by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 29, 2017 | False Worship, Hating Christ
Mark 11:1-11 – Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 22, 2017 | Compassion, Grace, Mercy
Mark 10:46-52 – 46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 22, 2017 | Following Christ, True Greatness, Uncategorized
Mark 10:32-45 – 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 8, 2017 | Child-like Dependence, Following Christ
Mark 10:17-31 – 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 2, 2017 | Pleasing Christ
2 Corinthians 5:6-15 – 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 1, 2017 | Birth of Christ
It becomes more stunning to me every year that songs about Jesus being the Christ are acceptable in our culture, simply because they correspond to American traditionalism. Even secular musicians get in the act by singing and recording songs that exalt Jesus as Lord...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 18, 2016 | Child-like Dependence, Following Christ
Mark 10:1-16 – And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 13, 2016 | Following Christ, Holiness, Killing Sin, Sanctification
Mark 9:38-50 — 38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 11, 2016 | Servant Mindset
Mark 9:30-37 — 30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 27, 2016 | Prayer
Mark 9:14-19 – 14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 20, 2016 | Suffering
Mark 9:2-13 — 2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 13, 2016 | Faith, Following Christ
Mark 8:31-38 — 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 6, 2016 | Following Christ, Uncategorized
You can just sense the jaws of the disciples dropping to the ground when they hear the first part of this teaching from Jesus in Mark 8:31. Surely, they are stunned in disbelief. The problem of not associating suffering with following Christ is still widespread...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 30, 2016 | Faith, Following Christ
Mark 8:22-26 — 22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 30, 2016 | Faith, Following Christ
Mark 8:10-21 — 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 18, 2016 | Grace, Mercy
Mark 7:31 – 8:9 — 31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 9, 2016 | Grace
Mark 7:24-30 — 24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 2, 2016 | Discipleship, Faith, Following Christ
Mark 7:14-23 – 14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 25, 2016 | Dependence, Faith, Following Christ
Attempting to Protect Yourself from God’s Word Mark 7:1-13 – Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 11, 2016 | Dependence, Faith, Following Christ
What the Galileans Received from the Son of God Mark 6:53-56 – 53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 5, 2016 | Faith, Following Christ, Trust, Unbelief
Hardness Towards Truth Leads to Unbelief in Christ Mark 6:45-52 – 45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 29, 2016 | Dependence, Faith, Following Christ
Doubting Jehovah Jireh Mark 6:32-44 — 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 21, 2016 | Obedience
Enjoying the Word While Rejecting Christ Mark 6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said,“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.”...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 21, 2016 | Dependence, Faith, Following Christ, Humility, Poor In Spirit, Reformed Theology
Faith That Amazes Jesus Luke 7:1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3When the centurion heard about Jesus,he...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 7, 2016 | Biblical Fruit, Dependence, Faith, Following Christ, Trust
Fear Conquering Faith Mark 5:21-43 — 21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 31, 2016 | Demon Possession, Evangelism, Total Depravity
The Pre-Christ You Mark 5:1-20 — They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 26, 2016 | Discipleship, Fear, Unbelief
Fearful Unbelief Mark 4:35-41 — 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 18, 2016 | Biblical Fruit, Discipleship, Evangelism, Following Christ
Understanding the Kingdom So what’s the correlation to the kingdom of God in this parable in Mark 4:26-29? If we consider the context of the book of Mark it’s this: God is in complete control of the results of Jesus’ ministry and the same will be true for the results...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 13, 2016 | Evangelism, Expository Preaching, Following Christ, Obedience
Temptations to Hide the Truth Believers are to carry on the ministry of Christ, which is not primarily about hiding the truth, but revealing the light of the world in Christ. But why does Christ have to address this in Mark 4:21-25? In other words, why would hiding...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 7, 2016 | Following Christ, Humility, Obedience, Sanctification
Hearing But Not Listening We have discovered in Mark 4:1-20, that understanding the Lord’s teaching is a gift from the Lord as indicated in v.11, so if someone concludes that they are one of the bad soils or have some of those tendencies, is there anything they can do...
