Introduction: In reflecting on the Parable of the Sower, the disciples likely experienced a range of emotions, including potential discouragement. Jesus' teaching that only one type of soil would truly receive the Word might have left them feeling disheartened and questioning their understanding of His message. The disciples, accustomed to more traditional forms of teaching, might have found Jesus' use of parables challenging, especially as they grappled with the deeper spiritual truths hidden within them. This shift in teaching style may have intensified the pressure they felt to comprehend and apply Jesus' teachings accurately.

Introduction: In reflecting on the Parable of the Sower, the disciples likely experienced a range of emotions, including potential discouragement. Jesus' teaching that only one type of soil would truly receive the Word might have left them feeling disheartened and questioning their understanding of His message. The disciples, accustomed to more traditional forms of teaching, might have found Jesus' use of parables challenging, especially as they grappled with the deeper spiritual truths hidden within them. This shift in teaching style may have intensified the pressure they felt to comprehend and apply Jesus' teachings accurately.

Introduction: Mark’s Gospel chronicles the extraordinary ministry of Jesus Christ, who boldly proclaims the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15) and demonstrates its reality through miraculous healings and deliverances. As multitudes flock to witness these remarkable acts, Jesus seizes the opportunity to impart profound spiritual truths through the medium of parables—engaging stories that convey heavenly realities through earthly analogies. In this context, Jesus introduces the Parable of the Sower, laying the groundwork for deeper understanding of the mysteries of God's kingdom and discerning the receptivity of human hearts.

Introduction - Recap of Part 1

Last week, we began to explore the question: Why did Jesus teach in parables? Jesus’ sudden change in teaching method of parables without the explanations left many people including his disciples confused. His disciples questioned Jesus’ method, which reflects how we also question God and His methods when we don’t’ understand His ways. We learned last week that we must accept that God does not owe us an answer. However, God can choose to reveal the answer to us immediately or at a later time in retrospect, or He can choose not to reveal the answer within this lift time. We must also acknowledge that there are some things God chooses not to reveal to us because we would simply not understand. Accepting this is part of submitting ourselves humbly to God. Therefore, the first reason why Jesus taught in parables was to use it as an instrument of judgement against stubborn unbelievers who refused to believe and rejected the gospel by concealing the truth from them. Jesus was giving them over to their hardened hearts that trampled over the gospel.

Introduction

Is there significance to understanding why Jesus taught in parables? Clearly there is because the Holy Spirit, through the authorship of Mark, records and preserves a conversation between Jesus and his disciples around that very question. Understanding this question will allow us to peek into the intricacies of God’s ways.

Introduction

Introduction

The biblical understanding of Holy Communion (Lord’s Supper) entails 4 parts: 1) the Historical Context of Communion; 2) Who should take the Communion? 3) What are we doing in Communion? and 4) How (with what attitude) should we take it?

Introduction

“For Christ also suffered[a] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (v.18).”

Today’s passage fixes our gaze to the pivotal moment in human history, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. On Good Friday, we celebrated his selfless act of sacrifice, Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God, bore the weight of our sins and he has paved the way for our reconciliation with God. However, Easter is the ultimate triumph of love over darkness. It is the ultimate triumph of redemption over sin because Jesus emerges victorious from the tomb, opening up a new reality of hope and salvation for all humanity. Jesus’ resurrection extends beyond a mere historical event and has practical implications for us today – one of them being our baptism.

Introduction

The core message of Palm Sunday is about our inability to solve our problems. We consistently have to face the reality of our powerlessness and our inability to change our situations that bring us harm, suffering and pain. Our powerlessness becomes even more evident when it comes to global issues such as wars or cultural and political agendas that attempt to sexualize and indoctrinate our children. In our powerlessness, our only response is anger and grief and despair. Another thing Palm Sunday does is to help us recognize our tendency to seek control of the world around us.

