Author: Nick Booth

Mark 4:19

‘Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.’ Mark 4>19

Jim was a keen Christian at university. He attended the Christian Union and regularly went to one of the “Student Churches” on a Sunday. He was well known as a Christian and well liked with plenty of friends. He was one of the organizers of the university mission and generally involved in student and university life. When his course finished he moved into his chosen career back near home.

Jim became career focused, it was important to him to succeed, make a good income and be well thought of at work. To start with he still found time to go to church on Sundays but gradually life got more complicated. Once he found a woman, Clara, he wanted to live with and she was not keen on church it became more important to him to spend time with her when not working. He suggested marriage but she said what was the point, most marriages broke up and then it was loads more difficult to separate. A couple of years later and she was pregnant and Jim decided it was now time to get a bigger house and mortgage. He hadn’t been inside a church for over a year. His old friends, especially his Christian ones, had largely dropped off and now he and Clara only saw friends they had made together. Life had somehow got too full to be an active Christian. He hadn’t stopped believing deep down but there were no outward signs of his faith, he swore more, he drank more and he had stopped worrying about ethics at work and was prepared to do whatever was needed to close a deal even though he sometimes knew it would hurt the other party. He had a brief affair with a colleague’s wife whom he met at a work social event. Sometimes when he was entirely on his own he tried to pray but now it felt false.

For the sake of this bible reflection Jim’s story is an amalgam of several different people. However, it is similar to that of many who find they drift away from their first love of Jesus one stage at a time.

What other choices could Jim have made?

Who did Jim progressively strive to be like?

Who or what did Jim love most?

How did Jim’s choices impact the Christian fruitfulness of his life?

What was the impact of sin on Jim’s relationship with Jesus?

Please listen to Chris Tomlin’s song.

Chris Tomlin – Lord I Need You

Mark 4:16-17

‘Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.’ Mark 4:16-17

Growing plants from seed is always nerve wracking. Seedlings are so vulnerable. As gardeners we cosset these young seeds. We place them in special compost formulated just for small seeds, we keep the soil at an ideal temperature and water them carefully, not too little and not too much. When we dare to put them outside where the wind might blow and the night air become too cold we gradually get them used to the real world by introducing them to real life in stages. The ones I fear for most are those seedlings that bolt away and become long and straggly without strength in their thin stems. When the first new seedlings show a touch of green poking out from the soil it is a matter of rejoicing and I for one rush to tell my wife and force her to come and inspect them as well. Experience however, has taught me to not get over confident. Year after year I have put out what I thought were going to be wonderful new plants that were going to go on and produce bountiful courgettes, beans, Brussel sprouts and so forth only to be disappointed that the harshness of conditions takes its toll and despite early promise some of those much loved plants shrivel and die.

Seed that is scattered fairly randomly over soil, regardless of how good the soil is, faces a much higher probability of not surviving the prevailing conditions in the world. So it is with the gospel or as it is also known the word of God. In Jesus’ story each new seed that germinates is a human heart that has responded to the good news of Jesus and said, “Yes” to his call to repent and follow him. There then often follows a burst of initial momentum. This can be seen as a keenness to go to church, an enjoyment of meeting other believers who are like minded. There is an inner thrill at knowing forgiveness and having hope and purpose that may not have been there before. One can experience love and understanding and the joy of worshiping together can carry people along but if one’s roots are in rocky ground the Christian life can be hard to sustain.

The rocks in Jesus’ story are persecution and tribulation. Jesus was clear, persecution and tribulation are to be expected. He says weigh up the cost before starting on the Christian road. He even said,
‘And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.’ Mark 13:13 How to endure to the end becomes the question. How does the church support those new Christians so they can endure and more than endure, thrive? We know Jesus taught the servant is not greater than the master and so his disciples should not expect to be more accepted than he was himself.

