Go a little deeper
This service opens with worship, a Mother's Day welcome, a sunflower tradition, and a short reflection on a mother's influence before prayer and more singing. The message itself centers on Mark 3, where Jesus goes up a mountain, calls those he desires, and appoints twelve apostles. Pastor Keith, who introduces himself as Keith, contrasts the men Jesus chose with the kind of dream team we might assemble, describing them as a crazy crew of fishermen, a tax collector, and a zealot.
Keith traces the invitation to follow Jesus through Mark 1 and 2, arguing that following means walking in the rabbi's steps, leaving an old identity behind, and receiving a new purpose without losing one's gifting. He explains the words disciple and apostle, then moves through Jesus' commission: to be with him, to preach good news, and to have authority over demons. He ties that authority to the cross, where sin was paid in full and the powers were disarmed.
When Jesus' family hears what is happening, they go out to seize him, saying he is out of his mind. Keith treats that accusation as a badge of honor for followers too, arguing that a renewed mind will look strange to the world. He touches on the unpardonable sin as a rejection of Jesus rather than a fear a sincere person needs to carry, then redefines family around doing God's will. The service closes with an invitation to respond, a prayer, a final song, and a prayer team.
Take this with you
The appointment follows the anointing
Keith distinguishes the anointing from the appointment: everyone who believes in Jesus receives the Holy Spirit, and the appointment is the specific plan God has for a life. He grounds the anointing in Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 about power coming with the Spirit, then applies it to the twelve and to the hearer.
Following Jesus relocates identity
In Mark 2:14 Jesus calls Matthew from the tax booth to follow him, and in Mark 1:16-18 he calls Peter and Andrew in the middle of their fishing workday. Keith explains that a disciple walked in the rabbi's steps, and applies it: this is not a call to quit your job, but career stops defining you. Your gifting stays, but its purpose changes.
Authority rests on finished work
The commission in Mark 3 includes authority over demons, and Keith cites Ephesians 6 for a real spiritual conflict, but he locates the authority in the cross rather than in personal strength. He points to Colossians, where the debt against us was canceled and nailed to the cross and the powers were disarmed, and to Jesus' word tetelestai, paid in full, so believers answer the accuser with forgiveness rather than striving.
Crazy is what a renewed mind looks like
In Mark 3:20-21 Jesus' family goes out to seize him, saying he is out of his mind, and Keith treats that charge as the pattern for his followers too. He connects it to Romans 12, where Paul urges a renewed mind that is no longer conformed to the world's patterns, and describes the observable change others notice: dropping old habits, bitterness, and numbing, and living differently even when it looks strange.
Family is redefined around God's will
When Jesus' mother and brothers arrive in Mark 3, he names those who do the will of God as his mother and brothers. Keith reads that as good news for anyone who feels they were born into the wrong family, and he stresses that this belonging comes as a free gift in Jesus rather than an achievement or a birthright.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
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i think 45 36 25 25 30 50 41. it would probably be teleporting it would probably be mind reading she she already can technically read minds love probably skip work without anyone knowing we have eight pets they're probably talking to animals mine reading she does it all the time she signs me up for like lots of fun stuff like summer camp and she also taught me to skate because she when she walks into a room she just makes everyone smile and talks
with everyone that she is pretty because she loves me because she is so great my hugs my dad probably sleeping chocolate hugging hugs going on a hike with us hmm me when we make her cards and stuff about as tall as mary over there i think for like 40 or 50
feet 75 or something this tall way taller that's taller than my dad my dad is taller five nine i think i don't really know that one like six three she usually plays with her phone sometimes she's like cleaning the house sometimes she's like listening to like her dave ramsey podcast joe rogan spending time for herself she probably shops for christmas that's the dishes they just stay home and play that's what she does probably takes a nap
because um she loves us and takes care of us i look handsome she tells me she loves me every single day because she shows it when she takes care of me show this by uh giving us hugs and take care of them it hugs me and kisses me because she always hugs us and kisses us mama i love you mom i love you mom i love you hey mom i love you hey mom i love you mom i love you mom i love you i love you mom i love you mommy i love your mom mom i love you i love you mom i love you mom i love you mommy
welcome to church if you're watching online welcome online as well i'm so glad you chose to join us this morning i want to introduce my lovely wife rachelle happy mother's day rochelle thank you happy mother's day to all the mamas in the house we are so excited that you chose to spend your mother's day with us uh i just want to acknowledge that sometimes mother's day can be hard there can be pain there can be loss that we're reminded of maybe unfulfilled dreams and i just want to speak to anybody in the room today that mother's day is hard for you and i just want to say that you are loved you are seen and you are valued and we're so glad that you're here with us today i also want to point out that we have a ladies brunch that's coming up
