an end the parallel passage of this is found in Mark or Matthew 12: 2738 28 it says and if I cast out demons by beel by whom do your sons cast them out they knew that there were you know Jewish exorcisms going on at the time how were your followers able to do this therefore they will be your judges but if it is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come upon you and so this puts those scribes that are critical of Jesus's Ministry at a huge disadvantage because if they say that they that their followers are casting out unclean spirits by the power of Satan then one they would be lying and they would be calling into question their own Ministry but if they say it's also by the spirit of God then they prove that they're just prejudice against Jesus either way Jesus he sets forth these followers as their judges because the kingdom of God has truly come to the Israelites and the Messiah is being revealed the next point that I want you to write down is that well actually I think this is already filled in he is Lord he is Lord you see in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness he overcame Satan's best and wellth thought out Temptations He bound the strong man that's what Christ accomplished there and Satan's influence is seen in the first century by people being possessed and blind and sick and lame and mute and much more because where Satan Reigns sin Reigns and where sin Reigns slavery succeeds and where slavery succeeds oppression multiplies and yet we see Christ Liv liberating Ministry taking hold in Israel because the sick are being healed the lepers are being cleansed the paralyzed are being made well the man with W withered hand

Is made whole and people they are joining the kingdom of God and instead of celebrating the work of God these scribes are attributing all of this to Satan's working why because they don't like it they're threatened they're influence and their power is being deposed and so why is Christ opposing their Authority well one he's God and there is no higher authority than Jesus Christ but also these men they were not faithful ministers they were oppressive stewards they hated the kingdom of God as evidenced by the fact that they would not receive the Son of God and so they were trying to scare the people and so these seeds of Discord but Christ wouldn't allow it there was still a long way to the cross and there was still so much more to take place before Christ would allow this kind of charge to take hold Jesus then he teaches that all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter this does not teach Universal salvation Jesus is just saying that the most heinous acts that anyone can do can be forgiven look at the life of David David Avid was an adulterer he was a murderer and yet he was forgiven because he confessed his sins and he repented of them Paul himself he testified in 1 Timothy 1: 13 and 14 though formerly I was a blasphemer persecutor and insolent opponent but I received Mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord flowed overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus so let's ask this question then what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit well let's look at the passage this passage in Mark as I told you guys as we were starting Mark and I've reminded you Mark is not written in chronological order okay it's written to

Prove that Jesus Christ has all authority that's that's the big theme of The Book of Mark and so in Luke it occurs this passage occurs in the 12th chapter as well as in Matthew and this is after Jesus he performed so many miracles I mean just the Miracles that people had seen healing of the withered hand healing a centurion servant with a word from a great distance raising a Widow's son from the dead calming a storm with a word delivering a man from unclean spirits healing a woman with a bleeding issue and raising gyrus daughter after feeding the,000 men and their wives and their children healing a boy with an unclean spirit this is after sending out the 72 to perform great acts of preaching and healing and deliverances in the name of Jesus Christ and then right before this he cast out another demon in his sight and what do they say about that this is Satan's work you see attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan is blaspheming the Holy Spirit it's seeing and hearing the work of God over and over and over and over again and never surrendering yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ it's a hardening of the heart and it's a willful rejection of the truth of God's Authority that's why the hardest people to reach are false converts to Christianity people who know a lot about God's word and yet in their hearts they've never received him they are the most various and the most hardest to reach now there's obviously other views on what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is but that's how I see it in light of this passage this is an eternal sin and it's no forgiveness why because the hardened heart is opposed to Christ that's why do not Harden your heart to the things of God if you sense the drawing of the Holy Spirit then

Surrender to him the Bible it says that today is the day of salvation the Bible says that he who has ears to hear Let Him hear and it's interesting to note and at the beginning I said this we cannot be neutral but in the parallel passage in Matthew chapter 12 this is in the midst of all of it Jesus said whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters that's why we cannot be neutral about Jesus we must either joyfully receive the Gospel message of Christ's atonement on the cross or suff suffer Eternal punishment big point today is do not reject the Gospel message don't reject it trust in Christ surrender to him Jesus Christ he died on the cross to save Sinners that trust in him by faith in the victory of Jesus Christ demonstrates the power that he has over evil and his willingness to forgive sins so that sinners like you and me can be saved and people they still get Jesus wrong people they still assume that Jesus was just a good teacher some people think that Christ is fine as long as you just keep him private others vilify him or mock him but this passage should prove to us that Jesus is Lord and is Worthy of all of our adoration he bound the strong man proving his Mastery over evil and he addresses the critics by proving his authority over the religious leaders and he demonstrates it by his many miracles don't wait trust in the Lord headart hand head I want you to know that you cannot be on the fence about Jesus okay you're either for him or against him and so I once again ask you what will you do with Jesus Christ will we call him a liar will we believe that he's just crazy a lunatic or will you worship him as

Lord that's hand heart is I want you to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord Almighty that's what I want you to believe in the hand I want you to trust in him today don't wait don't wait trust in Christ at this time on the first Sundays of the month it's our habit to partake in communion it's one of the things that we get to do and [Music] and at First Baptist Church that'll wake you up won't it and at First Baptist church one of the things that we do is we make communion open to all believers you do not have to be a member of our church in order to partake in communion but you do have to be a member of the bride of Christ in other words you got to know that you're saved that's that's the requirement and right now is a good time if you did not receive the elements of communion there at each one of these entrance and as you maybe take some time and prepare your heart to partake in the Lord's Supper remember it's about our common Union that we have in Christ it's that we've been forgiven and we're part of the family of God now and so we're able to partake in this together so as you bow your heads close your eyes and think on the Lord's payment for you if you haven't received the elements go ahead and take go receive them now but if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior now is a good time to maybe say Cody I just need to talk to you about it I'll just be right down here to receive you if you do have those questions go ahead and bow your heads and close your eyes and think about Christ's loving atonement for you on the [Music] cross [Music] Lord we do thank

You for this time of your supper God where we get to partake in the bread and the juice to commemorate your death Lord we do Proclaim it today that you died for Sinners of which I'm I'm the worst one I know and I just pray that you would move in our hearts and in our lives and in our minds to understand the depth of your love for us that you would invite us to come and sit and S with you thank you for this glorious truth in Jesus name amen instead of reading from 1 Corinthians 11 I'm going to read from Luke chap 22 and it says and when the hour came he reclined at the table and the apostles with him and he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God and he took bread when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me take the bread and eat with me Church and likewise the cup after they had eaten he took it saying this cup is poured out for you and is a New Covenant in my blood do this and drink it in remembrance of Christ you know when we partake in communion we Proclaim his death and we look forward to Christ's return amen Lord we just thank you so much for this time that we get to have together I just pray that you would bless us God As We Go From Here help us to share the truth of your word and I pray that today maybe someone's here and they just say you know I need to do something about Jesus I pray that you would move in

Their hearts God Lord we want you we want you to work in our lives we want you to work here I just pray that you would fall fresh and new on our hearts as we go whether we're going to a family's house or whether we're going to a youth soup and dessert auction be with us God may you be blessed and glorified above everything else in Jesus name amen go in Peace [Music] Church