Gospel of Mark

Worship Service | March 14, 2021

"Come To Me"
Elizabeth Akers, Jeff Capps, and Michael Bleecker
© 2011 Bleecker Publishing (Admin. by Michael Bleecker) and Blepo Publishing (Admin. by Michael Bleecker)

"Jesus What a Savior"
Kirby Kaple
© Kaple Music, Bethel Music Publishing

"All I Have Is Yours"
Rebecca Elliott and Bobby Gilles
© 2006 Bobby Gilles and Sojourn Community Church

CCLI License #5060866

Worship Service | February 28, 2021

"Rejoice"
Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend
© Dead Bird Theology, Townend Songs, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

"You Have Opened My Mouth"
Joel Brown and Cam Huxford IV
© 2008 Joel Brown and Cam Huxford IV

"I Surrender All"
Brian Eichelberger, Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter, Winfield Scott Weeden, Zach Bolen
Words: Public Domain
Music: © 2013 It's All About Jesus Music, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

"All the Poor and Powerless"
David Leonard, Leslie Jordan
© 2011 Integrity's Praise! Music, Little Way Creative

CCLI License #5060866

Worship Service | February 14, 2021

“Rock of Ages”
Augustus Montague Toplady, Dustin Kensrue
© 2013 Dead Bird Theology, It’s All About Jesus Music, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

“There Is a Fountain”
William Cowper
© Public Domain

“His Mercy Is More”
Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
© 2016 Getty Music Hymns and Songs, Getty Music Publishing, Love Your Enemies Publishing, Messenger Hymns

“The Gospel”
Brian Eichelberger, Cam Huxford
© 2013 E On The Eye Chart, It’s All About Jesus Music, Songs From The Penalty Box, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

CCLI License #5060866

Worship Service | February 07, 2021

"10,000 Reasons"
Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman
© 2011 Thankyou Music, Said And Done Music, and SHOUT! Publishing

"Made Alive"
Brian Eichelberger, Zach Bolen
© 2013 E On The Eye Chart, Erase And Rewind, Songs From The Penalty Box, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

"Christ Is Risen"
Joe Day, Seth Fikkert
© 2015 Daydreaming, Moms Like Us Too, Remaining portion is unaffiliated

CCLI License #5060866

Worship Service | January 31, 2021

"How Majestic"
Adam Skatula, Brian Eichelberger, Nathan Furtado, Spencer Abbott, and Zach Bolen
© 2016 E On The Eye Chart (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Erase And Rewind (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Little Maid Publishing (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Songs From The Penalty Box (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), and We Are Younger We Are Faster Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

"Crown Him"
Adam Skatula, Brian Eichelberger, Nathan Furtado, Spencer Abbott, and Zach Bolen
© 2016 © E On The Eye Chart (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Erase And Rewind (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Little Maid Publishing (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.), Songs From The Penalty Box (Adm

"Agnus Dei"
Michael W. Smith
© 1990 Sony/ATV Milene Music

"Father You Are All We Need"
Brian Eichelberger, Dustin Kensrue, and Zach Bolen
2014 Dead Bird Theology, E On The Eye Chart, Erase And Rewind, Songs From
© The Penalty Box, We Are Younger We Are Faster Music

CCLI License #5060866

Worship Service | July 5, 2020

Complete Liturgy for 2020-07-05

WELCOME

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP

SCRIPTURE READING

PSALM 105:1–4

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

ADORATION

THE WAY

Oh, and I believe You are

CHORUS
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
I believe You are
The Way, the Truth, and the Life

VERSE 1
I believe through every battle
Through every heartbreak
Through every circumstance

I believe that You are my fortress
You are my portion
You are my hiding place

I believe through every battle
Through every heartbreak
Through every circumstance

I believe that You are my fortress
You are my portion
You are my hiding place

I believe You are

VERSE 2
I believe through every blessing
Through every promise
Through every breath I take

I believe that You are Provider
You are Protector
And You are the One I love

I believe You are

BRIDGE
It's a new horizon
And I'm set on You
And You meet me here today
With mercies that are new

All my fears and doubts,
They can all come too
Because they can't stay long
When I'm here with You

CONFESSION

CORPORATE READING

PHILIPPIANS 3:8–11

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

I SURRENDER ALL

VERSE 1
All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live

VERSE 2
All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me, Jesus, take me now

CHORUS 1
I surrender all!
I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour
I surrender all

VERSE 3
All to Jesus I surrender
Lord I give myself to Thee
Fill me with Thy love and power
Let Thy blessing fall on me

CHORUS 2
I surrender all!
I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all
I surrender all

BRIDGE 1
Oh the joy of full salvation
Sin and death defeated
Glory to His Name

ASSURANCE

SCRIPTURE READING

HEBREWS 6:19–20

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

THANKSGIVING

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

TIME OF GREETING

SUPPLICATION

PASTORAL PRAYER

PROCLAMATION

SCRIPTURE READING

MARK 8:34–9:1

34 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. 35 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.”

