Charlotte’s Hope Church
Renewal of the First Things
Throughout History, there have been times where the disconnect between the TEACHINGS and EXAMPLE of Jesus Christ and the ACTIONS AND ATTITUDES of those who claim to be his followers has been exposed.
If we truly know Jesus and follow Him, we will be made like Him and our IDENTITY as a Christian will be evidenced by our TESTIMONY.
Mark’s Gospel was written to tell us that God came to earth to bring an all out ASSAULT ON EVIL and to free you and I from any BONDAGE that would keep us from knowing our God, through His Son – Jesus Christ.
If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus.
And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but your actually part of the drama which has him as the central character.
N.T. Wright
Mark 1:9-13 ESV
1. The Baptism of Jesus
Jesus was baptized in keeping with His entire MISSION on earth: to do the will of the Father and to identify with sinful man.
2. Jesus’ LIFE and MINISTRY on earth was a life EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit.
The same Holy Spirit that DIRECTED and EMPOWERED Jesus’ life is the same Holy Spirit that we have TODAY.
John 16:7 ESV
3. The Testing in the Wilderness
Jesus came and PASSED the test the Adam FAILED.
Hebrews 2:17-18 ESV
Hebrews 4:15 ESV
Three Temptations of Jesus (same as our today)
1. Who will I trust in times of crisis?
2. What will I do to speed up the process?
3. What will I do to avoid pain?
There is always a GODLESS SHORTCUT that we are tempted to take to get out of the painful places of life.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
TWO LIFE LESSONS:
1. It’s not a sin to be TEMPTED. It is a sin to SIN.
2. Sometimes the CENTER of God’s will is in the middle of the DESERT.
Obedience takes us where we NEED to be, not always where we WANT to be.
The goal of this teaching series: Put CHRIST back into CHRISTIAN!