Mark Driscoll Audio

Jesus loves the church the way a groom loves his bride. He acts as her Head, Savior, Giver, Sanctifier/Cleanser, and Nourisher/Cherisher. This relationship provides a picture of what a marriage between a husband and wife should look like. The following sermon explores what it means for wives to submit to and respect their husbands and for husbands to love and lead their wives, the way Jesus would.

As a Christian, you’ve been adopted by God the Father, given a new identity, and welcomed into a family with Jesus as your big Brother. You’ve been adopted to worship. So, do not engage in sinful behavior. Do imitate God by walking in love as children of light, discerning what pleases him, making the best use of time, being filled with the Spirit, giving thanks, and submitting to one another.

Are you bitter? Are there seeds of discontent in your soul that will cause you to become bitter? What are some characteristics of bitter people? If you’ve been sinned against, you have two choices: to remain bitter or to forgive. Paul gives six commands that help to end the cycle of bitterness. Who do you need to forgive, and who needs to forgive you? Forgive, because God in Christ forgave you.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4). On Sunday, March 31, our church family gathered for over 42 services across 14 churches in four states through live broadcast to celebrate the most important event in the history of the world: the resurrection of Jesus, when he conquered Satan, sin, and death. This sermon features footage from one of the services at the Downtown Seattle church that day, including music and baptisms.

When you know who you are, then you know what to do. In Christ, you are new. No longer are you alienated from God and walking in the futility of a darkened mind. The old is gone; the new has come. Put off the old self and put on the new self. Knowing your new identity in Christ allows you to change how you think, how you act, and what you desire.

Pastor Sutton visits a local Bible college in Dilla, Ethiopia, which has been sending out graduates since 1949. Mars Hill Global currently supports every church planter who graduates from this school. Right now, we have a huge opportunity to translate resources we already have into Amharic, the regional language there. We're already working on a print run of the Bible in Amharic, and a translation of Pastor Mark and Gerry Breshears' book Doctrine. Help us translate more of books and resources into Amharic and other languages by giving to Mars Hill Global today: https://marshill.com/global

Jesus is in heaven, serving the church and giving gifts. He gives us himself, the Holy Spirit, and other people. To each Christian he also gives spiritual gifts to be cultivated (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12; Eph. 4; 1 Pet. 4). Some have multiple gifts and different levels of a gift. God gives gifts to equip the saints and build up the body of Christ. Your gift is not your identity, but how are you gifted?

When we pray, we’re talking to our Dad. Prayer can be silent or aloud. You can pray alone or in a group. God always answers prayer with: yes, no, or later. Prayer can cause God to act, but oftentimes prayer is to change us. Praying also keeps us from grumbling and gossiping. From Paul’s prayer for his church, we learn that prayer is personal, relational, asking, yearning, expecting, and revealing.

When we pray, we’re talking to our Dad. Prayer can be silent or aloud. You can pray alone or in a group. God always answers prayer with: yes, no, or later. Prayer can cause God to act, but oftentimes prayer is to change us. Praying also keeps us from grumbling and gossiping. From Paul’s prayer for his church, we learn that prayer is personal, relational, asking, yearning, expecting, and revealing.

Christians will suffer; knowing what kind of suffering it is can help you endure your own affliction as well as comfort others in theirs. How are you and others around you afflicted? From Paul’s suffering, we see that we can be afflicted for others’ good, our growth, and God’s glory. How could your affliction be used as others are watching? Don’t waste your affliction; invest it. Don’t lose heart.

Gidasu has a call and burden to preach, to teach, and to share the gospel of Jesus in Ethiopia. Today, he teaches at the Theology College in Dilla. Mars Hill Global supports all of the church planters who come out of this Bible college. Pray for Gidasu as he teaches and for the call on his life to plant and preach. Please also prayerfully consider how you can support church planters in Ethiopia, India, and Chile today as part of our extended church family by giving to Mars Hill Global today. http://marshill.com/global

Despite a literal and spiritual dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles—centuries of conflict starting with Abraham—in Christ, they are reconciled. Their identity is no longer circumcised or uncircumcised, it is a new people, “Christian.” Even more amazingly, in Christ, God and sinners are reconciled. Christians are reconciled to one another and together are a dwelling place for God.

Your own works cannot save you; only Jesus’ works save. Salvation means saved from the penalty of sin in the past, from the power of sin in the present, and from the presence of sin forever in the future. Those who are in Christ are saved from death, sin, worldly living, Satan and demons, the old nature/old desires, and God’s wrath. We’re saved by grace, then empowered by grace to do good works.

If you’re a Christian, Jesus appreciates you. This means that God’s faithful people can receive encouragement and thankfulness from Jesus, even if they don’t receive such from other people. When you know that Jesus appreciates you, you exchange grumbling for praying, competing for celebrating, bitterness for thankfulness, performing for serving, and boasting for encouraging.

We oftentimes assume that God doesn’t want to bless us, or, if he does, that we have to pay him back. But God is good; we don’t have to make him bless us. His people are blessed in Christ with holiness, predestination, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, grace, and are sealed by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit—all to the praise of God’s glory. We bless the God who has blessed us.