Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sermon: Two-Way Street

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:14-15

This passage is Mark’s (and Peter’s; c.f., sermons by Peter recorded in Acts) summary of Jesus’ gospel. This passage is an allusion to a prophecy regarding the coming Messiah that is found in Isaiah 9, and to the seventy sevens prophecy (also about the Messiah) in Daniel 9.

The hearers were expecting the Messiah, but not quite the message that Jesus brought. They understood the offer of deliverance and salvation (the first part of Jesus’ message), but the second part regarding their need to respond in repentance and faith would have been quite foreign to most and even offensive to some. But that is Jesus’ gospel message: the offer of salvation is available to all, but it is of no effect unless a person responds and begins the process of repentance – a journey of life-change – through dependence upon the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

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