Thank you so much for sharing.
If you have your Bibles, I want to turn to Matthew chapter 8.
!
I just often call that the trial sermon, and I told you at the time that I was not on trial.
I hadn't even been arrested.
And then I preached on Mark chapter 6, among other passages, and I want to return to that today.
Now, I will tell you, I'm not starting over at four years of sermons, okay?
It's not the case.
We're preaching through the book of Mark after we took an excursion during Easter.
And as we approached this passage, I couldn't help but think about another passage.
These two passages are two of the most startling passages that I've ever come across.
They are two passages that stump me.
It's found in Matthew chapter 8, beginning in verse 5, and it says this.
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Christ, appealing to him,
Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.
And he said to him, I will come and heal him.
But the centurion replied, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof,
for I only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.
And I say to one, go, and he goes, and the other come, and he comes.
And to my servant, do this, and he does that.
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him,
truly I tell you, there is no one in Israel, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Did you catch it?
Jesus was amazed.
It says he marveled at the man's faith.
Now, Jesus was limitless.
He knew all things and could do all things.
The only limits that he had, he put upon himself,
and he only had them while he lived in the flesh on the earth.
Philippians 2, verse 6-8 gives us a hint of that,
when it says, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God,
a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on the cross.
I don't know what all he gave up when he came in the flesh, in human form,
and whoever tells you that they do completely understand that,
either lies to you or is ignorant enough to think they know.
The reality is, it is beyond us.
But I would have thought that a man's faith would not have marveled him.
But it did.
So what amazed Jesus?
I'll tell you what amazed Jesus.
It was an abundance of unexpected faith.
The man showed amazing faith.
And he was not a man who was expected to show amazing faith.
He was a centurion.
A centurion was a high-ranked official,
an officer in the Roman army.
He led a century of men, usually between 80 and 100 men,
in a company of soldiers.
They were sharp men.
They were notables of the community.
They were known for their deliberation.
They were known for their consistency.
They were known for their strength.
They were known as being battle-tested.
They were known as being experienced.
We see a presence of the centurions sprinkle throughout the New Testament.
Here, this one had watched Jesus.
and he had seen the power of Christ
and he had now put his faith in Christ.
There was another centurion
that stood at the foot of the cross of Christ.
He oversaw the death of Christ
only to utter in the end
in Mark chapter 15 verse 39
truly this man looking at Christ
was the Son of God.
In the book of Acts we find Cornelius.
Cornelius is the first Gentile convert
and interestingly enough he is also a centurion.
Paul had a centurion at his side
through many of his travels
as he traveled from prison to prison
having a centurion beside him many times.
The status of a centurion made for an impressive resume
but it also made for a Gentile
who was an outsider.
So what you have is a Gentile outsider
working for the Roman government.
That man was not expected to respond to Christ
in a positive way.
I mean think about this.
Jesus was a Jew focused on saving
and training Jews to reach the rest of the world
for the kingdom of God.
But those Jews that represented the kingdom of God
to the people of that day
they're the ones that tried to kill Christ.
They're the ones that did not follow him.
Upon arranging for his execution
they built new and unheard of relationships
with the Romans to have him executed.
Yet here he is in fact
a commander of the opposing army of another race
that showed the greatest step of faith
in all of the land.
And Jesus marveled.
He was astonished.
At the belief of one
that was not even expected to be listening.
Not even expected to be watching.
And then we look at Mark chapter 6.
Mark chapter 6 verse 1 through 6 says this.
Jesus went away from there
and came to his hometown
and his disciples followed him.
And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue
and many who heard him were astonished saying
where does this man get these things?
What is the wisdom given to him?
How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Is not this carpenter the son of Mary
and brother of James and Joseph
and Judas and Simon
and are not his sisters here with us?
And they took offense at him.
And Jesus said to them
a prophet's not without honor
except in his hometown
and among his relatives
and in his own household.
And he could do no mighty work there
except that he laid his hands
on a few sick people and healed them.
And he marveled
because of their unbelief
and he went about among the villages
teaching.
What amazes Jesus in this circumstance?
An absence of expected faith.
He was preaching in his hometown
among those that knew him best
yet they did not respond.
Now we're not talking about
some wild child
that's finally come home
and now he'll come back
and let's see what he's made of.
