Tonight we will finish up our journey through the book of Mark. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with myself when Mark isn’t a daily part of my life. As we talked about last week, the final verses of the book, 16:9-20 have some authenticity questions. They don’t match Mark’s writing style,...
Author: City of Refuge
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “Reconciled”
Today we finally get to the word “reconcile”. God “has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ”. What does that mean? Our reconciliation with God is an act of God. God has taken all of the initiative, done all of the work and made all of the sacrifices. We have not reconciled ourselves to God,...
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Blog: “Do Not Fret”
“Do not fret . . . Trust in the LORD . . . Dwell in the land . . . Delight yourself also in the LORD . . .” Psalm 37:1-4 I have a tendency to fret. To fret is more than to worry or be anxious, the Hebrew word used in Psalm 37 means...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “Always Pursued”
Our study of this passage of Scripture has been building toward reconciliation. We have seen that the very beginning of this process is the understanding that Jesus died for all. Jesus didn’t die for you or for me. Jesus didn’t die for those that have believed or even those that will believe. Paul wrote that...
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Mark Bible Study: Mark 16:1-8 “Even When There Is No Faith”
Tonight we begin to close the book of Mark by seeing the most important moment thus far in the history of man. Chapter 15 closed with Jesus’ death and burial. Three women watched as Jesus’ lifeless body was taken down from the cross and wrapped in linen. They followed as Jesus was carried by two...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “To Belong To Jesus”
In Philippians 3 Paul said that he was “forgetting what was behind” so that he could strain, press or reach forward toward what was still in front of him. In Isaiah 42, God, speaking to Israel, describing and announcing the coming of the Messiah said “the former things have come to pass” (meaning that they...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “From Now On”
I have shared over and over again this year, in all of our different texts and series that the only way to truly know the nature of a kingdom is to learn the heart and character of the king. This text that we enter into today, for the third week in a row, is a...
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Mark Bible Study: Mark 15:33-47 “Death and Burial”
In John 10:17-18 Jesus said “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “To Live Differently”
As I’ve shared recently, this passage of Scripture has great importance to me personally but for these next few weeks I want us to see that it is a vital part of our corporate identity. It’s a passage that reveals Jesus’ work and the Father’s desire, it literally defines reconciliation and then it takes everything...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “One for All: The Corporate Application of Intimacy”
For a few weeks we have either been in this passage of Scripture or referring to it. It’s one of those texts that simply can’t be exhausted because it doesn’t just speak to something that God has done or that God wants us to do, it reveals more of who God is, more of His...