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In the name of Jesus.
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Amen.
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St.
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Mark Evangelist calls us to
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repent and believe
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in the gospel.
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To believe in the gospel is to
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believe that in Jesus the
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kingdom of God is at hand and
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we have forgiveness of sins,
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life and salvation.
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And so the time is now to
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confess our sins and believe
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in the gospel.
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What does Jesus himself say at
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the beginning of Mark's gospel?
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The time is fulfilled and the
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kingdom of God is at hand.
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Repent and believe
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in the gospel.
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Mark's Gospel challenges us to
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think about life from
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God's perspective.
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And as far as Jesus
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is concerned,
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life,
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all of it,
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is about two things repentance
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and faith.
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So I ask you,
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do you repent?
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Do you believe in the gospel?
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Yes.
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The kingdom of God is also
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about following Jesus.
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It's about serving others
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in imitation of him,
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and it is proclaiming his
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gospel to others.
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These are fruits of faith
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without them, faith is dead.
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Or at least,
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as Luther might put it,
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awfully weak and limping along.
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But faith comes first, still.
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Faith is never alone,
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but faith alone saves,
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so Jesus words retain
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their force.
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The kingdom of God is at hand.
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Repent and believe
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in the gospel.
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Now,
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Mark's Gospel shows us
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examples of faith,
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of people who believe
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in the gospel,
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but also examples of unbelief
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and hardness of heart.
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Jesus healed a woman with a
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discharge of blood who had
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touched his garments.
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And he said to her daughter,
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your faith has made you well.
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Go in peace and be healed
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of your disease.
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When some folks told Jairus that
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his daughter was already dead,
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jesus said to the ruler of the
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synagogue, do not fear,
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only believe.
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To the blind man.
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Jesus says go your way.
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Your faith has made you well.
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And immediately he recover his
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sight and follow him on the way.
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Are we like this woman?
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Are we like Jairus
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or like the blind man?
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Now Jesus is also rejected
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in his own hometown.
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Mark tells us that Jesus could
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do no mighty work there in
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Galilee and he marveled because
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of their own belief.
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And when Jesus calms the storm,
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he asks his terrified disciples
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why are you so afraid?
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Have you still no faith?
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And after Jesus feeds the 5000
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and he walks on water to meet
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his disciples out on the shaky
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boat where they're afraid of him
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because they think he's a ghost.
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Mark tells us that the disciples
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were utterly astounded for they
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did not understand
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about the loaves.
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Still thinking about
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that feeding.
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And Mark tells us their
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hearts were hardened.
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Are we like the people
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in Jesus's hometown?
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Are we like the disciples
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out in the sea?
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These are uncomfortable
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questions,
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aren't they?
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We think faith is a slam dunk.
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It's a gift we possess
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it already.
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What's there to ask.
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We got this faith thing down,
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but not so fast,
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not in Mark's gospel.
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He asks us hard questions.
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Do you believe like Jairus?
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Or have you still no faith
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like the disciples?
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You see, faith is not a thing,
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a possession, an object,
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a quality in us.
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Faith is a daring,
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bold confidence in God and the
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one whom he has sent that needs
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to be awakened again
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and again and again.
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So that it does not die.
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So that it can grow.
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So that it can persevere.
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To be sure, Jesus teaches
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His disciples to have faith
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in God. He does.
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He tells them that he who does
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not doubt in his heart but
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believes that what God says
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will come to pass,
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it will be done to him.
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And then He sends them
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out to pray.
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Pray for this faith.
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It's not a slam dunk.
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The disciples hear the gospel
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for sure. We do too.
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Like the words to the paralytic,
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your sins are forgiven.
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Amen.
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But as the parable of the sower
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in the gospel reminds us,
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not all who hear the
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word believe it.
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There are too many things that
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can get in the way of
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faith in Jesus.
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Including the attacks of Satan,
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tribulation and persecution,
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the riches and things of this
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world that attract us and
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call us to devotion.
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Our faith struggles,
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let's just face it our
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faith struggles
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with all these threats.
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What are yours?
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Faith is not a magic pill.
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Faith is a living trust that
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perseveres amidst difficulties.
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It is not a one time deal.
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It is an ongoing relationship
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of dependence on God
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for all things.
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So Mark asks us a question to
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come back to again and again.
