Pastor Shaun Marksbury

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37  For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Last time, we began looking at the marks of a true disciple.  Today, we’re faced with a paradox—saving one’s life comes in losing it, but specifically, for the sake of the gospel.  Professing Christians sometimes grow embarrassed about Jesus and would rather follow their own passions, but here, Jesus shows us that the true disciple holds His gospel words dear.  A true disciple isn’t ashamed of the gospel.   Jesus specifically addresses two, overlapping categories: those who pursue their own interests, and...

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” News of Jesus’s presence in Caesarea Philippi had apparently spread, because a crowd was gathering.  Peter had called Jesus aside (v. 32), so the crowd kept its distance.  Now, Jesus calls everyone over to Himself; the words He’s about to speak are not for Peter’s benefit alone, but for all who have a personal desire to call themselves disciples of Christ.  What are the requirements of discipleship? A true disciple must deny self.   One cannot unwaveringly follow Christ and his own agenda, so the true disciple ceases to make himself the focus of his own life.  This does not refer to ascetic practices, such as ceasing from bathing or taking on a vow of poverty.  Rather, it means to renounce sin, love for the world, and any self-righteousness.  A true disciple must die to self.   Th...

31  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. 32  And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33  But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Scripture here begins describing the Lord’s movement toward the cross—v. 27 said they were “on the way,” and Luke 9:51 says that Jesus will eventually set His face like flint toward Jerusalem.  So, Jesus now begins to explain what it really means for Him to be the Christ.  Peter makes that grand declaration in v. 29, but here, he demonstrates a woeful lack of clarity.  What is Christ’s mission? The Christ must suffer.   Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised … a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” ...

27  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?” 28  And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29  And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. Here’s the highpoint of the first half of Mark’s Gospel.  Just like with the healing of the blind man in the previous passage, people of this day see some of the spiritual reality of Jesus.  However, Peter voices that clarity for the reader. The unclear views of Jesus:   Because He’s sent the disciples among the people, they know what people are saying—and their report is almost like a bullet-point list.  They report the options Herod Antipas heard (he settled on the fact that John the Baptist had somehow resurrected, 6:14–15).  That w...

Dependence on His Compassion | Mark 8:1–9 Shaun Marksbury | Grace Bible Church Sunday Morning Service | 26 November, 2017 After a three-day marathon with Jesus, the people are about to receive one, final miracle before Jesus crosses back over into Jewish territory.  More importantly, the disciples are about to learn that they need to depend upon the Lord’s compassionate provision.  That’s because the Lord knows what the crowd needs, He knows what the disciples need, and He knows how to get them all what they need. Audio: Video:

22  And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23  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?” 24  And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25  Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26  And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” They return now to the major fishing town on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, south of Capernaum, where Philip, Andrew, and Peter all called home.  As we read this, we’re not surprised to find Jesus healing the blind man brought to Him—Jesus came to proclaim the recovery of sight to the blind (Lk 4:18).  Even so, there’s a notable lack of His proclaiming .  This area is now under judgment, ...

Most of the time the word "creationism" refers to the belief that God made the universe.  However, there is another creationism in theology that refers to the human soul, asking whether God actively places a human soul into a fetus.  It that regard, I am not a creationist. (Wow, that almost sounds like blasphemy!) There is another explanation I believe better fits the biblical model called traducianism .  This is the belief that the soul is somehow created with the same seminal process that creates the body.  Jay Adams has a simple explanation of what this theory is, and why it is preferable to the creation theory. Obviously, this has hefty implications in the abortion and embryonic stem-cell debates as well as upon those who write off sin by claiming God "made" them to be this or that.

16  And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17  And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18  Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20  “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21  And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Unfortunately, the disciples missed the point of Jesus’s words in the previous two verses.  He warned them of the devastating spiritual effects of the kind of thinking employed by either Herod or the Pharisees.  However, because He used leaven as an example, the disciples were instead thinking ...