St Marcus MKE Sermons

We celebrate our freedom in Christ and the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth commemorates when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 to announce and ensure that the last of slavery in the Confederacy was abolished. Based on Matthew 9:35-10:8. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we will be studying Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 under the theme “Meaning.” Satan’s primary lie to humanity is that something or someone other than God can give us what only the true God can actually give. So, we search for meaning in life in otherwise good things – work, relationships, pleasure, etc. King Solomon, who had it all, teaches us that when these meaningful things are pursued ahead of Christ, everything becomes meaningless. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Our early summer series will be based on Tim Keller’s Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Using the structure of Keller’s book, we’ll examine biblical texts that provide practical life resources for navigating a post-Christian society. This week, we'll be studying 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 under the theme “Faith & Proof." All belief systems, religious and secular, require faith. Christianity is unique for a variety of reasons. It is rooted in eyewitness testimonies of historical facts and supernatural events that the early believers were willing to die for, proving it to be far different from both other world religions and modern secularism. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying John 15:26-27 under the theme “Be Filled With the Holy Spirit!” Pentecost is the celebration of the dawn of an era by which God primarily works in the world by the power of his Spirit through his Body, the Church. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying Acts 5:1-12 under the theme “Unceasing Testimony.” The Apostle Paul was not just a professional missionary. He was a Christian who could not stop speaking about the good news of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. This proclamation did not always make him popular in his world, but God used it mightily. Along the way, we learn some fascinating ways in which a Christian humbly, firmly, respectfully, and effectively defends their faith in a non-receptive environment. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we will be studying Acts 20:17-38 under the theme “Paul’s Farewell to Ephesian Friends.” In the process, we’ll see how Paul follows the Spirit’s prompting even when he doesn’t always know how it’s going to work out. The Spirit is making him more like his Savior. He’s using Paul powerfully and Paul knows he couldn’t have done it without deep Christian friendships along the way. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying Acts 16:25-40 under the theme “Three Unique Conversions.” Not only does the gospel work in every nation and language, but it works at different life stages and with different personalities. In Acts 16, we see the conversion of a businesswoman named Lydia, a demon-possessed slave girl, and a blue-collar jailer. The gospel is amazingly both non-negotiable and culturally flexible. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week, we'll be studying Acts 12:1-19 under the theme “Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison." God had a mission for Peter and no mere prison was going to deter that mission, even the chains of a prison cell. God broke Peter's chains through a praying church, an angelic visitor, and Peter’s willing spirit. Through this, the one who broke the chains of our sin teaches us how we may help those who are imprisoned by life’s chains. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week, we'll be studying Acts 10:24-48 under the theme "Cornelius, the Roman Centurion." The second quarter of the book of Acts undeniably demonstrates God’s desire for multiethnic, multicultural congregations. God has reconciled a world to himself through the grace of the God-Man Jesus, and now we’re to demonstrate that otherworldly reconciliation in our unity to people with whom we only have Jesus in common. Even the Apostle Peter was shocked that God shows no favoritism. The book of Acts is the story of the early Christian Church. It is the ministry Jesus CONTINUED to do by his Spirit and through his Church even after he ascended into heaven. By studying this book, believers not only learn the important history of the Church but also receive focus for what our mission as a congregation and individual disciples should still be today. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The first Easter didn't start out with the pomp and joy that we associate with Easter celebrations today. On the evening of that first Easter Sunday, there was tentative joy, but also confusion, fear, and doubt. Jesus' first words as He appeared to his disciples were "Peace be with you," and it was exactly what they needed to hear. He gave them more than assuring words, He gave them tangible proof of His resurrection, which melted away all of their doubts and fears. Jesus also shows up in our midst and brings us the same peace he brought to his disciples. It happens so often and in such ordinary ways that we might skip right past it without recognizing it. Based on John 20: 19-31. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

With our faith in our Risen Savior, we can find peace amongst our daily struggles. He is risen! Alleluia! View the full service here: https://www.youtube.com/live/z6QVn4BohOM?feature=share If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