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Do you believe like Jairus?
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Or have you still no faith
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like the disciples?
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And the answer is
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yes.
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Everything comes down
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to dying, to unbelief daily.
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To dying to the hardness
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of hearts daily.
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In order to be made a new
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person, a true believer daily.
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The Christian life is about the
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death of the unbeliever in
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our sinful flesh and the
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resurrection of the new creature
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who believes faith is
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awakened daily.
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Never take faith for granted.
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Here,
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the father of the boy possessed
00:08:47.248 --> 00:08:48.720
by the unclean spirit
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best fits the bill.
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Remember him?
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When Jesus finds out that his
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disciples are unable
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to heal his boy,
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He says to them all faith
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less generation.
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How long am I to be with you?
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How long am I to bear with you?
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Bring him to me.
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And then he says to the boy's
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father all things are possible
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for one who believes.
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And immediately the father of
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the child cried out and
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said I believe.
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Help my own belief.
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There is your life
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in a snapshot.
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I believe.
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Help my own belief.
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Here we have a more honest
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to God approach to faith.
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Faith is trust,
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but faith struggles and fights
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and perseveres the spirit always
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helping us along the way.
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This boy's father tells
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it like it is.
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I believe. Help my own belief.
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This describes our
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situation too.
00:10:05.750 --> 00:10:07.250
We are believers,
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but we fight against doubts
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and unbelief daily.
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We are disciples in need of
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Jesus's. Your sins are forgiven.
00:10:16.170 --> 00:10:16.914
Repentance
00:10:16.962 --> 00:10:19.318
and faith is a daily thing.
00:10:19.404 --> 00:10:21.782
It's a daily rhythm is that
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return to the baptismal life
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that Luther talks about dying
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and being raised each
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and every day.
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We die to unbelief and
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die to believe again.
00:10:35.150 --> 00:10:37.290
Do you repent and believe
00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:38.569
in the gospel?
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And the answer is I believe.
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Help my unbelief.
00:10:47.410 --> 00:10:50.126
Mark 16 comes back to
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the same theme.
00:10:52.210 --> 00:10:53.665
The Son of man died on the
00:10:53.688 --> 00:10:55.374
cross, rose from the dead.
00:10:55.422 --> 00:10:56.420
Do you believe?
00:10:57.830 --> 00:11:00.020
And what responses do we get?
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Well,
00:11:02.072 --> 00:11:03.902
perhaps not unsurprisingly.
00:11:03.966 --> 00:11:05.410
Mostly unbelief.
00:11:06.150 --> 00:11:07.990
It's kind of disappointing.
00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:11.750
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.
00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:14.230
She tells the disciples.
00:11:14.810 --> 00:11:17.866
But when they heard that he was
00:11:17.888 --> 00:11:20.380
alive and has been seen by her,
00:11:21.150 --> 00:11:23.340
they did not believe.
00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:28.152
Then Jesus appears to the two
00:11:28.206 --> 00:11:29.316
other disciples walking
00:11:29.348 --> 00:11:30.170
on the road.
00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:32.984
Tell the rest of the disciples
00:11:33.032 --> 00:11:33.944
about the encounter.
00:11:33.992 --> 00:11:36.830
But they did not believe in Him.
00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:39.950
Not believe them.
00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.956
And then Jesus appears to the
00:11:42.978 --> 00:11:45.576
eleven themselves and he rebuked
00:11:45.608 --> 00:11:47.180
them for their own belief
00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.230
and hardness of heart
00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:51.784
because they had not believed
00:11:51.832 --> 00:11:53.340
those who saw him after
00:11:53.410 --> 00:11:54.620
he had risen.
00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:57.700
And Mark 16
00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:00.960
kind of tells it like it is.
00:12:01.410 --> 00:12:03.246
It is an extension of the
00:12:03.268 --> 00:12:04.234
rest of the gospel,
00:12:04.282 --> 00:12:07.086
a rebuke against unbelief and a
00:12:07.108 --> 00:12:09.966
renewed call to faith in the
00:12:09.988 --> 00:12:11.790
gospel. Yes, a rebuke,
00:12:12.610 --> 00:12:14.960
but also a gospel word.