Introduction

A leper, a paralytic, and Jewish scribes encountered Jesus, but what was their response to their encounter with Jesus? The leper and the paralytic responded with happiness, but the Jewish scribes and Pharisees with anger. As modern readers, this is a reasonable response, but for the first century readers, the encounter with the leper and the paralytic was scandalous. These were the outcasts of the community, and you were not to touch nor be around them (especially the leper). It was the scribes and Pharisees who were highly honoured and respected and the elite of Jewish society. What’s surprising is that it was not the so-called elite religious leaders, but the outcasts and marginalized who responded to the kingdom of God with happiness. Why is it so?

Introduction

“​The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” This opening statement of the gospel of Mark sets the tone for what we will discover in the book of Mark. The authorship of this gospel is credited to Mark, who is called John Mark in the book of Acts. This book is dated to around 65AD where severe Christian persecution took place under the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero. The Apostle Peter was martyred during this period which may have prompted Mark to write this gospel. Mark wrote this gospel in Roman, in the epicenter of Christian persecution, which challenges believers to stand firm in the face of persecution and difficulty.

Mark was not an apostle, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. Mark is best known for abandoning Paul and Barnabas during their mission trip for unknown reasons, which became the source of sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that led to them going separate ways; Barnabas took Mark and Paul took Silas. What led to this person to write one of the greatest books of the Bible?

Introduction

“​The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” This opening statement of the gospel of Mark sets the tone for what we will discover in the book of Mark. The authorship of this gospel is credited to Mark, who is called John Mark in the book of Acts. This book is dated to around 65AD where severe Christian persecution took place under the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero. The Apostle Peter was martyred during this period which may have prompted Mark to write this gospel. Mark wrote this gospel in Roman, in the epicenter of Christian persecution, which challenges believers to stand firm in the face of persecution and difficulty.

Mark was not an apostle, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. Mark is best known for abandoning Paul and Barnabas during their mission trip for unknown reasons, which became the source of sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that led to them going separate ways; Barnabas took Mark and Paul took Silas. What led to this person to write one of the greatest books of the Bible?

Introduction - Discipleship as the mission of the Church

The word “commission" refers to a special assignment or mission tasked to a person or group on behalf of another. The Great Commission is a special assignment given to the church on behalf of Jesus. It is the very purpose for the Church’s existence. The gospel writers emphasize the work of the cross and the resurrection to magnify God’s plan to redeem mankind, which was put into motion from the very beginning, and all of biblical history culminates in Jesus Christ who came to redeem us and restore our relationship with God. For many Christians, this is a familiar to you, but one thing many Christians fail to realize is that God’s redemptive plan continues on through the Church beyond the cross and resurrection. It continues with our transformation to be Christlike for our benefit and for the people of all nations. This is what discipleship is about.

Introduction

The topic of “money” can be a sensitive subject to talk about in the church, but the truth is it shouldn’t be. However, it does leave a bad taste in our mouth when we see so called televangelist boasting about how rich they became from the offerings that came in. Should we be surprised when non-believers accuse Christianity and the clergy of profiteering?

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Fasting is not a spiritual gift but a spiritual discipline that invites us to offer our full dependence upon God. Fasting is not about depriving yourself of something as a means of pleasing God, nor is it a practice reserved for “super” Christians. A simple definition of fasting is: the practice of fasting is the practice of abstaining from food or something else for spiritual purposes. We are called to fast in order to intentionally feast on God. In other words, fasting is about God. The secular world has reduced fasting to a healthy lifestyle, but fasting is about relying and depending upon God. In Zechariah 7:5, God scrutinizes this situation: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?’ In today’s Bible passage, Jesus addresses our motivation behind fasting.

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New Hope Fellowship DT believes that God has given us a new direction and vision to grow as a multigenerational church, but is this biblical? Is this in accordance with God’s will as revealed in Scripture? Yes. The value and idea of a multigeneration community or church found throughout Scripture and it originates from the very nature of our triune God.