1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS | MARK 8:34–9:1

LORD’S SUPPER

INVITATION, INSTITUTION, & CONSECRATION

INSTRUCTIONS & DISTRIBUTION

PARTAKING & POST-COMMUNION PRAYER

SONGS OF RESPONSE

IN CHRIST ALONE

VERSE 1
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

VERSE 2
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

VERSE 3
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

VERSE 4
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me

From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

VERSE 5
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand

‘Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand


CHRIST IS RISEN

VERSE 1
Oh look at the tree
Oh isn't the fruit good to eat

All in Adam will die
Oh in Christ we will all be alive

CHORUS 1
Alleluia!
The stone has been rolled away
Alleluia!
Jesus walked away from the grave

VERSE 2
Oh Death where's your sting?
Oh how you have tasted defeat!

BRIDGE
Oh the bloodshed,
Oh the last breath
Resurrection, Salvation

REFRAIN
Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen!
And my soul knows
Sweet salvation

COMMISSIONING

PASTORAL EXHORTATION

"The Way"
Ben Smith, Daniel Bashta, and Pat Barrett
© Heritage Worship Publishing, Capitol CMG Genesis, Housefires Sounds, Go Forth Sounds, Bread & Wine Sounds

"In Christ Alone”
Keith Getty, Stuart Townend
© 2001 Thankyou Music

"Christ is Risen"
Joe Day, Seth Fikkert
© 2015 Daydreaming, Moms Like Us Too, Remaining portion is unaffiliated

CCLI License #5060866

Why Did Jesus Go Up On The Mountain To Pray?

Mark_Week 19.jpg

It’s impossible in a single sermon to say everything that there is to be said about a particular text.

That means, for each sermon you hear, there is a heap of observations, insights, connections, and applications that didn’t make the cut. One important (and difficult!) job of the preacher is to make decisions about what to bring into the pulpit on Sunday and what to leave out.

Last Sunday’s sermon was no exception. One verse that I touched on only briefly is Mark 6:46—

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. (Mark 6:45–46)

Time didn’t allow me to say everything I wanted to say about this verse and Jesus retreating to the mountain to pray, so I thought I would take a little time here and make a few additional comments.

Jesus Praying in Mark

We only see Jesus praying three times in the entirety of Mark’s gospel (Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:32–39).

Each of these instances represent a significant moment in His ministry—a crisis or significant decision, as commentator James R. Edwards explains:

Each prayer is at night and in a lonely place, each finds the disciples removed from him and failing to understand his mission, and in each Jesus faces a formative decision or crisis. Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus reaffirms by prayer his calling to express his divine Sonship as a servant rather than as a freedom fighter against Rome. (197)

On Sunday I referenced John 6:15, which makes the crisis Jesus was facing clear, at least in part:

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15)

As Edwards notes, the crowds wanted a king who would deliver them from Roman rule. Jesus, however, came to be a suffering servant-King who would rescue His people from their sin.

While this is certainly an aspect of the crisis Jesus was facing, I don’t think it tells us the entire story about why Jesus went up on the mountain to pray in Mark 6.

The Disciples’ Hard Hearts

The most significant opposition that Jesus faced on the heels of the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30–44) wasn't the crowds, but rather His own disciples. Verses 51–52 tell us:

51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand about the loaves. They witnessed the miraculous feeding first-hand. They distributed the bread to the people. They ate and were satisfied. They took up twelve baskets full of leftovers. And still, their hearts were hardened.

This puts the disciples in the company of the Pharisees whose hardness of heart, in chapter three, grieved Jesus (Mark 3:5). If the hardness of heart of the Pharisees grieved Jesus, how he must have been grieved by the hardness of heart of His own disciples!

A Time to Speak and a Time to Pray

Jesus’s response to His disciples’ hard-heartedness, unbelief, and lack of understanding is instructive for us. What did Jesus do in the face of this opposition? He went up on the mountain to pray.

So often, our own response to this kind of opposition is to speak more and do more. “If I share more information, present another argument, recommend another book, or repeat the important details that they might have missed,” we tell ourselves, “then maybe they’ll understand and respond to Jesus in faith.”

While faith does come from hearing (Romans 10:17), hard hearts aren’t overcome with mere words. Heart-change is work that God alone can do, by the power of His Spirit. In fact, one of the promises of the New Covenant is a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19), given by God Himself.

So, then, whether we’re talking about a sister in Christ who is hardening her heart by walking in sin or a friend who, out of hardness of heart, rejects the gospel completely, there comes a time when the best thing for us to do is, not to speak, but to retreat to a quiet place and pray to the Lord on their behalf, asking Him to soften their hard hearts.

 

TO MAKE, MATURE, AND UNLEASH MISSIONARY DISCIPLES WHO LIVE WITH GOSPEL FAITHFULNESS TO THE GLORY OF GOD