As John Piper notes, our desire to be great and significant has been distorted in two ways:

1. it has been corrupted into a longing not to be great, but to be greater than someone else.
2. it has been corrupted into a longing not to be great, but to be known as great.

In verse 35, Jesus presents a remedy for both of these.

1. Stop trying to be just greater than someone else; work to be great according to the vast potential God has placed within you, and if that means being last, then so be it.
2. Stop working to be just known as great; work to be great by serving those around you, especially those in need

Where do we get the resources to do this? Only be seeing Christ through the Gospel:

Mark 10:42-45
“42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Then, after having this amazing “mountain top experience” with God, they return back to the hellish brokenness and chaos of life on earth. As soon as they come down, they’re plunged into confusion and evil. They return to a world full of suffering. This text, taken together with Mark 9:1-13, teaches us that worship is the way to make it through suffering. Seeking the glory of God balms our wounds. Suffering will either make you stronger or more cynical. It will either drive you toward God or away from Him. So what keeps us from growing bitter in suffering? Worshiping Jesus.

Then starting in verse 34, Jesus says that every Christian, every believer, every follower of Christ must deny themselves and lose their life. Here Jesus doesn’t mean we must seek physical death. The word life in this text means “identity.” He is saying we must stop basing our identity (who we are) on what we do. How would you answer the question, “Who are you?” Can you answer it without falling back on what you’ve done or what you have? What lets you know you value? What lets you feel like you mean something?

On the last page of his classic book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis comments on losing yourself to find yourself:

“The more we get what we now call ourselves out of the way and let him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. Our real selves are all waiting for us in Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surrounding and drives. Without Him, what I so proudly call myself becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events I never started and cannot stop. Most of what I call me, can be easily explained by my physical drive or by what others have said or done to me. It is only when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His personality that I finally begin to have a real personality all of my own. Nevertheless, you must not go to Christ for the sake of a new self. As long as it is your own self that you are concentrating on then you haven’t really begun to go to Him.”

Jesus says I went to the cross to lose my identity so you could have one. On the cross He lost His relationship with His Father, which was the source of His identity, so that we could become adopted children of God. Praise Jesus!

We focused on Mark 8:22-31, which says “And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

As we near the climax of the Gospel, where Peter testifies Jesus as the promised Christ, we see a startling miracle. This is the only miracle in the Gospels where it appears that Jesus’ power doesn’t work the first time. Why not? Well, I believe Jesus doesn’t heal the blind man completely with the first touch in order to teach us a lesson. This isn’t just a miracle; it’s also a parable. A parable to teach us about the pervasiveness of our spiritual blindness. Through this text, Jesus teaches us that nobody will ever be able to tell who Jesus really is without external, divine intervention…without a touch from Jesus. Moreover, we need more than one touch. The implication of this text is that we should never be satisfied with our level of spiritual sight, but like the blind man, we should confess that we don’t yet see clearly. We are all on a journey to spiritual clarity and to every humble confession of blindness, Jesus has promised to respond with yet another touch.

Why would they do that? Would you do that? The only logical explanation I could think of is that He awakened something in them …some dormant spiritual hunger… a hunger deep inside, they didn’t even know they had. Mark is showing us, that at the core, all of us, whether we know it or not, hunger for God. They had an encounter with Jesus and said, “this is what we’ve been missing.” They didn’t know it, but Jesus has been the one they’ve been looking for their whole lives. Have you ever felt that emptiness? … that hunger?

“And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus[h] charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”"

This text appears to show a very offensive side of Jesus. He calls a gentile woman with a sick child — a dog! However, we must understand this text, like any part of Scripture, in context. In chapter 7:1-23, Jesus teaches us that it’s not the pedigree or the nationality of a person that makes him or her unclean before the holy God, but the condition of the human heart. The Syrophoenician woman understood that Jesus was not making a racist statement, but a theological one. She understands that she, just like each of us, is unfit and unworthy to sit at the Father’s table and be considered a child of God. Each of us has rebelled from the Lordship of God. She understands that she cannot demand anything from God, based on her moral record, or ever her suffering.

Instead of growing angry or despondent at Jesus words, she agrees with His verdict of her spiritual condition. However, what makes this woman such an incredible example for each of us, is that though she understands she is a great sinner, she also understands Jesus is a greater Savior. She proceeds to humbly contend with Jesus, wrestling with God like Jacob did, clinging to Him until she receives a blessing. She asks for blessing not on the basis of her goodness, but the on the basis of His. She says, “I know I don’t deserve any bread from the Father’s table, but I know the Father is good, He’s got plenty of bread on the table for me, and even a crumb of grace will suffice to meet all my needs.” What an incredible mixture of humility and confidence. Humble because she’s unworthy, yet confident in the grace of God.

Let us learn from this remarkable woman that we must be neither too proud to accept what Scripture says our worthiness, nor too despondent to accept how loved we are.

“And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

On the surface, it appears this controversy between Jesus and the religious elites of His day is arcane and irrelevant. However, a deeper analysis shows this text to be profoundly relevant for living the human life in any culture and in any century. Scripture and common experience both show that we all have a sense of spiritual uncleanness, which we’re all trying to deal with, one way or another. Come Sunday to learn how only Jesus can cleanse each of us, in a way that no one and nothing can — from within.

Nehemiah 3

Builders of the Wall

1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. [a]

6 The Jeshanah [b] Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 7 Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah—Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth—places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. 8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that. They restored [c] Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section. 10 Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs next to him. 11Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.

13 The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. They also repaired five hundred yards [d] of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.

15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, [e] by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David. 16 Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth Zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs [f] of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Heroes.

17 Next to him, the repairs were made by the Levites under Rehum son of Bani. Beside him, Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. 18 Next to him, the repairs were made by their countrymen under Binnui [g] son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah. 19 Next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section, from a point facing the ascent to the armory as far as the angle. 20 Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Eliashib’s house to the end of it.

22 The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. 23 Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from Azariah’s house to the angle and the corner, 25 and Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel.

28 Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. 29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. 30 Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters. 31 Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the room above the corner; 32 and between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

Mosaic has come a long way since Pastor Joseph left 7.5 months ago and the active participation and service of many have helped “rebuild” this wall and keep this church open. Which is what made the post-service activity so special.

After service and lunch, there was a church-wide meeting open to all for the membership to vote on the acceptance or non-acceptance of a pastoral candidate. The end result was the membership voting to install Jan Vezikov as the new pastor of Mosaic! He will start 3/21st as we’re all excited about what wonderful things God has in store for this church.

Thank you to all those who attended the meeting and to the membership for voting!

Next week we’ll be blessed to have Pastor Jamie come from Connecticut to guest speak for us!

To the church in Ephesus

1″To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Here we see Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus. He addresses how the church has fallen away from its first love and how without intentionality, things fade over time. Jesus extends a second chance to the church when He challenges the church to “hear what the Spirit says” and to “overcome.” How the church responds is yet to be determined.

Pastor Mitch challenged us by asking, “Is it possible that the church could dictate popular culture instead of the other way around?” Also, we must return to Jesus with repentance and acceptance of the Good News!

Mark 4:21-34 (New International Version)

A Lamp on a Stand

21He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

24″Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.34He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Through these three parables, Jan presented how the Kingdom of God is ever irresistibly expanding through genuine humility, which is the way of Jesus.

Worship was continued after service with a time of fellowship and a delicious lunch, which was graciously provided by Christy and Christine.