Let s suppose you heard that the Queen was coming to Toukley next week

Transcription

1 The Beginning of the Good News 21 st Feb 2016 So we re looking at the Book of Mark in the NT and the first 13 verses there are Bibles on the table for you to follow on. There s an outlines in the bulletin if you want to take notes. Let s pray Intro Let s suppose you heard that the Queen was coming to Toukley next week And she was going to come to our church for a visit How would we get ready for the visit? I m sure some of the ladies would go out and buy a new outfit and even get their hair done And parents would make sure their kids were all neat and tidy The Church Committee of Management would organise a working bee to clean up the church so it was neat as a pin! Basically we d clean up our church and ourselves to meet the Queen (pause) And that s basically what s going on in this Bible passage. The writer of the Book Mark is about to introduce people to a King King Jesus and before the people meet King Jesus a guy called John comes along and tells the people to clean themselves up before they meet King Jesus But He s not talking about cleaning up their appearance but cleaning up their lives John tells the people they need to get rid of all the stuff in their lives that disobeys God s rules we call stuff that disobeys God - SIN Claims about the King But First off in verse 1 Mark says it s Good News that this King is coming And then Mark makes some remarkable claims about this King which show why it s Good News: [Powerpoint 1 Claims about the King]

2 This King is called Jesus whose name means God saves And this King is also called the Messiah which means God s chosen one God s Chosen one that God promised all through the OT part of the Bible the Chose One who would come to save God s people And finally this Promised Messiah is here AND Mark says this Jesus the Messiah - is also the Son of God These are remarkable claims about Jesus which Mark is going to spend the rest of his book explaining how these claims can be backed up Preparing for the King But first Mark says in verses 2 and 3 not only did the OT predict King Jesus was coming but it also predicted someone would come before King Jesus to prepare people to meet the King Apparently - It s quite normal for people to be prepared by staff at Buckingham Palace before they meet the Queen the staff tell people what they are allowed to say and how to behave in front of the Queen Here Mark quotes what the OT prophet Isaiah said in verses 2 and 3 that God would send a messenger to prepare the people to meet this Messiah saviour King And when God says something is going to happen it will happen So John turns up And he is preaching baptism of repentance Baptism symbol of being washed clean and having our sins removed Repentance U-Turn in our lives turning away from the bad stuff we say and do that offends God and walking in a new direction [Powerpoint 2 John] And people listened and came and confessed their sins and were baptised What John wore and what he ate meant he had a very simple life His focus was not on himself but on people being prepared to meet Jesus

3 Before people can meet Jesus John says - they need to realize they have a problem they need to get rid of the stuff in their live which offends God We need to be like John preparing people to meet Jesus We need to be like John take the focus of ourselves and point everyone to King Jesus We need to be like John and say there is someone greater than us and His name is King Jesus How do we do that? By helping people to learn the ABC [Powerpoint 3 A] First Admit that we sin and fall short of God s standards and rules (Rom 3:23; 6:23) and Repent which means do a U-turn in your life (Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:9) it means turning away from sin and wicked ways and turning towards God making him boss of your life instead of you thinking you are the boss [Powerpoint 4a B] Second Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and accept that God sent Jesus as a rescuer like the hero in the Disney movie God sent Jesus to Earth to die on a cross for people s sin so their sin could be forgiven (Romans 5:8; Acts 4:12; John 3:16; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:11-13) And also believe that He rose from the dead after 3 days so that we too can have life forever with God even when we die [Powerpoint 4a C]

4 Third Confess your faith and your belief that Jesus died for your sin and that He is your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9-10, 13). Confess that He is boss of your life and not you! If you haven t learnt this ABC tonight would be a good time to do so Come and talk to me afterwards (pause) When people do learn this ABC John says Jesus will baptize them not with water but with Holy Spirit see verse 8 So once we believe in Jesus the Holy Spirit lives inside us And the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Bible better, help us to think and say and do the right things and reminds us when we get it wrong. The Holy Spirit is our life coach The King Comes Then in verses 9 to 11 Jesus turns up at the River Jordan to meet John And John baptizes Jesus Jesus didn t need to be baptised He s not a sinner He s perfect in every way [Powerpoint 4 heading and perfect] But His Baptism shows what goes on when we become a Christian and belief in Jesus When we belief in Jesus all our sins are baptised and washed away by Jesus And we receive the Holy Spirit living in us [Powerpoint 4 b Trinity] Jesus Baptism shows the God s Holy Trinity working together Father, Son, HS ICE, Water, Steam = H2O

5 Jesus Baptism also - confirmed the start of Jesus ministry after waiting 30 years for God the Father s perfect timing Our Baptism is symbolic of what s going on when we believe in Jesus Like a wedding ring and wedding ceremony is a symbol of marriage but not the marriage itself the marriage is the rest of your life the wedding ring and ceremony don t make the marriage but they show we re married [Powerpoint 4c Our Baptism] Baptism is a symbol of Jesus washing us clean of our sins giving us forgiveness - and a symbol of us getting a new life and fresh start with Spirit living in us Baptism is a public demonstration of us being a Christian but baptism doesn t make us a Christian it shows what being a Christian is all about and it brings us into God s family - and it s the beginning of our Christian ministry just like it was the beginning of Jesus ministry As soon as Jesus started his ministry He was tested by Satan but couldn t be tempted [Powerpoint 5 tempted] Satan doesn t want anyone to believe in Jesus He is the enemy of Jesus so Satan will try every trick in the book to trick us and tempt us to disobey God and turn away God As soon as we become Christians we can expect tough tests Satan wants us to fail [Powerpoint 5b Us tested] It s like we ve moved up a couple of grades at school and the schoolwork tests and stretches us that s what being a Christian is like for us but remember we have God s word as user guide, with have God s Son as Lord of our lives and the example of how to live a good life - and we have the Holy Spirit to help us get through

6 Application So what can we take home with us tonight about these first few verses in Mark? [Powerpoint 6] Well Mark began by saying Jesus was Good News Why is He good news? a. He washes away our sins b. He gives us forgiveness c. He gives us new life with H.S d. And that new life leads to Eternal Life So If you already believe in Jesus and have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life - Be like John and prepare more people to meet Jesus How could you do that? We can also take home that: Being a Christian is as simple as ABC Admit, Believe, Confess If you already believe in Jesus teach others the ABC If you don t believe in Jesus now is a great time to learn this ABC Watch the DVD Let s finish by praying