i think it's going to be up here if you have questions you can go to our website but we would love to have you sign up online and join us for that special event we also have a journey tradition to give a sunflower to all the women on mother's day so as you exit today there will be a sunflower waiting at the door for each lady who is here and go ahead and take that home and enjoy it and you know i just feel like you take that flower home and you see it all through the week i just pray and hope that when you see that you are reminded that you are loved and that you are seen by your church and that we care for you so i was thinking of mother's day and the definition of a mother so i pulled out my phone and i googled good old webster's what is a mother and the definition in the dictionary of
a mother is a female parent a woman in authority an old or elderly woman such as old mother hubbard so i read that and i thought i think that this time webster's maybe has it a little a little wrong while there is some truth to that it's not the full definition right so when i think of a mom the word that came to me was influence and when you go to webster's and you google influence it says the capacity to have an effect on the character the development or behavior of someone or something and for anyone who's in the sound of my voice whether you're a mom a woman even a man we all have the ability to influence and so i just want to encourage you
today that you're an influencer one way or another and let's be an influencer let's be known as women who influenced the right way i thought of a story this morning of this sweet little grandma that influenced my life and she would talk about those days that would come that were hard and that were stressful and that were filled with pain and emotion and she talked about how she would decide in those moments to set the tone in her home and she would decide what it was going to look like on those worst days and so she talks about how she would turn up her worship music and she'd play that worship music and she'd have her little screaming three-year-old in her little argumentative seventh grader and she'd put on that worship music and change the tone of her home and then she went a step further and she would share about
how she would actually go and walk to her front door and she'd open that front door and she would shout all heaven in and all hell out and we have the ability to through through worship and through prayer and through our heart and our attitude to influence our our home our workplace your roommates your kids your parents all hell out and all heaven in you guys stay with me and we're going to pray jesus we are so grateful that you see us we are so grateful that you love us lord i just pray that your holy spirit would be in this place today that you would you would speak to our hearts that our hearts would be soft before you lord we just we praised you today and we choose we choose to hear you and to listen to you and i just pray that throughout this entire
day you would you would walk with us and you would be with us and we just we acknowledge you and call you our king and our savior in jesus name [Music] amen so long before our lives to raise our voice [Music]
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[Music] jesus today got our hearts we want to just point to you god where we would glorify you in everything we say everything that we do and then we draw near this this moment of best intentions this moment where our hearts are uniquely thoughts and points to your word god i'm asking that in this moment not the next not tomorrow yesterday i've got in this moment that you would speak to us we echo with samuel and he said speak lord because your servant is listening that we posture ourselves as servants of the most high but also as sons and
daughters of the king god we love you everywhere i pray in this time in this day in our hearts in your name we pray amen amen you may be seated [Music] so well come on happy mother's day everyone hey who's got the best mom in the house come on hey there you go
i'm so grateful to be here with you today if we've not had the privilege to meet my name's keith and what an honor we get to spend a little bit of time together today and in our lives life is short and we just want to know a real god and be changed by that god so would you just go with me i just want to ask lord would god speak to us today lord we thank you for this opportunity that we can get in your word may your word get deep into us i pray that like seeds going into good soil it would take root and bear much fruit the god you would do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we could ask think or even dare to dream for that's who you are you're a god that that we can't fathom we look forward to spending eternity getting to know you more so i just thank you and i praise you all in the wonderful name of jesus so be it and amen amen hey this life is crazy isn't it