There is a real and mysterious presence of Christ in the elements of Holy Communion. Partaking in the Lord's Supper provides a connection to the past and future, remembering what God has done for us and comfort and hope for whatever may come. Communing with fellow believers also gives us the opportunity to self-examine, unite with those who have wronged us, and open our hearts to invite those different from us to sit at our "tables." If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 21:12-17 under the theme “The Triumphal Entry.” Palm Sunday is a unique occasion in which Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a king, but as a very humble king. He possesses the authority to ride an unbroken colt. He evokes praises from the people. And he overturns the broken, corrupt religious system of his day. As we enter Holy Week, we look for how to better honor a king who is not of this world. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service. This week, we are led to Jesus' enemies. The Parable of the Tenants reflects that although the Jewish leaders reject Jesus, He is the cornerstone of the Church. Based on Luke 20:9-19. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 18:21-35 under the theme “Forgive.” Perhaps the worst prison humans self-inflict comes from the failure to forgive. Jesus’ teaching here suggests there is something in our fallen condition that is delusional and unmerciful, which leads to vengeance, bitterness, and torment. On the contrary, this week we see that the most natural expression of a heart that understands redemption by grace is to forgive the debts of those who wrong us. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service. This week, we are led to some Greeks. The fact that a group of Greeks would show an interest in a Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth is noteworthy. The Messiah wasn't sent just for the people of Israel, but for the entire world. His message wasn't one based on superiority or dominance, but one of unity. Based on John 12:20-33. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 18:1-14 under the theme “Greatness in the Kingdom.” All people, including Jesus’ Disciples, struggle with establishing a positive sense of self, an identity. But in God’s Kingdom, the pathway to greatness for us is not in achieving or never making mistakes, but in repenting. True repentance can only come from humble hearts who know they’re saved by grace. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service. This week, we are led to a fig tree. Jesus used a barren fig tree as an object lesson on what Our Father thinks about unfruitfulness. Based on Mark 11:12-14, 20-25. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 13:44-46 this weekend under the theme of “The Parables of Hidden Treasure.” Here, Jesus teaches us something about treasure in the ordinary, the sacrifices that are inevitably attached to treasure, and how God has treasured us above all. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service. This week, we are led to the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus went to His Father's house and was disappointed to find it full of money changers who turned a place of prayer and praise into marketplace and "a den of robbers." By overturning the tables in the temple, Jesus showed the people and chief priests that it is of utmost importance to honor and protect our Father's name and to give Him the respect the reverence He deserves. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 under the theme of “The Parable of the Weeds.” This lesson teaches us something valuable about patience – why God’s timelines are necessarily different, and better than hours. It explains how spiritual growth is organic. It also helps explain a believer’s love of Jesus but frequent disappointment with Christians and churches. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service. This week, we are led to a dinner celebration. Mary of Bethany shows her love and thankfulness of Jesus by anointing Him with expensive perfume. How do you say "thank you" to God for the ultimate sacrifice of His one and only Son? If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 11:16-24 this weekend under the theme of “Perfectly Fair Judgment.” We often feel certain things about what we perceive to be fair or not but these feelings often come from a place of unbelief about God’s goodness. Jesus offers two unique teachings that help explain why God alone is fair and even better than fair. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