Introduction

Aliston McGraph, in his book Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, identifies the beliefs of evangelicals.  Evangelicals is not a denomination, but rather it identifies Christians who hold core beliefs or convictions:

The supreme authority of Scripture as a source of knowledge of God and a guide to Christian living.

The majesty of Jesus Christ, both as incarnate God and Lord and as the Saviour of sinful humanity.

The Lordship of the Holy Spirit.

The need for personal conversion.

The priority of evangelism for both individual Christians and the church as a whole.

The importance of the Christian community for spiritual nourishment, fellowship, and growth.

It is important to remember that these core beliefs are foundational for us as individuals and as a church. 

Introduction

Today, the word “Spirituality” correlates with some kind of inner reflection and meditation, dabbling in crystals and new age practices, living a certain lifestyle or principle, or simply being open to explore different religious experiences. In the Christian context, true spirituality (as it pertains to our vision statement) is relational aspect of our existence as sons and daughters of the Living God. True spirituality is about our relationship with God and with the people of God. Spiritual disciplines like prayer, daily devotional meditation and reflection on Scripture are all for the purpose of building intimacy with God as we grow in Christlikeness.

One of troubling concerns for churches all over the world is that many people are drifting away from the life of the church. It’s not simply about church attendance but the drifting of spiritual companionship, which is the drifting away from the nature of having relationships that keep us bonded to God and one another as a family in Christ. Not all respond enthusiastically to the idea of a family of God. Family can be a source of pain, trauma, and conflict for some. However, we cannot understand Scripture unless we recognize the truth that we are the family of God.

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What is a church and what is the identity and the mission of the church? How we answer this question will determine the purpose and direction of all that we do as a church. Contrary to what many Christians may think, the church is not an event, a location, a product, or an experience. Yes, we have events; we gather at a location; we offer religious and spiritual products such as Bible studies, workshops, Life Groups, and so forth; we have experiences. However, the church is not these things. Then, what is the church?

The Bible speaks of the Church as: the family of God (Rom. 8:14-17); the body of Christ (Eph. 4:15-16); the citizens of God’s Kingdom (Eph. 2:19); the flock of God (Acts 20:28); a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). These metaphors offer us different perspectives on the identity and mission of the church. What unites the diverse aspects of the church is what Jesus said about the church, and his words powerfully echo in our individual lives, our congregation, and the church.

Introduction

For 2024, New Hope Fellowship is returning to our roots of being gospel-centered as we discover the best life we can live. There have been many highs in the past year, as we have seen magnificent growth across the three campuses with strengthened leadership teams, ministries being built up with new leaders and members, to welcoming individuals into our community who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. 

Despite the many good things happening all around us, if we were to evaluate where we are and where we are heading, are we certain that our lives are Jesus-driven? As a church, we seek to learn from Jesus' posture over this year as we return to Jesus Christ's original vision as followers of Christ.

Introduction

When was the last time you spent at least 30 minutes reflecting on your life? When was the last time you reflected on your actions and reactions, on the stories you believed, the shame you carry, on the time to listen closely to God’s word and how it intersects with seasons of your life, and discernment of God’s will for your life? It is wise to take time to reflect to make adjustments for our future, but many of us have difficulty doing so, especially when it comes to God’s will and His word. We live in a fast-paced society, so reflection is not a common practice when we are caught up in the frenzy and busyness of life. Reflection causes us to slow ourselves down, but many of us believe that slowing down leads to trouble and chaos in our lives. The irony is that we try to save ourselves by keeping up the pace, but this is what actually causes havoc in and around our lives. The deeper truth is that it is not a fast pace that we keep up but a violent pace. This violent pace causes violence against ourselves, others, and our relationship with God.

God invites us to a life of examination, a life of reflection to look inwards and look around us to see where we stand before the Lord. Nouwen once said, "We would do well to spend 50% of our lives reflecting on the other 50% that's lived." This quote points out that we do not take enough time to reflect on our lives. Through the book of Lamentations, God offers us a life that is more reflective and contemplative.