Not at all.
The reality is
this is Jesus.
He didn't have wild days.
He didn't involve himself
in the debaucheries of the day.
Christ was sinless.
He was born into common means.
He was born to a common family.
But he was 100% God
and at the same time
100% man.
His ministry did not start
until he came out of a desert
of temptation
and he came out of it
as a sinless man.
His testimony
preceded his ministry.
Yet the very people
that he had come from
the very people
that he was sent
to train and prepare
the people
that you know
will believe in him.
The expected people.
His own people
failed to recognize
his power and might.
They failed to recognize
who he really was
and he was amazed.
Now I want you to notice
what this means
because verse 5
makes this clear.
people's lives
were not impacted
by Christ
as they could have been
because the very people
that should have been
his support
did not believe him.
Those who
really knew him.
That's amazing.
I wonder how we amazed
what do we do
that amazes Jesus?
Now
I doubt we surprise him.
As a matter of fact
we don't surprise him.
He knows us.
Nothing throws him off.
He knows our heart.
The frailness though
of humanity
in the incarnate Christ
has been shed.
Jesus is all knowing.
He's ever present.
He's all powerful Lord.
He sits at the right hand
of the Father
praying for us.
And he knows
how to pray for us
because he knows us.
He knows how to pray for us
when we utter
our ramblings.
When we skirt around
the real issues
of our life.
when we share
our grocery list
of wants
and wishes
to an almighty God
that sees
into us
and sees
through us
the whole time
while we're trying
to convince him
that we are of one
heart and mind
with his will.
He knows all that.
But aren't we still amazing?
How we look past
the work that he's done
in his word
the work that he's done
through his word
the work that he's done
through our lives
the work that he's done
in our lives
the work that
that he's working
in us
and through us
and yet we're still
afraid to hand him
the reins of our life.
It isn't amazing
that we still worry
we still do the very things
that he tells us
not to do
we worry about things
we worry about stuff
we worry about mammon
that's a good
King James Version
word right there
mammon
you know what mammon is?
Mammon's that stuff
it's your stuff
you know
you may not have much
but it's your stuff
don't mess with my stuff
matter of fact
some of that mammon
we've made
tremendous sacrifice for
they never satisfy
we want a little more
a little bigger
a little better
a little newer
he tells us
to be anxious
for nothing
but yet a doctor
tells us
he wants to run a test
and sheer panic
invades our lives
he tells us
to seek him first
and if we're
if most of us
are honest
the agenda of God
in our lives
sometimes comes
second place
maybe third place
maybe
we won't go there
the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords
comes in the flesh
to live among us
takes upon himself
our frailties
yet passes
every tempting test
giving every trial
to the Father
dying a sinner's death
so that we would not
have to
was buried in a barred tomb
because you don't need
to buy something
that you're only going to use
for a few days
and later he arose
he walked among us
for 40 days
and ascended
to the right hand
of the Father
to build us
a place in heaven
to make intercession
on our behalf
to wait until the Father
says go
and the trumpet blows
and he comes
to take us home
isn't it amazing
even with all that
that our daily lives
often do not reflect
the change
that's taken place
we must amaze
Jesus still today
no I don't think
we catch him off guard
I don't think
we catch him by surprise
he saw it coming
all the time
but surely he marvels
at the missed opportunities
that we walk away from
don't you think
he marvels
at the people
that he places
in our path
that we walk by
don't you think
he marvels
at the way
he always makes
a way out
when we're tempted
1 Corinthians 10
13 promises us that
and yet
we fail
and we fall
right back
into the same
sinful patterns
time and time again
don't you think
he marvels
that he's given us
all that we'll ever need
yet instead of
tapping into the power
that is within us
by the Holy Spirit
of God
we reach for
everything around
us looking
for something
to lean on
it's amazing
folks
don't you marvel
over that
don't it
amaze you
I mean
what do you think
God would do
how do you think
he would bless
if we decided
today
to live our lives
in a way
that
will amaze
him
amaze him
that
we
that
we
dedicate ourselves to the Word of God.
Amaze Him in the way that we dedicate ourselves to prayer.
Amaze Him in the way that we trust Him in all that we do.