00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:19.276
And then something
00:12:19.378 --> 00:12:20.856
really strange,
00:12:20.968 --> 00:12:23.532
surprising happens here. An
00:12:23.586 --> 00:12:25.384
instruction on how repentance
00:12:25.432 --> 00:12:28.230
and faith then shapes the work
00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:30.468
of the church in the world,
00:12:30.554 --> 00:12:32.608
the mission of the disciples.
00:12:32.704 --> 00:12:34.080
It is a humbling,
00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:35.860
humbling realization
00:12:37.160 --> 00:12:39.796
to process how the disciples,
00:12:39.988 --> 00:12:41.704
who themselves need help
00:12:41.742 --> 00:12:43.000
with their own belief,
00:12:43.420 --> 00:12:45.384
are sent into the world to
00:12:45.422 --> 00:12:46.744
proclaim repentance and
00:12:46.782 --> 00:12:48.180
forgiveness of sins.
00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:51.080
God uses broken vessels,
00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:55.160
even us, with all of our doubts,
00:12:57.900 --> 00:13:01.004
and makes us instruments of his
00:13:01.122 --> 00:13:03.070
proclamation in the world
00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:06.224
to call people to faith and
00:13:06.262 --> 00:13:08.050
baptism in his name.
00:13:11.670 --> 00:13:12.194
You know,
00:13:12.232 --> 00:13:13.726
this call to proclaim the Gospel
00:13:13.758 --> 00:13:16.322
to all creation in Mark 16 is
00:13:16.376 --> 00:13:18.170
the most cited section
00:13:18.350 --> 00:13:19.394
of the gospel
00:13:19.442 --> 00:13:21.270
in the Lutheran Confessions.
00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:24.920
It appears ten or so
00:13:26.650 --> 00:13:27.254
times.
00:13:27.372 --> 00:13:29.042
And what's the second most cited
00:13:29.106 --> 00:13:30.754
section of this gospel
00:13:30.802 --> 00:13:32.150
in the Confessions?
00:13:32.810 --> 00:13:36.806
Mark 1:15 the time is fulfilled
00:13:36.918 --> 00:13:37.946
and the kingdom of
00:13:37.968 --> 00:13:38.842
God is at hand.
00:13:38.896 --> 00:13:41.690
Repent and believe in the gospel
00:13:42.910 --> 00:13:44.174
By Mark
00:13:44.372 --> 00:13:47.486
the confessions too cause us to
00:13:47.508 --> 00:13:49.550
live a life of daily repentance,
00:13:49.890 --> 00:13:50.506
to die,
00:13:50.538 --> 00:13:51.802
to unbelief and harness
00:13:51.866 --> 00:13:52.302
of heart,
00:13:52.356 --> 00:13:54.090
and to grow and persevere
00:13:54.170 --> 00:13:55.622
in faith daily.
00:13:55.786 --> 00:13:57.234
And then to bear fruits of
00:13:57.272 --> 00:13:59.778
repentance by calling others
00:13:59.864 --> 00:14:02.146
through the word and baptism to
00:14:02.168 --> 00:14:05.234
share with us in this faith that
00:14:05.272 --> 00:14:07.234
struggles daily but is
00:14:07.272 --> 00:14:08.394
nourished daily
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also by God's word and
00:14:10.972 --> 00:14:13.510
forgiveness by the Gospel.
00:14:14.410 --> 00:14:14.774
St.
00:14:14.812 --> 00:14:17.942
Mark Evangelist calls us today
00:14:17.996 --> 00:14:20.902
and every day to hear for
00:14:20.956 --> 00:14:24.054
ourselves and then speak to
00:14:24.092 --> 00:14:26.418
others the words of Jesus.
00:14:26.594 --> 00:14:28.342
The kingdom of God is at hand.
00:14:28.396 --> 00:14:29.800
Repent and believe.
00:14:30.730 --> 00:14:32.310
And so we pray.
00:14:32.890 --> 00:14:36.334
And I believe help
00:14:36.532 --> 00:14:37.950
my own belief.
00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:40.640
We can pray together.
00:14:41.170 --> 00:14:45.150
I believe help my own belief.
00:14:45.810 --> 00:14:50.062
And again I believe help
00:14:50.196 --> 00:14:51.470
my own belief.
00:14:51.970 --> 00:14:54.938
Let it be so for Jesus sake.
00:14:55.114 --> 00:14:56.490
Amen.