Responsibilities go two ways. The individual is responsible for sinking their roots deep into the ground that is the word of God and applying themselves to its teaching. Each disciple is responsible for their own prayer life, to be a part of the whole body of Christ and not to consider they can thrive in isolation. Everybody should develop a realistic expectation of how the world will perceive them.

The church and by that, I mean the collective body of Christians, has a major responsibility to support other Christians who are experiencing tribulation and persecution. Even if it is a common experience of all its members. The body of the church should provide teaching, encouragement even loving correction for any of its members who are suffering. The church should provide love in everyday terms, helping when people need help, giving time to people who need a listening ear, being a prayerful community and crucially showing no partiality so some do not feel outcast or in some way of less value. We should be slow to judge and quick to support. We do not know when it will be ourselves who are finding the Christian road too rocky.

How rocky are you finding the Christian road?

How can you find the support you need to endure and thrive as a Christian?

I Have Decided – Elevation Worship

Mark 4:15

“Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Mark 4:15

In Jesus’ famous story about a farmer who scatters seed on a field the Farmer is the person spreading the gospel, the seed is the gospel and the soil is the hearer of the gospel. What Jesus makes clear is that gospel sowing is a spiritual battle. There are things going on unseen even unknown to the gospel spreader and gospel hearer. Jesus never hid the spiritual battle that takes place in which his ministry, life, death and resurrection held centre ground. At the very beginning of his ministry as he was preparing in the wilderness Satan tried to knock him off course with temptations. Jesus repelled him with prayer, fasting and the word of God.

Jesus in this story teaches that the spiritual battle is active with all gospel work. Gospel work is every way the good news of Jesus is shared. In our modern society that includes social media posts, Youtube videos, websites of churches and Christian organisations. It also includes courses such as Christianity Explored and Alpha, Christian festivals such as New Wine and Spring Harvest. Debates that take place in the media, newspaper and journal articles, church services and events. An area we possibly overlook where the gospel is shared in a highly meaningful way is through the individual Christian’s life and conversation. However the good news of Jesus is spread the first line of opposition is immediate rebuttal.

The gospel can be whisked from the hearer’s mind by comedy, scorn, attempts to discredit the validity of the gospel, distraction or attempts to minimize its significance or relevance. It is even better for the evil one if the good news is made out to be bad news and therefore to be avoided at all cost. Paul warns of such teachers when he says, ‘Satan masquerades as an angel of light’. 2 Corinthians 11.14 From Satan’s perspective it is better the seed did not germinate than even had the slightest sign of growth. Paul speaks of the process of Satan obscuring people from perceiving the gospel, ‘And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ 2 Corinthians 4.3-4 Earlier in 2 Corinthians Paul wrote, ‘For we are not unaware of his schemes.’ 2 Corinthians2.11 Christians and bearers of the gospel should be aware of the risks to those who hear the gospel that might cause them to not even take in the message they hear.

‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ Ephesians 6.12

Lauren Daigle – You Say

Mark 16:7

‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Peter had been caught up into a sequence of events of high drama and emotion. He didn’t fully understand what was happening, his emotions were extreme, events were happening at pace. I imagine he must have been going through the same sort of stress as soldiers on a battlefield or paramedics at a major incident. His pulse rate at Jesus’ arrest would have sky rocketed. He would have found himself torn between loyalty to his Lord and an innate impulse of self-preservation. Peter would have had none of the training given to soldiers or paramedics about how to manage themselves in times of sudden emergency. Having sworn undying allegiance to Jesus just hours before he found himself at the point of Jesus’ arrest overtaken by the fight or flight response. When Jesus was arrested Mark tells us, ‘one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.’ Mark14:47 John gives us more detail, ‘Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)’ John 18:10 Luke adds further detail and says Jesus, ‘touched his ear and healed him.’ Luke22:51 Later that night when Peter was confronted as to whether he was a disciple of Jesus fear had set in and Peter denied he had any knowledge of him. I am not sure if any of us know how we would have reacted in the circumstances. I would probably have been one of those who faded into the background having maybe shouted some verbal insult or protest.

