Kaleo Church Podcast

We live in a very politically divided time and those divisions are often just as apparent in the church as they are in the world. Many Christians have responded to the political climate of our country in one of two ways. Either they have chosen to withdraw from politics or they have picked one of the two political parties and embraced their agenda even though it has meant sometimes having to look the other way on matters to which Christians out to object. In Mark 12:13-17 Jesus comes to offer us a third way. My prayer is that God would use this message to unify his people under the good rule of our great King and that we would find that his love for us is able to overcome the political divide of this and any other age.

In Mark 12:1-12 Jesus tells a story about the patience of God and the way the religious leaders had abused it. Essentially this text is a warning. It’s a warning not to presume upon God’s kindness or misinterpret his patience for permissiveness. You see as patient as our God might be this story reminds us that there is a day of judgment coming. In this message the landlord’s son comes to each of us and begs us not to neglect the great salvation he came to offer by presuming upon God’s patience but rather to let God’s patience lead us to repentance.

Sometimes we allow things in this world to become so important to us that they begin to become a part of our very identity. Sadly, whenever something becomes a part of our identity we often find it very difficult to listen to feedback in that area. In Mark 11 Jesus challenges the religious leaders about something that was very important to them and we find that they were unable to genuinely consider his critique. By watching how the religious leaders respond to Jesus challenge we can learn a lot about ourselves and the ways we often respond to criticism. The message concludes by seeing how Jesus continues to challenge us even today whenever we allow anything other than his glory to become preeminent in our lives.

In Mark 11:20-25 Jesus reminds his disciples that God is able to do the impossible and he calls them to ask him for anything, believing that they will receive it, and he will give it to them. Some of you may have tried this. Some of you have asked God for the impossible and truly believed that he would do it, and yet nothing happened. And the truth is that hurts. It hurts to believe that God is going to do something impossible and then find out that he doesn’t. So what do we do? Do we stop asking? Do we keep asking but no longer really believe its going to happen? What are we supposed to do with all the impossible things we long for when praying about them often only leads to pain? These are some of the questions we will try and answer in tonight’s sermon.

In this passage we see Jesus curse a fig tree and it raises all kinds of questions. In the end though we realize that this passage really isn’t about the fig tree, it’s about us. So what are we supposed to learn from this surprising passage? In what ways are we like the fig tree? And if we are like this tree what do we need to do to ensure that we don’t receive the same curse that fell on it? Lastly, what does all of this have to do with Jesus cleansing of the temple and how should we apply that to our lives today?

Ruth 4 describes the costly faith of Boaz seeking to redeem Naomi and Ruth. The other redeemer in the story concludes that Ruth and Naomi are not worth his time, but Boaz is willing to redeem them at all costs. All of this is pointing forward to Jesus, the Redeemer who was willing to give it all to redeem the widow, the outsider, and all those who would believe in Him. Through the cross and resurrection, Christ is quilting together a patchwork of redemption that will result in his eternal praise. Through doing this, he proves to be the worthy treasure that is worth any cost to us.

How do you respond to loss? In Ruth 3 we see someone who is well acquainted with loss vulnerably open herself up and lay her heart at the feet of Boaz? How did she do it? Where did she find the courage? What gave her the confidence to risk everything after she had already lost so much? And how would Boaz respond? Was it worth it? And what does this story have to do with us today? Are there things it can teach us about how we ought to respond to the losses in our lives?

In Ruth 2 we are welcomed into the story of Boaz welcoming a Moabite outsider into his field. He protects her provides for her, and associates himself with her by feasting with her. Listen and hear how the gospel is the great news about the Lord of the Harvest who invites sinners to feast with him as a family.

In Ruth chapter 1, we are invited into a story of sorrow and tragedy. Yet, despite such hardship, we see a God who is with His people every step of the way as he directs every single second of history towards its intended destiny. Hear and see how the Gospel invites us into a life where we can trust God in bitter suffering and unmeasured delight.

Waiting can be hard for us. The command to wait is the second most used command in the Bible. If God sees waiting as a good thing, why do we struggle to wait? Listen and hear how the first appearing of Jesus creates in us the ability to wait for his second appearing with eager expectation.

Have you ever found that your circumstances made it really hard to believe some of God’s promises? Well you certainly aren’t the first person to feel that way. Consider Joseph, his fiance is pregnant and all that he knows for certain that he is not the father. And then an angel comes and calls Joseph to trust God and take Mary as his wife anyway. That would be hard. In this sermon we will see that just like Joseph the hardest thing God is calling us to do this Christmas is to trust him. We will also see that because the Christmas story is true and God really did come in the flesh you and I have all that we need to trust God even against the most impossible odds.

In Matthew 1 Jesus shows that there is room in his family for outsiders. In a male dominated culture Jesus made room for women, in a Jewish culture Jesus included foreigners and in an honor/shame culture Jesus welcomed the sexually exploited. Matthew's genealogy is Jesus way of saying to each of these groups "I see you, I know your stories and you matter to me."

The crowds in Mark 11:1-11 declare Jesus to be the Messiah and worship him as their true king. Nevertheless, five days later when Jesus stood on trial before Pilate these people who once threw down their cloaks in front of him where nowhere to be found. What happened? Why was their loyalty so light and their faith so fickle? This is a question each of us needs to ask because the last thing we want to do is to follow in their footsteps.

We know that God is good to unworthy sinners but how does feel about being good to us? Does he like it? Is he just going through the motions? Is he biting his lip in order to get through it? Does God enjoy being good to people who don’t deserve it or is he just doing it because its right or because he made a promise? In Jeremiah 32 God confronts his people with how unworthy they are but then he tells them that he loves them anyway. In fact in verse 40 he promises not to turn away from doing good to his people. But then in verse 41 he tells us how he feels about being good to his people. I can assure you what he says in this verse will blow you away.

Jesus was on his way to do the most important work ever accomplished on this earth. He was headed to Jerusalem to give his life on the cross when a poor blind beggar began to call out his name. The crowds tried to silence him because they knew that Jesus was focused and that he had more important things on his mind. But they were wrong; Jesus stopped. On his way to Calvary the Son of God stopped to take care of a poor blind beggar along the way. Not only does Jesus heal this poor beggar but he uses him to show us things about the discipleship that neither the crowds nor the disciples have yet been able to grasp.

If your anything like me then you probably don’t enjoy people talking to you about money. There is just something inside me that assumes the other person is somehow trying to get something for themselves. But Jesus is different. Jesus is the one person that you can know for certain when he talks to you about money his heart is for you more than it is after your money. So, knowing that Jesus loves us deeply and he doesn’t need our money I think it would be good for us to take some time and listen to what he has to teach us about this often sensitive topic.