Introduction
We’ve been reading through the New Testament as a congregation this year. We started at John and read all the way through Revelation, and have come back to the beginning, this past week finishing up Matthew and moving into Mark.
There’s a lot going on as we begin reading through Mark this week. One thing I want to highlight for us as we read a variety of excerpts from across Mark’s opening chapters today is the Gospel’s portrayal of Christ in us and us in Christ.
In the Book of Acts (before the apostle Paul has become a Christian, but is hunting down Christians) the Lord Jesus blinds Paul and brings him to his knees. And the Lord says to Paul, “Paul, why are you persecuting Me?” And yet, Paul had not, at that time, been persecuting Jesus. The Lord had already ascended into Heaven. No, Paul had been persecuting Christians! But the Lord Jesus recognizes no distinction between Himself and His people. Christ in us and us in Christ. And Mark demonstrates this across his Gospel. When the Lord Jesus is on the move, Mark is also calling us to be on the move with Him. For instance…

ELDER READS: Mark 1:9-11 [NLTse]
9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized Him in the Jordan River. 10 As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. 11 And a voice from Heaven said, “You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.”

PASTOR: Sermon
? Acts 10:38 makes clear that Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit was when the Lord received God’s power to do good and heal all who were oppressed by the devil. The Lord Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River and His baptism with the Holy Spirit sets the standard for believers: When we come to trust in Jesus Christ, He wants us to be baptized with water to show that we’ve repented of our sins and turned to God to be forgiven, and He wants us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit to empower us so that we might join Him in doing good and healing those who are being oppressed by the devil today.
Who, here, has been baptized with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? … Who, here, has been baptized with the Holy Spirit for empowerment? …
And as we hear the Father’s words spoken over Jesus, know that He wants us to hear and know ourselves that – Christ in us and us in Christ – we are His dearly loved children, and that we bring Him great joy!
(Has anybody here made any really big mistakes lately, or done something you really regret? We are not treasured by God on account of what we’ve done or not done. We are saved by grace. Know that you are dearly loved and that you bring the Father great joy!)

ELDER: Mark 1:12-13 [NLTse]
12 The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, 13 where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of Him.

PASTOR: Sermon
During times of temptation we can be brutally aware of Satan’s presence: Everywhere we turn, the enemy of our souls seems to be there in our faces, hemming us in, deceiving us, and baiting us to sin. Likewise, as the Lord Jesus was out among wild animals during this time of temptation, we, too, when we’re being tempted, can be so very aware of all manner of beasts surrounding us and snapping at us. Times of great temptation always seem to be accompanied by struggles in our relationships, financial troubles, health concerns… all trying to wear us down and have us sin. But here we see a fuller reality than what we ordinarily acknowledge and are aware of: Just as the Father’s angels were caring for the Lord while Satan and the wild things were assailing Him, just so, hosts of Heaven are also near to us during our times of being tempted, speaking God’s truth, granting us comfort and the grace we need to overcome.
Satan and his goons seem to pile on us during times of trial, but remember that God’s sent warriors to us during those times, as well. In Christ and Christ in us, there’s always more for us than against us!

ELDER: Mark 1:14-15 [NLTse]
14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where He preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” He announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

PASTOR: Sermon
Notice, the Good News is not just that the Kingdom of God is near. And, notice the Good News is not just that God has forgiven our sins on account of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Along with God’s Kingdom arriving and advancing, and our being forgiven so that we can draw near and be a part of it, the Good News brings a constant and ongoing call to: “Repent of your sins!”
We have been born-again – brought back to life – through our faith and trust in Christ. We have died to our old, sin-filled way of living. So, how can we go back to it? The answer, of course, is, we can’t. We must keep on repenting! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

ELDER: Mark 1:16-20 [NLTse]
16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed Him.
19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed Him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

PASTOR: Sermon
Does your work seem like it’s keeping you from following Jesus? Well, if it’s truly getting in-between us and our Savior, some of us may need to leave our work to find other work where we can follow Him. Others of us may, simply, need to look at our work differently. (For instance, if you’re a builder, to begin seeing yourself not just a builder, but as building the Kingdom of Heaven! Or, perhaps, you’re a teacher. Christ is calling you to start seeing yourself as one who is pointing your students towards the Teacher! If you’re a lawyer, you’re not just a lawyer. You are fighting for the Truth! You are not just a cashier, you are not just a secretary, you are not just a nurse… Acknowledge that you are where you are, doing what you are doing, because Jesus Christ wants you there to do what you are doing for Him!
Likewise, do family obligations seem like they are keeping you from following Jesus? For some of us, that may mean setting some healthy boundaries between you and your family members. Others of us may, simply, need to look at our family obligations differently. That is, it can be a world of difference between taking care of our elderly parents because nobody else will and taking care of them because we want to honor them, as Christ has called us to. A world of difference…
Also, Luke and John give us a little bit of background to know that Jesus had encountered Simon and Andrew and James and John before this interaction where He called them and they dropped what they were doing to follow Him. Likewise, who around us do we believe God is calling to Himself? (I’m not asking who around you you want to become a Christian. I know many of us long to have our kids or our folks or other family members or friends become Christians. I’m not asking you about them. Who around you do you believe the Lord is calling to follow Him? On account of Christ being in you and you being in Christ, whoever might be coming to your mind as I ask you that question, I think you need to go tell them that the Lord wants them to become one of His followers; to join you in following Him…

ELDER: Mark 1:29-31 [NLTse]
29 After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. 31 So He went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them.

PASTOR: Sermon
When Jesus, James, and John saw that Simon and Andrew weren’t at church, they went over to Simon and Andrew’s house after Worship to check on them. It seems that the brothers had stayed home because of their mother’s illness. And when Jesus, James, and John heard about their mom’s illness, they all went to pray for her. And she was made well.
We should do likewise: We should check on our brothers and sisters when we notice they aren’t in Worship; we should gather together to pray for one another and our loved ones as soon as we hear that someone is in need. Christ in us and us in Christ, the Lord Jesus and those first disciples are showing us the Way…

ELDER: Mark 3:20-27 [NLTse]
20 One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon He and His disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When His family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of His mind,” they said.
22 But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where He gets the power to cast out demons.”
23 Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” He asked. 24 “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. 25 Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. 27 Let Me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

PASTOR: Sermon
Three things… First, don’t be surprised when people around you get hostile or call you crazy when you talk about Jesus or do things in His name. People, even religious people, got mad at Jesus. It only makes sense that folks will likely get mad at us, too.

Second, don’t be surprised when you find yourself out-of-your-mind busy on account of ministry! It doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing something wrong or need to make changes. Sometimes, there’s just a lot going on around the Kingdom, and you are in the thick of it. Seek the Holy Spirit’s empowerment for what you need and His contentment through it all. Such times come and go…
Lastly, there will be times when you need to fight the devil in order to have him give up someone he’s been oppressing. Christ in you and you in Christ, you are stronger than the devil. In Jesus, you can tie up the devil – binding him and taking from him those he doesn’t want to let go. Your prayer might be as simple as, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind you from SO-AND-SO, Satan. He (or she) has chosen Christ and you have no right to oppress them any longer.”
Our nation is in a world of trouble. We live in the best of times! And yet it is also the worst of times! The Lord Jesus Christ has overcome death to empower us for Kingdom work! You and I have resurrection-power to be loving, joyful, at peace, and patient. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is ours so that we might be supernaturally kind, doing good, trustworthy, gentle, and self-controlled. The Lord Jesus wants to continue His work in you and me: Doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil.
When you live in Christ and Christ lives in you, nothing is impossible for you! Go and do likewise!