The Road to True Greatness

Pastor’s Pen,

This Sunday: The Road to True Greatness                                                                              Mark 9:30-50

Today marks the celebration of Pentecost.  To understand this event, we must first understand the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. It was not by coincidence that God poured out His Spirit on the disciples on that day. There were three great Jewish feasts each year: Passover (in the spring), celebrating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, followed immediately by the Feast of Unleavened Bread; Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, which occurred 50 days (seven weeks) after Passover; and, Tabernacles (in the fall).


 Pentecost was an initial harvest feast, where the Jews were to offer to the Lord the first fruits of the new grain. Among other rituals, they were to wave before the Lord two loaves of wheat bread, made with leaven (Lev. 23:15-21).


This picture came to fulfillment in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Until this time, the Lord’s people consisted of Israel, along with a few Gentile proselytes. Now the Lord formed the body of Christ, the church, made up of Jews and Gentiles on equal footing.  Today we are a part of the family of God, the church universal, which was formed on the day of Pentecost and charged with taking the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth.

*****

Debates have been a part of every major presidential campaign since the first televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960. I remember attending the second 1976 debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, where President Reagan famously repeated “There you go again!” 


Our text doesn't feature a presidential debate, but the disciples were continuing to pursue an ongoing debate among themselves. The question? Who would be the greatest in Jesus’ coming kingdom?


This debate provides a sharp contrast to the lesson Jesus wants His disciples to learn: the road to true greatness is the role of a servant!


 We appreciate those who help sanitize our facilities for services each Saturday morning in preparation for Sunday worship as well as those who make it possible for us to ‘live-stream’ on Facebook at 10:45 each Sunday morning, and to post each Sunday’s message on our website (www.fccwylie.org) on Sunday afternoons. 


When you enter the sanctuary Sunday, after you are given a bulletin, stop by the communion table where the offering plates are located in the rear of the worship center and pick up your disposable communion cup. Been following the service, please dispose of it in the trash can next to the rear communion table.


We continue to hold our Sunday services with all safety protocols and pre-service sanitizing in place. No Sunday school yet, and the nursery is not available.  We are now following new CDC guidelines which allow fully vaccinated individuals to go without masks. We use bulletins printed untouched by human hands, with songs, etc. printed therein, and pre-packaged communion elements. Offering plates are located at the rear, or giving can be done online at www.fccwylie.org.


If you still feel uncomfortable attending, feel free to join our live stream on Facebook, at 10:45 AM, which includes communion and the worship hymns. Or the message is available each Sunday afternoon on our website. (www.fccwylie.org)





The Road to True Greatness                                                                                 Mark 9:30-50                                                                                                  

  • The occasion (30-32)
    • The setting   
    • The teaching   
    • The lack of understanding 


  • The discussion (33-35)
    • The confrontation 
    • The conclusion 


  • The illustration (36-37)
  • The interruption (38-41) 
  • The explanation (42-50)

Applications:

Be Christlike disciples                                Be at peace with each other

 




PRAYER ITEMS

Viviana—traveling to Colombia

Rodney Love’s wife Beth— private room, in rehab 

Kim’s son and mother 

Donna Hancock-relief from severe back pain

RADIO THIS WEEKEND: 

Many people nearing or turning 65 have questions about when and how to enroll in Medicare, and what you don’t know about Medicare can hurt you! Medicare authority Toni King of tonisays.com joins host Don Hawkins with practical answers to Medicare questions, this weekend on Encouragement Live.

Encouragement Live can be heard Saturday at 7:05 PM central time on American Family Radio (www.afr.net) and on theworshipchannel.org.  Re-broadcast Sunday 9 pm on The Worship Channel. 


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