The theme for the 2023 Lenten season is “His Final Steps.” We'll be exploring Jesus’ final days before, during, and after his crucifixion. Different locations will serve as the theme for each Lenten service.  This week, we are led to the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus shows His power over Lazarus' tomb and further displays His power over our own tombs. If He has the power to overcome death, does He not also have the power to work in your life every single day? If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 17:1-9 under the theme “Listen to Him.” The Transfiguration is a moment when Jesus strengthens his inner circle of disciples by revealing an unusual measure of his divine nature to them, prior to descending on a journey to Calvary. This world includes many dark valleys but, for the believer, we survive by anticipating the glory of Mount Zion while listening to our Lord & Savior’s voice. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 6:19-24 this weekend under the theme of “Tangibly Offering Your Heart.” Jesus teaches that there is freedom, wisdom, and joy for the eyes that perceive eternity, and aren’t blinded by the temporal materials of this fallen world. Our hearts follow wherever our treasures go. This principle also teaches us what Jesus truly treasured. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’re studying Matthew 6:5-15 this weekend under the theme “A Model for Prayer and Life.” The Lord’s Prayer is perhaps one of the most used and abused gifts that has been given to the Christian Church. It is a template and pattern for not only how we pray, but also how we approach life. This lesson will give us a foundation for prayer, the substance of prayer, and the key to surrendering in prayer. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Matthew 4:21-24, 38-48 under the theme of "Loving Enemies." Almost every society in history has advocated for demonstrating kindness, love, and generosity toward family and friends. Christianity’s unique teaching, however, encourages us to take a smack in the face from an enemy, while not running, not hitting back, and not enabling the wrongdoer to do it again. The Savior who took hell in our place teaches us that grace neither repays sin, nor permits sin, but pays for sins. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Old Testament believers really weren't all that different from believers today. They lived and walked in darkness, they consulted with spiritists and mediums who "peep and mutter," and looked for signs on what to do next in this life. Relating that to today, humans often look to social media, influencers, or the news for advice instead of seeking out what God has already instructed in His Word. Listening to any voice other than God's leaves us distressed in the darkness. However, Jesus appears to us in the darkness and calls for us to "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near." By His death on the cross, we have been released from our darkness and a new Light has dawned. Based on Isaiah 8:19-9:4 and Matthew 4:12-23. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Matthew 2:13-23, under the theme of "The Escape to Egypt." Last week we saw how Jesus’ ministry got started as he publicly identified with our sins in his Baptism, and immediately moved to the wilderness to succeed where we would inevitably fail. This week, we back up a step and see how this mission was not only prophesied, but imaged in the Old Testament Scriptures. God orchestrated stars, angels, and dreams to carry out his plans. And he governs our lives with equal detail today. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Matthew 3:13-4:11, under the theme of "Baptized for Our Failures." The question of Jesus' Baptism is a peculiar one when we consider his sinlessness, evidenced by his resistance of testing from Satan. But he is baptized for OUR sins, with the goal of switching places with us.  SERIES SUMMARY: Matthew's Gospel  is the first book of the New Testament, and tells how Israel's long-awaited Messiah final has arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus fulfills all prophecy, but is nonetheless rejected by the hypocritical Jewish religious leaders and nation. Still, because he came graciously, he also dies graciously, forgives our sins, and rises to ensure our salvation. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

So, what is Christmas really about? It's not about those "warm fuzzy" feelings that the songs, movies, commercials, and stores try to sell us during the Christmas season. Christmas is about fear; specifically the absence of fear that the gift of Christ brings every believer. Whether we experience lowliness, loneliness, losses, or lapses in this mortal life, the Gospel points us to the One who has already conquered all of our greatest fears for us. "Don't be afraid. Behold!"  Based on Luke 2:1-20. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we close out our Numbers series by studying Numbers 22:21-41, under the theme of "Balaam's Donkey." This week is less a look at Israel, more about how God directs forces outside of people to bless his people. If God must make a donkey talk to bring blessing into your life, that's exactly what he'll do. If God has to take a beating to save your life, he will. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Have you ever felt like there is a separation or ever-widening gap between you and God? What does it mean to be “in Christ?” God sent His Son to be our substitute. He offered up Himself as the final sacrifice so that we no longer need to fear the agony of death and the separation of our Father’s everlasting love.  Based on 2 Corinthians 5:14—6:2. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Numbers 21:4-9, under the theme of "The Bronze Snake." Almost 40 years into Israel's wilderness wandering, they're still struggling with the issue of grumbling. As a result, God allows a uniquely appropriate consequences, an experience that does physically what the Israelites have been doing spiritually in their grumbling. He also offers a unique and foreshadowing solution - looking to a snake lifted up on a pole. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Christmas movies and media often confuse a lack of sorrow with joy, as if they are on the opposite sides of a spectrum. What do we do with sorrow that persists? What do we do with sorrow even when we know joy? Christmas leads us to the cross: where joy and sorrow meet.  Based on Zephaniah 3:14-20. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Numbers 16:1-24, 31-35, 41-50, under the theme of "Korah's Rebellion." The Israelites had a grumbling problem. They complained about their conditions. They complained about their leaders. And it tried God's patience. In fact, they would need a mediator to come between them and God's wrath over their rebellion. Herein we learn wisdom about where we choose to set up our tents in life, why we should show respect to God-given leaders, and how our Heavenly Father shows grace and patience with us. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

There is a big difference between preparing for Christmas and preparing for Jesus. It’s easy to prepare for a single day and then move onto the next, but Jesus doesn’t come for just a day. He comes to stay.  Based on Luke 3:1-20.  If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Many of us wrap up the Thanksgiving celebration with a viewing of a favorite holiday classic like It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, or Elf. This is an unofficial acknowledgement that we are transitioning on to an important time of year. The historical church calendar has traditionally done something similar. There is a fall-time recognition of the End Times, before we turn the page back to the beginning, Advent, when we process the coming of the Promised Messiah. The bounce between 2nd Coming and 1st Coming is a believer's balance of the "Already...but not yet" experience of being God's people in the wilderness of life. This week we study Romans 13:11-14 under the theme of "Look What Time It Is!"

