The courage to live for eternity... Because, the world is not enough!

Last night we started a new sermon series at Bryanston Methodist Church. It is a series on living for Christ, in our world, with courage!

I had a great time preaching the first sermon in the series. The title is styled on the James Bond movie 'The World is not enough'. In this series we will be examining Mark's Gospel - a direct, to the point, charge to believe in the Messiah, and then to submit to discipleship under the Lordship of the Messiah.

Mark frames this charge in the words of Jesus "The Kingdom of God is near... come and follow me" [Mk 1.15-17].

The whole of the Gospel of Mark can be divided into two sections. Everything up to Chapter 8 aims to prove that Jesus is the Messiah - a figure whose life will have consequences for social issues, religious issues, moral issues, and of course spiritual issues. From Chapter 8 to the end of the Gospel (with the inclusion of the redaction of Chapter 16) the Markan narrative aims to show what kind of Messiah Jesus is. Essential to understanding the 'secret' of the Messiah's nature and character is COURAGE and HOPE. Jesus is the kind of Messiah who enters life like most of us do. He has no privilege, no extraordinary powers, no status, no wealth. All that he has is the right to choose for God's Kingdom, in a world that chooses all sorts of other Kingdoms, and the chooses this Kingdom with Courage. Of course that is what leads both to his death, and our liberation!

It's called discipleship...!

Here is the MS Word transcript of the sermon. The courage to live for the Kingdom of God.doc

And here is an MP3 audio recording of the sermon. Courage to life for God's Kingdom.mp3 [8MB]

My we all find courage, blessing, and the hope of Jesus as we face this new year! It will take courage!

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