If Peter’s level of stress was high, Jesus’ levels were astronomic. Jesus, unlike Peter, knew what was happening and how it was going to work out. Jesus had prepared himself spiritually and his stress levels are indicated by his sweating of blood during his prayer. A rare but known bodily response to extreme stress. Peter on the other hand, with the other disciples, had slept when asked to pray alongside Jesus. Jesus remained self controlled at the moment of arrest and all through the subsequent trial, torture and crucifixion. Jesus’ character did not change, he obeyed his father despite the indescribably high cost, he was merciful to and healed his enemy’s servant Malchus, he spoke the gospel truth to his interrogators, he prayed for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him, he forgave the thief who confessed who Jesus was and his need for forgiveness. Jesus then took upon himself the wrath of God for the sin of Peter and all who trust in him.

When trust breaks down and promises are broken at moments of extreme need, relationships can be irreparably broken. Anger can in those situations override other feelings and rationality. Even if some form of reconciliation is arrived at, how would it be possible to trust someone to react correctly in another situation of high stress. What an amazing act of Jesus then, that the first instruction he gives following his resurrection is to name Peter in particular when he says where the disciples are to go to meet him. More than that he makes Peter the number one person to build the early church.

Jesus’ reaction to Peter is the definition of an act of grace. To give what is not deserved. What made the difference in Peter’s life that he became a transformed person who was no longer controlled by the fight or flight instinct? It was the gift of the Holy Spirit, another supreme act of grace.

How has your life been changed by the grace of Christ?

Chris Tomlin – Your Grace Is Enough

Mark 15:38

Grace is when God treats us in the opposite way to what we deserve. It is an undeserved gift. It is when God takes action for our good. As humans we have created a barrier between ourselves and God by the actions and desires coming from our sinful hearts. It is God who has taken the positive step to repair that relationship. Because he loves us he wants to be in relationship with us, for that to happen the justice of God has to be satisfied because he is a holy and just God. He also needs to restore our hearts and in David’s words, “Create a clean heart within us”. Psalm 52.10

When Jesus bore the righteous wrath of God on our behalf through his death on the cross he opened up access to God that had previously been cut off by our sin. This lack of access or right to be in his holy presence had been symbolised by the heavy curtain in the Jerusalem temple. The curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Very Holy Place. No one was allowed to go through the curtain except the high priest once a year on the day of atonement. The curtain was an elaborately woven fabric 18m high and 9m wide.

The author of Hebrews explains that when the high priest enters the Very Holy Place once a year he takes a blood sacrifice which, “he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.” Hebrews 9.7 Hebrews go on to say by this, “The Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet open.” Hebrews9.8 “The gifts and sacrifices offered under the Judaic law cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper.” Hebrews 9.9 In other words, no regeneration of the heart of the believer takes place or as Jesus puts it they are not born again. The old sacrificial system foreshadows what Jesus will achieve on the cross. We cannot cause ourselves to be born again. We cannot create our own clean heart that is able to come into the holy presence of God. Only Christ can do that for us. As Hebrews puts it, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9.12

God’s action of tearing the temple curtain from top to bottom at the very moment Jesus died signaled that grace made the way for believers in Christ to now come before God because they have been justified by Christ. This justification is not limited to one people group but is open to all nations. As Paul puts it in Romans, “This righteousness is given (act of grace) through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.” Romans 3.22-25

What then is there for the believer to do? Nothing in terms of securing their salvation but Hebrews does give clear guidance how we should respond to such a gift of grace. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10.22-25

What is top of your list in how to respond to the grace of God?
Is it to be clear and steadfast about your trust in Jesus?
Is it how to encourage others in love and good works?
It is to joyfully meet together as a church with the aim of encouraging others in their faith?

In Christ Alone – Keith and Kristyn Getty