Escalate Sermon Blog & Connection Point Questions

Ask most American Christians if they really treasure Christ and most of them would probably answer 'yes.' But why are so few actively serving and why are so few willing to deny themselves some of the things that make them comfortable in order to better spread the good news of the gospel? In this passage of Scripture we'll see that Jesus presents His followers with a call...

In this week's text we see a surprising response from the people of Jesus' hometown of Nazareth when He returns and they begin to hear His teaching and news of His extraordinary miracles. It's not the same kind of response that we are used to in our culture. While we love to celebrate our hometown heroes the people of Nazareth don't celebrate Jesus at all. We'll consider...

Since our Sunday morning service was cancelled as a result of the weather conditions and since 2011 is just a few days away I thought that we would use our small group time to ask a few questions to help us prepare ourselves for a new calendar year. ...

Merriam-Webster defines the word 'despair' as "to lose all hope or confidence." That's a pretty serious condition! In this week's text Jesus encounters two individuals who can't be characterized in any other way. Despair has set in and these individuals need someone to run to. And in these verses from chapter 5 of Mark's gospel we find more good news about Jesus - that...

Last week we examined Jesus' provocative power and the response it demands when we looked at the account of Jesus calming a raging storm on the sea. This week we will continue to look at Jesus' provocative power and the response it demands when we see Jesus calm a raging storm within an individual. The story ends with what I believe is one of the scariest and saddest ver...

In typical Mark style, Mark spares us the details and gives us a very short account (only seven verses) of one of, if not THE most incredible miracles of Jesus' ministry. But while the account is short Mark 4:35-41 still does an incredible job of putting Jesus' provocative power on display. And just as Jesus and this great miracle demanded a response from His disciples a...

In Mark 4:21-34 Mark presents his readers with three short parables that Jesus taught. In each of the parables we see some great things taking place. But one of the remarkably noticeable characteristics of each of the parables is the lack of action on the part of any people present in the parables. Instead we see Jesus and the gospel message at work. And what becomes v...

Mark's gospel changes briefly in format beginning in chapter 4. Rather than being made up almost exclusively of narrative about Jesus, chapter 4 is largely a direct recounting of some of Jesus' teachings. In this sermon we looked at Jesus' parable of the sower (vs. 1-20). Throughout this account Jesus paints a picture of Himself as the gracious Giver of the gospel. Unf...

In the text of Mark 3:7-19 Mark articulates Jesus' definition of discipleship. But knowing what Jesus calls us to as disciples isn't all we need to know. In this passage of Scripture, Mark 3:20-35, Mark articulates for the reader two important traits of Jesus that we must know and be convinced of if we are really going to be His disciples. Mark presents to us a picture ...

There are so many today ("Christians" and non-Christians alike) who are confused about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In Mark 3:7-19 Mark illustrates for his readers what being a disciple of Jesus is not and what Jesus, Himself, says that it is. What is shocking is that there are so many today who claim to be disciples of Jesus but look so much like those in th...