would you just agree with me on that like this world is crazy it just seems to get crazier i don't even think i need to give any examples because it's just going to get weirder from here on out does anyone ever just think to themselves like listen you look around the whole world and everybody else thinks it's normal so you start to feel crazy you know like am i going crazy like this this isn't normal this this world is crazy but you start to feel crazy well the title of today's sermon is call me crazy just go ahead call me crazy i want to dive right into the text today we're on a journey through a book of the bible called mark mark is one of four life accounts of
jesus time here on earth it's one of 66 books that make up the bible we'll find ourselves today in mark chapter 3 if you brought your bible you can turn there now and mark gives this life an account of jesus so that we would know he's extraordinary jesus is no ordinary man he's not a good teacher jesus stands alone in history as the son of god the savior of the world the king of all kings and when we read about the life of jesus it should shape us and change us it should draw us into who he is we should want more of jesus and in today's text he's he's going to choose 12 men to change the world now just imagine this if you're in the position of jesus if you're going to choose 12 to change the world what 12 would you choose maybe some theologians
maybe a philosopher how about some smart people like some doctors or lawyers you know you'd want some businessmen on your team so that they understand organization and how to handle money and structures and systems okay maybe we'll take a couple of politicians because they know how to manipulate people right i mean if you're going to choose 12 guys what 12 would you choose well jesus does not choose exactly what we might choose for his ways are not like our ways and we can say that but you've really got to study the life of jesus and allow it to become real in your life that his ways are not our ways in fact i like to say often but then sometimes it hits me that this is real god is god and you are not so what god does is not exactly what you would do and so when jesus chooses a
dream team it looks more like a crazy crew but let's dive into the text i'm in mark chapter three i'll start with verse 13. mark three starting with verse 13. he jesus went up up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired and they came to him jesus is calling i believe each of you has a call on your life god made you he loves you and he's got a calling on your life and in this case we're going to see through the lesson of application these 12 lives look at verse 14 and he appointed 12. can we just stop right here for just a moment he appointed he he had a plan this was not random this was not an accident jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he chose these 12. he appointed them let me just talk about that word appointment
for just a moment because i believe you have a call on your life for an appointment you don't always know what it is but to live in the appointment you first have to know that you have an anointing so the anointment has to be clear and understood that when you believe in jesus you get god himself the holy spirit there's nothing to be afraid of there's nothing to worry about but when you have the holy spirit you have an anointing on your life it's the power of god at work in you the power of the spirit jesus said in acts 1 8 you shall receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and when you have that you want the appointment you want your calling so you have purpose that is you believe in jesus you get the holy spirit but you also have a plan that's the appointment
you understand that god wants to use you he has a plan for you it doesn't matter who you are it doesn't matter what your career is or your title is or what your gifting is that god wants to use you in this case he chooses 12 which is a representation of the 12 tribes of israel now the 12 tribes of israel come from the 12 sons of jacob jacob's name was changed to israel and it would later become a great nation but these 12 sons of israel if you if you ever want some hope for your family just read about jacob and his 12 sons they were misfits they made mistakes they were selfish i mean they took one of their brothers joseph and they sold him into slavery and lied to their dad and said now
joseph is dead dad they made their dad grieve i mean you think you did some bad things i mean these brothers where they were they just did all sorts of things these 12 brothers and yet in history they are the 12 tribes of israel now there's a redemptive story to this aren't you glad that you just don't stay in your mistakes when you're young these guys learn from their mistakes they got humbled later on in their life and we see god's grace working through those 12 and now god's going to do a new 12. that what he intended is for to have a people a chosen people now there's going to be a shift in history where it's no longer just about israel we see that god will use anyone at any time if you follow jesus if you're willing to trust in him he
will use you let me just say that again if you follow jesus he will use you it doesn't matter what your past was yesterday and i mean that quite literally doesn't matter what you did last night if today you take jesus seriously it will seriously change everything so we continue in the text and jesus appointed 12 there are his disciples if you heard that 12 disciples y'all heard the word disciples disciples means a student these are his students he chose the twelve whom he also named apostles they're not just students they're apostles the word apostle means sent by god so that it will not only be his students but once they learn he's gonna send them out and we we see that in the text here so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons and he appointed the 12.
