http://www.cherrycreekpres.org Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church Podcasts en Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church Podcasts Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church no Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church hjohnson@cherrycreekpres.org ℗ & © 2010 Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church 720 This passage of Scripture is filled with Jesus’ teaching on the values of the Kingdom of God.  We often focus so exclusively on the means of salvation that we lose sight of the purpose of salvation.  Our salvation includes our eternal destiny, but it serves a greater purpose than that.  Each week we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  God’s purpose for us is rooted in and flows out of His purpose for the world and Jesus clearly taught that His Father’s purpose is that His Kingdom be established.  A major part of that is that the values of the Kingdom be the values of His people and that those values be lived out in the lives of those who follow Christ.  This portion of Scripture addresses three very practical and important life issues:  trust (like that of little children), possessions (the young man) and power and prestige (James and John).  At the center of this triad is our “riches.” We all agree that it is a sin to steal, but Jesus raises the ante in His conversation with the rich young man.  At issue is the real ownership of one’s riches.  Do we own what God has given us or does God own it and has it been given to us as a trust?  It is because this issue is so unsettled for so many of us that Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  May God give us the grace to value the things God values and to faithfully integrate this teaching of Jesus into our lives. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/the-kingdom-of-god-belongs-to-such-as-these- http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/the-kingdom-of-god-belongs-to-such-as-these.mp3 Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:21:47 GMT Dr. Marty Martin The Gospel of Mark As Jesus starts to pour into his disciples, he has shifted his focus to illumining the truths of the Kingdom of God. The culture we live in and the Kingdom culture that Jesus lays out in this passage are at war with each other. Some of these truths may be hard for us to hear, but it is imperative for us to wrestle with them. The stakes are high and the consequences are great if we choose to ignore these essential truths. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/truths-of-the-kingdom http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/truths-of-the-kingdom.mp3 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:36:17 GMT Chris Piehl The Gospel of Mark Our Gospel reading this morning gives the account of Jesus' transfiguration. It is followed by the account of the healing of a boy that is as life-changing a "transfiguration" for him as the transfiguration of Jesus was for those who witnessed it. It reminds us that this is God's gracious purpose for us as well ... the day will come when we too will be changed and our physical bodies will reflect the reality of the inner presence of God's Spirit in us in a new and wonderful way. In the meantime, we are called to experience the "transfiguration" or transforming of our lives and character within ... a transformation that is and is to be as real and important as the physical transfiguration that awaits us in the future. In fact, apart from that inner transformation there can be no true fulfillment of God's ultimate design for our lives. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/two-transfigurations http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/two-transfigurations.mp3 Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:33:16 GMT Dr. Marty Martin The Gospel of Mark The book of Mark has a simple, two-part structure.  The first half displays the Gospel of Christ’s Kingship and Kingdom.  The second half reveals that this Christ will be a suffering servant.  The two halves stand in rather shocking juxtaposition: Christ, the Messiah-King, will suffer.  Today’s passage stands at the pivot-point of these two halves, and because of this, it will give us insight into how Christ’s powerful kingship and his humiliating journey to the cross are connected.  And we will, in turn, see how that impacts our lives, in all our joy and sorrow.  Perhaps God will take off some of our blinders today and show us what it truly means to follow Jesus. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/taking-the-blinders-off- http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/taking-the-blinders-off.mp3 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:34:30 GMT Zac Hicks The Gospel of Mark In today’s passage we see the compassion of Jesus in three separate miracles. While Jesus’ power is evident, we should not miss the importance of child-like faith. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/crumbs-dont-tell--leftovers- http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/crumbs-dont-tell-and-leftovers.mp3 Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:26:36 GMT Roger Kamstra The Gospel of Mark “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” This is exactly what the Pharisees failed to do and their tendency is one that emerges in the history of humanity and the church again and again. The Pharisees took a tradition that emerged from Jewish ceremonial law and turned it into a standard for measuring “righteousness.” Being “right with God” became a measureable behavior (hand-washing) that no longer reflected its original symbolic purpose. When this is done, by Pharisees long ago or by us today, it becomes a barrier that separates people from the grace of God rather than leading them to God as it claims to do. Are our behaviors important? Of course they are, but if we make them a measure of how we stand in relation to God instead of grateful responses flowing out of hearts given to God, we make them the wrong thing. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/when-the-non-essential-is-made-essential http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/when-the-non-essential-is-made-essential.mp3 Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:26:44 GMT Dr. Marty Martin The Gospel of Mark Where is God when we need Him most? Why is He so often silent? In our attempt to answer these questions, we are faced with both mystery and holy paradox. But as we honestly grapple with the questions, listening intently for the whisper of God’s wisdom, we may begin to hear what God intends through His purposeful silence and seeming absence. It is out of these times in which we strain to hear the voice of God that the greatest perception may come. They may become the doorway to deeper understanding of the will and the ways of God (Isaiah 55:8-9). Today’s Gospel lesson confronts us with our own fears, only to discover that just when we thought He was nowhere to be found, He was there all along . . . “I will never leave you or forsake you.” If only we learn to listen—to wait, watch, and pray, we may find God’s silence to be astoundingly articulate http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/where-is-god-during-the-storm http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/where-is-god-during-the-storm.mp3 Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:22:25 GMT Bruce Finfrock The Gospel of Mark Today we celebrate our nation’s independence.  The freedom we enjoy as Americans is a great gift and it carries with it a great responsibility.  The accounts of Jesus’ sending out of the Twelve, the death of John the Baptist and the feeding of the five thousand do not explicitly address freedom, but they have important implications for our understanding of both the gift and the cost of the greatest freedom of all … freedom in Christ.  The account of John the Baptist is wedged into the narrative of Jesus sending out the Twelve and their returning to him to report what they had done.  Why?  His followers were learning both the extent of the provision the Lord makes for those who carry His Gospel into the world  and the cost of discipleship.  God’s gracious provision, freely given to us in Christ, and the high cost of discipleship are not contradictory, but complementary. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/a-kingdom-view-of-independence--freedom http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/a-kingdom-view-of-independence--freedom.mp3 Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:34:14 GMT Dr. Marty Martin The Gospel of Mark Mark was the founding pastor for two church plants, has been the mother or partner church pastor for five other church plants, and has served as a denominational church planting director. Mark is the author of three books on church planting. Since 1998, he has served with Dynamic Church Planting International and is currently the Executive Vice President. Mark has trained leaders on six continents, in countries as diverse as Pakistan, Siberia, Egypt, Peru, The Congo, Australia, Ethiopia, Italy, Nepal, Myanmar, Australia, Colombia and others. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/why-plant-churches http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/why-plant-churches.mp3 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:59:14 GMT Mark Williams Mark was the founding pastor for two church plants, has been the mother or partner church pastor for five other church plants, and has served as a denominational church planting director. Mark is the author of three books on church planting. Since ... Our text today tells of the raising of the daughter of a man named Jairus and the healing of a long-afflicted woman.  In these episodes, Jesus further establishes healing as one of the central aspects of His ministry.  What is the relationship between healing, broadly understood, and salvation?  We tend to think of salvation primarily in the sense of going to heaven and being delivered from hell after we die.  Though our eternal destiny is an important implication of our salvation, it is not the primary focus of Jesus’ teaching and ministry.  We also read today that the people from Jesus’ hometown took offense at Him.  At this point in the gospel He has not specifically addressed eternity. Their offense was at the fact that He had wisdom and powers that they did not understand … wisdom and powers that were addressing the here and now.  This is profoundly important for our understanding of our own calling and purpose. http://www.sermoncloud.com/CCPC/faith-healing-and-hostility- http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/1392/faith-healing-and-hostility.mp3 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:50:38 GMT Dr. Marty Martin The Gospel of Mark