Amaze Him in the way that we forsake this world and follow Him
instead of forsaking Him and following the world.
Amaze Him in the way that we lean on Him daily.
Amaze Him in the way that we truly believe that He's everything that we've got.
He's the only hope that we've got.
Amaze Him in the way that we believe that He saves all who will believe.
Amaze Him in the way that we rest in the guidance that He gives us when we listen.
To amaze Him with the way we believe He gives peace
for everyone who will find their rest in Him.
I don't know about you.
But I want to amaze Jesus.
Not with the things that I fail to believe.
But the way I'm determined to believe that God's up to something pretty special.
Because His grace is amazing.
I said His grace is amazing.
Why don't our lives amazing?
The question is, are we willing to live an amazing life for Jesus today?
To just live for the Lord Jesus in an amazing fashion.
I'm going to tell you, this whole dark world needs that kind of light.
And God's called us to be that kind of light.
Not only called us now,
He enabled us by the Spirit of God
to be that for His honor
and for His glory
and for His kingdom.
I don't know if it will be amazing to Him.
But I know one thing.
If we trust Him with everything we've got
and lean on Him completely
and live for Him wholeheartedly,
it would be absolutely amazing.
May we do that.
I'll tell you how it starts.
It starts by surrendering your life to the Lord Jesus.
It starts by asking Him to come into your life
and to forgive you of the sins that have separated you.
And asking Him to cleanse you.
And to make you whole.
And committing your life to live amazing for Him.
Not in your own strength,
but by the power of the strength of God.
The Spirit of God that indwells us.
You've never given your heart and life to the Lord.
Give it to Him.
Today.
Maybe you're here this morning.
You have done that,
but you've never acknowledged that publicly.
You've never been baptized as a believer.
And Jesus, by His commission and by His example,
tells us that the proper way to acknowledge our salvation
is to follow that up with public baptism.
It's a physical representation of what happens to us spiritually.
If you've never done that, I encourage you to come.
We plan to do that in the next few weeks.
And so I encourage you to come.
I told you when I began that
that I preached on these two passages
and a very similar theme
on the first Sunday that I preached in this church.
I remember it.
I had a three-piece suit on with a tie.
Sitting right here.
Taking all of it in.
Trying to figure out what in the world.
What in the world are they getting into?
What in the world am I getting into?
How's all this going to work out?
And I remember
working on that sermon in preparation
for that day
and saying,
God,
if you're not going to do amazing things in that church,
I don't want to go.
I could have stayed where I was.
God, if you're going to do something
where we can tell it's been by your hand
and by your direction
and you're going to allow me to get in on a move of God,
then I want to be a part of it.
Lord, let it be amazing.
I can tell you after almost four years,
it's been amazing.
God's been good to us.
He really has.
So if you're a guest here today,
this ain't a sales pitch.
It's true.
God's leading you to be a part of Pickett's First Baptist Church.
I can tell you
that I thank God
if He's leading you,
you need to follow.
It's a blessed body of believers
and we're excited about what God's done.
We're excited about what God's going to do.
It's a good people to be a part of
if God so leads.
Whatever that is,
then there's the rest of us
that in reality there's things in our life
that we just,
it's just not amazing.
It just needs to be changed in our lives
and we need to lay those down before the Lord today.
And you can do that where you stand
as this song is sang
or you can do it at this altar
or you can do it with a pastor praying for you.
I'll always tell you,
I never want you to do more
than what God tells you to do.
But it is always my prayer
that you'll never be satisfied
with doing less
than what God would have you to do.
Just be obedient.
If you need Christ, come.
Let me share Christ with you.
If you need to publicly acknowledge Him, come.
We'll line that up.
God's leading you to this church, you come.
God's leading you to deal with a matter in your life
that you need to lay down before Him.
You come.
You take care of that.
However God leads you to do it,
you take care of that.
Heavenly Father, I love you.
And I thank you, Lord,
for the blessing
that you give us to be your children,
to allow you to lead and guide us, God.
And I'm thankful, Lord,
for how we've seen it
in our midst, dear Father.
And I ask, God,
that you will make us hungry
to be more like you,
to live more for you,
to lay down today
the matters that we need to lay down before you
and to walk out of here
ready to live amazing lives
for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lead us right now,
oh God, I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.