mark's going to go on to name the list we see this list in three other books so we see it in matthew we see it here in mark we see it in luke and we also see in the book of acts chapter one he appointed the twelve and he names them simon to whom jesus gave the name peter he goes from pebble to the name peter which means rock the word is petra he'll be the rock jesus calls him in matthew 16 verse 17 of mark three james the son of zebedee and john the brother of james to whom he gave the name he he gave them nicknames and in the greek it's banargis it literally means sons of thunder come on sounds like a tag team wrestlers these are the sons of thunder there was also andrew and philip and bartholomew and matthew and thomas and james the son
of alphaeus and thaddeus and simon the zealot and let's not forget verse 19 and judas iscariot who betrayed jesus i don't care what you say this does not look like a dream team this this is a crazy crew this this is not exactly who you would think would change the world someone like peter someone like simon someone like matthew yet jesus gives a great invitation that if you follow me you will change the world we just go back one chapter in chapter two
we we see the the invitation to matthew in mark chapter two verse fourteen and jesus passed by he saw levi this is matthew he saw matthew the son of alfie sitting at the tax booth and he said to him follow me two words that will change everything and matthew arose and followed him now that phrase follow me it literally means walk in my steps so the invitation of jesus to understand the middle eastern culture at this time jesus is the rabbi that means teacher and when he invites someone to follow him he's saying you're going to be my disciple which means student and in the days of old a disciple would follow so closely in their rabbi their teachers footsteps they would try to actually mimic their footsteps you ever done that like in the snow you
you follow someone's footsteps you know you you're going where they went as a disciple you would do whatever the teacher did you would get their dust on their feet on your feet you would learn the rhythm of the rabbi you you would lock walk like they walked you would talk like they talked you would learn from them you would you would see what they would say and you would say the same thing you would you would understand their ways so that you would become just like the rabbi you'd become like the teacher so when he tells matthew i want you to follow me we've got to understand the context that levi known as matthew is a jew that despised his faith his family and his friends for money see to be a jewish tax collector you were simply saying i'm forfeiting my
faith my heritage for the roman empire i'm willing to collect the taxes for the roman empire from the jews and jesus says i'm going to change your identity matthew i'm going to change your destiny i'm going to change what you think defines you you think money will make you happy i want to show you a new way but you've got to walk in my steps and matthew said i'm coming i'm leaving everything behind he he did something similar in chapter one with andrew and peter look at chapter 1 verse 16-18 passing along this side the sea of galilee jesus loved to be by water anybody else love water i love water jesus loved to be by the water and he saw simon and andrew simon is peter the brother of simon is as andrew and they were casting out a net in the sea for they were fishermen
and jesus said to them right in the middle of their workday follow me walk in my steps and i will make you become fishers of men and immediately andrew and peter they they left their nets and they followed him this is so important that we see this pattern between andrew peter and matthew when you follow jesus you leave your past behind or you didn't hear me on that one let me just say it again when you follow jesus you have a new identity your career no longer defines you i'm not saying today that if you choose to follow jesus you go into work tomorrow and you quit what i am saying is your career no longer defines who you are that all of a sudden you now understand it's not dependent on the success of how much you make or how
high of a ladder you climb your identity is in jesus christ because you realize your career will not follow you into eternity your career will not make better kids or grandkids your career will not change the world but jesus can and will through you so when you accept the invitation invitation to follow jesus you're going to drop your nets you're going to realize i now have a a new identity and jesus puts the application you know how to catch fish well now you're going to catch men he will say the same thing in your life he would bring the same illustration all i want you to do is use what you've been doing and now use it for the glory of god i'm not going to change your gifting i'm
not going to change who you are but i am going to change your purpose and the plan of god upon your life and and he calls these 12 and to understand the fullness you'd have to do a deep study which you can do by the way just read your bible and you start to see who these characters are he would call simon the zealot we read that and it sounds like he was just passionate about religion but you got to understand the cultural times he's an insurrectionist to put it in in the terms today we see the same thing today he took his faith and his politics and he combined them today we would call that a christian nationalist they they want to make america christian because of the roots that we look back and so they want to restore something to what they think it
is but that's not the gospel the gospel is for all nations so so an insurrectionist a zealot of of the time of jesus is someone that's so passionate about their jewish faith and their jewish heritage they hated the romans that they were even willing to put them to death it's who barabbas was barabbas was a zealot an insurrectionist he was willing to kill in in the name of faith simon is the zealot the only people zealots hated more than the romans were jews that denied their faith to serve the roman empire so you call simon the zealot and you call matthew the tax collector come on they're going to need a miracle just to
get along let alone change the world you've got fishermen you ever hung out with real fishermen i'm not just talking about the way they smell i'm talking about the way they live the way they think that they just have a grit about them that they're able to do what most people can't do that's why we watch them on reality tv shows now you think i'll never do that not for fish stay up all night risk your life you've got all sorts of people on this team and jesus intentionally says i choose you i choose you to be more like me that when you follow me it's not it's not a rival when you say yes to jesus
