Autumn Sermon Series - ‘St. Mark’s, get set, go ......’!

The Autumn Service series is available to download here.


‘As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net  into the sea – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “follow me and I will make you fish for all people”. And immediately they left their nets and followed him’.

Mark 1: v.16-18

Morning Series

Acts and the Gospel of Mark

As we go into the Autumn we are going to finish our sermon series on Acts in September focussing on Acts 9, and then move on to look at the Gospel of Mark for October and November.

Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four gospels, and often symbolised by the picture of a lion – fast, focussed and fearless. If we know our Narnia stories by C.S. Lewis, whenever Aslan appears he dashes from place to place as he is needed in great leaps and bounds: ‘he rushes on and on, never missing his footing, never hesitating’, and Mark gives us a picture of Jesus who is on a mission with limited time to fulfil it. 

Mark also gives us a picture of what Jesus expected from those he called to follow Him – they too are his co-workers in bringing in God’s kingdom here on earth. Jesus calls, teaches, mentors, heals, and sends out his disciples, and God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, expects no less from his followers today.

I hope and pray that as we meet Jesus in Mark’s Gospel we too will be equipped to ‘get set’ and ‘go’ for our Lord and Saviour, continuing to grow deeper in our relationship with God, in readiness to go further out in our witness. May it be your prayer too that as a church, we will grow in God’s grace, allowing Him to do new things with us, among us, and through us.

‘Help us spread your fragrance wherever we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life’.

 (Mother Teresa, 1910-97)

Evening Series 

Nehemiah

This autumn we are going to be delving deep into the Book of Nehemiah, so do come and join us if you can.  As we continue as a church to seek God’s vision for the future I believe this book could have a significant impact on our discipleship and in the renewal of our faith.  It is a book all about Vision and a coming together of God’s people to see it fulfilled – how exciting is that?!

‘What this society needs is….!’; ‘what this church needs is….!’ Someone ought to do something! It’s so easy to analyse, scrutinise, discuss, and talk  about what needs to be done, and expect someone else to do something about it.  But when our hearts are in touch with God’s, and when our hearts break with what breaks God’s heart, then we will be moved into action. 

Nehemiah saw what broke God’s heart - the walls of Jerusalem needed rebuilding, and the people needed to be renewed in their faith. His heart was broken too and instead of analysing the situation, he did something. He left a responsible job to do and rebuild God’s kingdom, and his people. Nehemiah was a man of action which ultimately brought spiritual revival to God’s people.

As we study this book, and learn from Nehemiah in action, I pray that we too will grow into a people on whom God can rely on us to act, building his Kingdom and bringing revival to his church.