This is a special guest devo from Pastor Mark’s daughter, Ashley, who was married in January 2020. 1 Peter 3:3-6 – Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the … Read more
1 Peter 3:1-2 – Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. If you are an unmarried Christian, you should not even consider marrying someone … Read more
In our study of 1 Peter, chapter 2 has some very controversial commands to “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” including godless government. This raises the question of what does the Bible say about civil disobedience? As a general rule, the following is a summary of the heart of what 1 … Read more
1 Peter 2:13-21 – Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should … Read more
In this timely sermon, Pastor Mark shares timeless truths from God’s word about submitting to Godly authority, God’s path to equality, and that overall, Jesus is the victim of humanity’s sinful injustice.
More than any cause, movement, feeling, culture, or social unit, God is in control and is over it all.
In this clip from Real Men, Pastor Mark talks about five ways men can use the Bible for good and for they and their family’s benefit.
Have a question you’d like answered in a potential future Ask Pastor Mark video? Send an email to [email protected].
As the ministry of The Trinity Church increases and moves temporarily online, Pastor Mark, Grace, and family will be releasing a special series of “Ask Pastor Mark” videos each week to help answer pertinent questions during this time! This question is about how, as a pastor and ministry couple, you can balance caring for your home and church family in times like this.
As the ministry of The Trinity Church increases and moves temporarily online, Pastor Mark, Grace, and family will be releasing a special series of “Ask Pastor Mark” videos each week to help answer pertinent questions during this time! This question is about what steps men can take to lead their homes during this time.
Philippians 1:15-18 – Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
This may surprise you, but as a preacher I know it’s true: preachers are sinners too. Yes, even a good preacher can preach a good sermon about bad sin while still having sin in his own heart. This can be very confusing for people, which is why Paul, from prison, distinguishes four kinds of preachers based upon the message they preach and motive behind it.
1. Good Message, Good Motive – These people speak of Jesus Christ, “from good will”, “out of love” and “in truth”. These people understand that churches and ministries should complete one another and not compete with one another because God wants His kids to build one another up and not beat one another down.
2. Good Message, Bad Motive – These people speak of Jesus out of “envy…rivalry”, “in pretense”, and “selfish ambition” with the motive being “to afflict”. In Paul’s day, like our own, people had their favorite teachers and bashed the other teachers. Some people were not anti-Christ, but they were anti-Paul. In our day, things have only gotten worse with competition for platforms and market share and social media where Christians can fight with one another in front of non-Christians. In these cases, the only people who win are Satan and the companies that profit from clickbait.
3. Bad Message, Good Motive – These people are like the two ladies mentioned later in Philippians 4:2 – “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord”. These were both godly women who supported Paul, but they somehow wrongly thought that speaking ill of one another publicly was a good idea. In our day, this category of person would include well-intended but misguided Christians who are a bit hurt and need to watch what they communicate, as well as those who have been poorly taught and need some help to get healthy.
4. Bad Message, Bad Motive – These people are referred later in Philippians as “dogs” and “evildoers” (3:2) as well as “enemies of the cross of Christ” (3:18). These folks are dangerous, as they are not only anti-some Bible teachers, they are also anti-Christ.
In closing, there are two important lessons we can learn from all of this:
1. Good news is not best shared through negative ministry. Christians should be known more by Who and what we are for, than who or what we are against. We should spend our energies getting the gospel of Jesus Christ out to the nations and not think that critiquing those who are is a ministry.
2. Messages are best dealt with publicly; messengers are best dealt with privately. The New Testament was written in large part to correct all kinds of messages that disagree with and undermine the Word of God. On occasion, the name of a well-known, very ungodly messenger is also given. Therefore, it is usually best to attack messages publicly but seek to connect with and influence messengers privately so that we can make a difference in their life and not just a point with our attack.
Of the 4 categories above, which one most closely resembles you today?
If the average person works for at least 80-100,000 hours of their lives, it’s important for the believer to figure out how their Christian faith works in the workplace whether that workplace is the marketplace, a family business, a ministry, or the home. In this sermon from the book of Proverbs, Pastor Mark uses Patrick Lencioni’s idea of “The Ideal Team Player” as a framework to teach on how to worship at work.
Galatians 6:2,5 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ…For each will have to bear his own load.
At first glance, the closing chapter of Galatians reads like one of those odd fortune cookies you get at a Chinese restaurant that you cannot make any sense of. The Spirit through Paul, speaking to the church, says we should bear burdens for one another, and bear our burdens for ourselves rather than burdening others.
Which is it?
The confusion is due, in part, to the fact that the original language (Greek) of these verses has two nuanced words that are less clear in our English translations.
Loads are those life responsibilities that we must carry by ourselves and not unnecessarily burden other people with, because God expects us to be self-sufficient in these areas (i.e. it’s your responsibility to get up for work each day, balance your checkbook, pay your bills, read your Bible, etc.).
Burdens are those life responsibilities that are so overwhelming that we cannot carry them alone and need the help of our friends in the church (i.e. a serious illness, death of a spouse, catastrophe etc.). If you fail to distinguish between these categories you may treat everything in your life as a burden and expect the church to run to your aid every time you have a tough day and thereby become a burden to them, or treat everything as a load and never lean upon your church friends because you don’t want to be a burden to anyone.
What is needed is discernment so that we lean on others when there is real need, and others lean on us when they have real need. Otherwise, what happens is that under the false guise of love, irresponsible people seek to shift the burden of their responsibilities to the overly responsible people in the church. The result is that the irresponsible people are immature, codependent, and exhausting to the overly responsible people who then don’t have the time, energy, or money to help the truly needy people with burdens too big to carry alone.
Do you lean toward being irresponsible or overly responsible?