Mark 3

 

Happy Christmas Eve! Just a reminder that we will be having 2 services this evening at 3:30p and 4:30p. They are only 45 minutes long. Come out and invite your friends and family to join you!

 

Scripture

 

Mark 3:30-35

 

30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Observation- What does it say?

 

Jesus had just appointed his 12 disciples and entered a house where a crowd had gathered. During this time, he was accused by His natural family for being out of His mind (vs. 21) and accused by the teachers in the law for being possessed by the devil and drawing His power from an evil spirit. Jesus put them in their place and then pointed out who His true brothers and sisters were..they were the ones who did the will of God.

 

Understanding-What does it mean?

 

Jesus works in community.

 

Jesus’ community weren’t His natural family or the religious leaders of the time. His community were His 12 disciples and those who followed Him and listened to His teachings. His family and the church leaders of the time were actually the ones opposing Him!

 

Life Application

 

Love your brothers and sisters in the Lord and stay connected to the Body of Christ, especially to those who live Spirit filled lives.

 

Pastor Gary always says that a Christian without a Church family is a Contradiction. I also posted last week about the importance of putting God first on the throne of our lives because He is the One who makes us and the Body function in a healthy way. Here is what God’s Word says about loving the church (aka our brothers and sisters in Christ).

 

His Word says in 1 John 4:19-21, "We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

 

The church (we, the bride) are not perfect, but Jesus is! We must stay connected together and forgive, reconcile differences and not give up meeting together. We need each other as much as we need Him. Jesus functioned in community when He was on earth because He chose 12 disciples. He continues to function in community through the Trinity. Let’s follow His example! 

 

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews‬ ‭10:24-25‬ ‭

 

See you tonight for Christmas Eve service!

 

-Michelle Gaddi