This week we'll be studying Numbers 12:1-16, under the theme of "Miriam & Aaron Oppose Moses." After slandering Moses' wife, Miriam and Aaron get a firm reminder to be content in their calling, submit to God's will, and honor God's choices, even as they experience God's grace. SERIES SUMMARY: The Book of Numbers picks up at Mt Sinai, roughly where the Book of Exodus ended. The task before the nation is to take possession of the Promised Land. The Israelites are counted and resume march. But…they begin incessantly grumbling at the hardships of the wilderness and leadership of Moses & Aaron. In this series, we're going to see how discontentment with life, distrust of leaders, and disbelief in God’s promises complicates life unnecessarily; and, if left unrepented, could even prevent blessing of the  Promised Land. We'll also see God's patient, undeserved, unfailing love for his people. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 12:4-13, under the theme of "Enduring Discipline." Throughout this series, we've said the Hebrews were new Jewish converts to Christianity, who were reconsidering the faith due to present hardship. As the author of Hebrews has made logical points to persuade them to not give up, his final major argument is that the hardship a Sovereign God allows in our lives is akin to a loving Father's discipline. It comes from a place of love. And it aims towards a place of our betterment.

By holding on to the Truth of God's Holy Word, we experience the freedom of no longer being slaves to sin. Based on John 8:31-36.

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 11:1-3; 13-17, under the theme of "The Nature of Saving Faith." The author of Hebrews reminds us in this chapter of the "heroes" of Israelite history. These were heroes of faith more than heroes of faithfulness. None of them was saved by their own righteousness, but by a righteousness that came by/through faith. This confidence in God's promises of life eternal then led to them acting courageously in this life presenting a powerful pattern for us.

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 10:19-27, under the theme of "Keep Moving Forward Together." The modern western world champions the idea of individual autonomy. Its two most devastating lies then are 1) that we can save ourselves, and 2) that we can do a relationship with God by ourselves. But the writer to the Hebrews teaches the necessity of meeting together, the danger of deliberately sinning against this, and the identity that unites us in the Church.

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 9:11-22, under the theme of "The Shedding of Blood." Many people today like the idea of a loving God, but the moment you start talking about bloody sacrifices, they perceive it as an unnecessary and barbaric holdover from ancient, violent people. But what is blood? Why were blood sacrifices necessary for God's people? What is the role of Jesus' bloody sacrifice, and where does blood fit in regarding us as living sacrifices? This text takes us back to the necessity of blood sacrifices, the Great High Priest's blood sacrifices, and how allowing ourselves to be drained of some life can still mean life for others today.

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 4:1-13, under the theme of "Entering God's Rest." Despite our basic needs of life being met in historically unprecedented ways, the average person today reports being more anxious, more isolated, and less rested than at most moments in history. God offers a deep, powerful, soul rest for those who are interested. But it's on his terms, not ours.

This week we'll be studying Hebrews 2:5-18, under the theme of "Sharing Our Humanity." God did not hover above earth giving us advice on our problems. He came down in the person of Jesus, experienced life with us, and overcame death for us. He now compels us to similarly enjoin ourselves to the hurt of others in order to bring God's grace and power into their lives. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Luke 16:19-31, the story of The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus, under the theme of "God, Our Helper in Life and in Death." If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we'll be studying Jonah 4:1-11 under the theme of "God's Compassion to Jonah." Most people can tell you there's a fish that swallows a man in the Book of Jonah. Fewer can tell you Jonah goes to Nineveh in chapter 3. But very few can tell you how the book ends, why it's a cliffhanger, and what the major lessons of the book truly are. This week, in the final chapter, God disciples a self-righteously wayward spiritual child, reiterates his love for humanity, and creates in us a longing for a prophet who doesn't sit outside a city hoping for its destruction but goes outside the city to die for the city.

This week we'll be studying Jonah 3:1-10 under the theme of "Jonah Listens to God." God graciously recommissions Jonah. And Jonah reluctantly carries out his mission with a relatively simple message. But God's Word is effective in ways we can't understand. A nation turns from its violence. And God teaches us important things about the necessity of suffering for saving, the ministry strategy of city, and the ULTIMATE JONAH who entered a city not simply to prevent it from dying, but to die for it. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive