How do you picture Jesus? Many people picture Jesus surrounded by a group of well-behaved children. Or, Jesus is holding a lamb or praying (usually with a halo over his head - just like you and me!). When C.S. Lewis wrote Chronicles of Narnia, he portrayed Jesus as a lion called Aslan. In the first book, a young girl named Lucy is about to meet Aslan for the first time. She asks her guide, “Is he a safe lion?” “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” Following Jesus isn’t always safe – if safe means the absence of trials or challenges. As we will see in today's story, your faith is developed when it gets challenged by a storm. In today’s passage, it’s a literal storm. It happens on the Sea of Galilee, which is nearly 8 miles long and 700 feet below…
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In the opinion of the religious leaders, Jesus was always running with the wrong crowd. He is often criticized for the company he keeps (e.g., Zacchaeus – All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Luke 19:7). The religious leaders tried to use this as a way to discredit Jesus; Jesus turns it around and uses it to show the true nature of his role as Messiah. The key phrase in this passage is “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” While Jesus never condoned immoral behavior, he did have a way of making all people feel comfortable in his presence. As followers of Jesus, we must be comfortable seeking out and spending time with people who are considered outsiders by our religious culture.Watch more videos at the Mountainview YouTube channel. Need a Speaker…
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Over the next 8 weeks at Mountainview we will be looking at snapshots of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. Along the way, we’ll find what makes Jesus different, unique, and worth following today. As we will see, Jesus didn’t fit religious stereotypes of his day. He still defies the stereotypes of him held by our culture, including many Christians. The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark. We know a few things about Mark: It’s highly possible that he was present when Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He caused a bitter split between Paul and Barnabas. His mom’s house was often used as a gathering place for early Christians in Jerusalem. He eventually become close friends with Peter. Mark’s biography of Jesus portrays Jesus as constantly on the move and working for a larger purpose. In that respect, he seems like the kind of Savior…
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15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:15-17 Of all the people that Jesus selected for his initial launch team, Levi might have raised the most eyebrows. You're probably thinking, "But what about Judas? Surely his selection would have caused concern." That concern would come later; at the time, Judas seemed like a perfectly good choice. But Levi was a legal extortionist (a tax collector) whose…
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As a student of leadership, I'm particularly interested in the qualities of good leadership. What are the values, characteristics, and habits that set apart the good leaders from the mediocre and unhealthy ones? Most of us could quickly generate a list like this one: Integrity Honest Disciplined Charismatic Good communicator Visionary Hardworking Humble Service-minded In both the business world and church literature, certain characteristics would overlap. Whether it's called Level Five leadership, servant leadership, or some other name ... you'll find many of the same characteristics of good leadership in each of them. But I've been thinking about one characteristic that I believe needs more attention. In fact, it may be the underlying factor that enables the other characteristics to function at their prime. It's congruence. Congruence happens when the various aspects of your life -- your beliefs and behavior - are in agreement. The root of the word traces…
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