Sermons

Instead of repeating the Old Testament’s laws about tithing, Paul replaces the entire system with one word: generosity.

Christian giving is not about fundraising or buying God’s favour. It is a way of responding (in secret) to God’s generosity to us - storing up the true treasure of a generous and godly life.

It wasn’t the act of going that demonstrated the Samaritan leper’s faith, it was the act of coming back - coming back to Jesus to say thank you.

Financial giving is not fundraising - it is faithraising.   It is a vital way of us both expressing our gratitude to God, and demonstrating our trust in him.

Jesus did not do away with the Fourth Commandment: instead he taught us that the Sabbath is a gift, not a burden.

Jesus touched him...  Touched him!!  I knew the guy was mad.  You don’t touch someone with leprosy!  Jesus touched him - and he was cured - immediately.

Who is Jesus?   Over the next weeks we will see how Mark answers that question.   We will see that Mark believes Jesus to be God’s own Son, the Messiah, God’s chosen and anointed one. We will see: Jesus.

We need to love ourselves in the right way.   We need Goldilocks love - not too much love, not too little love, but just the right amount of love.

Martin Luther King said the question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ but, ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’

Paul’s describes deep, sacrificial love - but how often churches are full of niceness rather than love, acquaintances rather than brothers and sisters, pretending rather than sharing.