How Far Would You Go? Mark 1: ) In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

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1 How Far Would You Go? Mark 1:9-15 9) In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10) And when he had come up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11) And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. 12) The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13) And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 14) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15) and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. Goal: Jesus wants us to recognize the fulfillment of time, the kingdom of God, repentance and belief in the gospel (the good news of Jesus himself) Malady: Our view of time is usually earthly, earthly politics control our thinking, repentance is more of a word than a way of life and belief in the good news of Jesus is often tied into church membership rather than to a relationship with Jesus. Means: When the beloved Son of God, who pleases God our Heavenly Father, comes into our hearts, our lives change. I was at a Lutheran High School Chapel this past Thursday to see a friend from years past, Joe Boway. Joe is from Liberia, West Africa, worked with Lutheran Bible Translators for years and now heads up schools for children in rural areas of Liberia. After about 15 years with LBT, God gave Joe a vision to educate Liberian children in new Lutheran Schools in areas of Liberia devastated by civil war lasting more than 10 years. Many children had grown up never having gone to one year of school at any level. After years of prayer, work, travel and giving for children in rural Liberia, 2900 children are in school, 11 schools have been built and are under improvement, more schools are planned and only God knows how far this work will reach.

2 2 Joe spoke at LHS in a moving and powerful message that asked the question, How far would you go? Joe asked that question in relation to a variety of things, and I d like you to think about How far would you go to find love? How far would you go to get your favorite food? How far would you go to get the best education you could get? How far would you go to take the finest vacation you could take? How far would you go to support, or fight against, a politician? How far would you go to aid a helpless person under a gang attack? How far would you go to help someone needing thousands of dollars? How far would you go to learn the Bible that you ve never read? How far would you go to share the good news of Jesus with another person? How far did Jesus go for us? Would he leave the glory of his heavenly throne to come here to save us? Would he allow his own birth in a stinking stable to live life with us? Would he share his divine perfection with imperfect people like you and me? Would he allow Satan to tempt and attack him so we would know he could relate to us? Would he allow angels to help him though he had thought of and created those angels? Would he proclaim the truth though it would lead to his death? Would he allow people to curse and abuse him rather than killing them in revenge? Would he die for his enemies rather than destroying them? Jesus wants us to recognize all he has done for us. From the time of his birth in Bethlehem, he wants us to know the time for salvation is fulfilled right now. The Kingdom of God is right now. Now is the time for repentance. Now is the time to believe the good news of Jesus death and resurrection. Why? Because if you die tomorrow without Jesus it will be too late change your mind. If you miss the kingdom of God now, you have only the eternal kingdom of darkness to which to look forward. If you don t repent now, there will come a time when you can t repent. If you don t believe in Jesus now, in your lifetime, you won t have another lifetime to trust in his death and resurrection for salvation. Sinful human nature always wants to try to find a way to God other than Jesus Christ. Sinful nature wants to think in terms of earthly time rather than eternity with Jesus. What s for dinner today or tomorrow often takes more thinking energy than whether or not we know and believe the only way to salvation. Repentance is often an intellectual pursuit rather than a heart-rending experience. Many do not believe in Jesus and think their good works will get them to heaven.

3 3 I asked a man this past week, Are you trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation? He said, I taught Sunday School for ten years. I said, Are you trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation? He said, I pray to God every day. I said, But are you trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation? He threw up his hands, and stammered, Why of course are you expecting a certain answer? Then he began telling me about his worldwide travels and accomplishments. Pastor Fleischmann told me he has only weeks to live. Lives change when Jesus, the beloved Son of God comes in. Lives change when people finally believe that Jesus and Jesus alone pleases our Heavenly Father by his obedience. Lives change when people realize that the time of salvation is fulfilled in Jesus right now and every day will be right now for people until Jesus returns to take us home to be with him - that is, takes home those who have received him by faith. Lives change when people receive the kingdom of God in Jesus through simple child-like faith that trusts him like a loved child trusts a loving parent or grandparent. Lives change when people repent in humility and quit trying to spout off with flippant responses to deflect the reality of their own unbelief. Lives change when people humbly turn to God instead of to their own busyness that distracts them from getting serious about Jesus. Lives change when people quit criticizing to make themselves feel better than they think others are. Lives change when people receive the good news of Jesus death and resurrection. For you who have already believed in Jesus and trust him for eternal salvation, who rely on his shed blood, who rejoice in the full payment of his blood sacrifice for your redemption How far would you go to share Jesus with someone? across the street? to your next door neighbor? to another town? to a friend in need? to your adult child s apartment? to someone who doesn t like you? across the dinner table? from the kitchen to the living room? How far? The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the good news of Jesus! Zion Lutheran Church Glenbeulah Wisconsin 1 st Sun Lent Feb Mark 1:9-15 Donald L Johnson

4 Review 1. The Goal, Malady and Means approach to Bible Study and teaching is a method to address three fundamental issues in almost any Bible passage. a. Goal: What does God want for us from this passage? b. Malady: What message concerning our sins does this passage reveal? c. Means: The Good News of Jesus is the answer to the damnation our sins deserve and it is the motivation to change what the malady reveals as we move toward what God wants for us. This is basically a point of information. However, it can also be a wonderful technique by which to study God s Word and find the fundamental truths for our faith and live, for belief in Jesus and behavioral change in obedience to him. 2. Do you know anyone like Joe Boway who has been used by God to do such a profound work in a big way that just kind of makes you drop your jaw and say, I just can t believe what he or she has done! I could never do anything like that! 3. Discuss how far we go for certain things - like cosmetic alterations, mood altering experiences, avoiding truthful personal confrontation, traveling just because we like it, personal entertainment, educational degrees, material acquisitions, etc. For example, have you ever shopped for that just right whatever, not found it, came home exhausted and realized that you just wasted a good portion of a beautiful day trying to find something that would not have given you more than a week s satisfaction anyway? 4. Discuss whether you have ever gone so far as to share the good news of Jesus with anyone, that is, really verbally, out loud, getting into a loving conversation with someone just because you love that person and care about his or her eternal salvation. 5. From page 2, reflect on what Jesus has done for us, what it cost him, and that he did it all out of love for us now and for our eternal well-being. 6. Philippians 2:1-11 is a marvelous passage that points us to the humility of Jesus in giving up all he did for us and leading us to seek to live in that same kind of humility for the well-being of others. 7. The highest concentration of the word love in the New Testament is in I John It s a great way to meditate on what God has done for us in Jesus and that we should love one another as he has loved us. May the richest blessings of Him who died and rose for us comfort you at this moment, when life burdens you, and forever in eternity! PJ

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