this is a journey you're now going to learn from me you're going to learn who i am you're going to do what i do and then mark tells us what that looks like here are the lessons you're going to see in verse 14 and 15 so that they the disciples might be with them every everyone say with him with him come on this is a disciple you want to grow in your faith you need to spend time with jesus the health of your faith will be directly related to how often you're spending time with jesus if you're not spending time with him you will not look like him and some of us just give jesus a part we don't give him everything and then we think jesus is letting us down jesus is not letting you down he loves you he's inviting you right now to spend time with him to learn from him you can go
read matthew chapter 11 at the great invitation are you heavy laden and burdened come to him and he will give you rest he says learn learn from me let's join together on whatever you're going through jesus says so they might be with him verse 14 and not only would they spend time with him then he's going to send them out to do what to preach when you're a follower of jesus you will preach some of you all say i'm not signing up i'm not a preacher well i'm here to tell you when you follow jesus you will do things you said you would never do before you will be a preacher you may not be on a platform you may not need a microphone but you will preach the same message jesus preached and he preached the message of the gospel we're only in chapter 3 of mark but if you go back and read mark chapter 1 2 and you get to this place you see the
message he preached he preached gospel gospel means what good news so what should you preach in your life good news would we just agree there's enough bad news today it's time for you to start preaching good news the whole world could go to hell in a handbasket but you're going to say but my god is good all the time he never changes i put my hope in him i don't put my hope in the circumstance of this world jesus warned us of these wars he warned us of these natural disasters he warned us of these famines and pandemics he warned us of these so my trust and hope is not in the things of this world i've got the gospel it's like my feet are fitted with good news and wherever i go good news and peace just go with me when you follow jesus you got to spend time with him and you become a preacher you preach and then all of a sudden verse 15 he says now things get weird following jesus
and they have authority fishermen tax collectors zealots have authority to cast out demons this is the place that often in church we just want to kind of i don't know tiptoe around this was just in the days of jesus but according to ephesians chapter six we live in a spiritual world we are war and this is a war you can't see it's like a cyber war you can't see it there's a spiritual war for your soul and according to the scriptures in jesus you have all authority over the enemy this is not an equal fight jesus is not equal with satan the devil is real and jesus is supreme over satan
they're not even on the same playing field it's not like jesus is varsity and satan is jv no he he's in the pee-wee leagues he couldn't go against the professional jesus and jesus then gives them the authority to say you no longer are who you used to be you now have the authority of god himself in your life over the demonic you don't have to be afraid of it you have authority over it that that which is broken is made right in jesus name that which the devil seeks to destroy you bring life in john chapter 10 jesus gives a wonderful illustration that he's a shepherd and his followers are the sheep and they know his voice and then he says in john 10 10 he says the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy he calls
satan a thief but not just a thief he's a murderer and jesus said i came that they might have life and have it abundantly jesus came to make right which the devil is seeking to destroy and we know on this earth jesus calls satan all sorts of things he calls him a liar he's the father of lies it's his native tongue and we see through the scripture he's called all sorts of things the name devil means deceiver we see him called the prince of this world it looks like he's winning at times but you just read this book and you actually see jesus defeated the devil it's been done it's not a future tense we have victory by the blood of jesus christ and the word of our testimony
it's been done what jesus did on the cross once and for all he who was without sin took our sin so that we could point to him we could look to the cross we could we could better understand jesus last words when he said tetelestai it is finished the phrase tetelestai could be translated paid in full what's been paid in full your sin has been paid in full sin is the very thing that separates you from god it's not of god it's your thoughts it's your actions it's your words it's anything that's not honoring to to god it could come in so many different forms and could you just imagine if all of your sins were listed before god how many things he could hold against
you could you just imagine today if on on these screens in front of the entire world every sin was displayed you know how horrified you'd be let's just go back to the beginning of your childhood and just go through every lie you've ever told every bad thing you've ever said you know you're a sinner but you're even worse of a sinner than you know because you forget your sin but god does not because he's omniscient that's a spiritual word for god knows everything and the way that paul writes it he writes to a church in a city called colossae he says and you were dead in trespasses trespasses as a way of saying you the sin that you chose you were dead in those you the uncircumcision of your flesh meaning your religion he couldn't save you from this god made alive together with jesus
having forgiven us all our trespasses god's forgiven you of everything in jesus here's how verse 14. by canceling the debt it's been paid in full jesus took your sin he paid the debt that stood against us with his legal demands therefore when you go before god the great judge almighty when your heart stops beating when you have jesus you only have to worry about your sin it's been paid in full he canceled the debt this he set aside here's how by nailing it to the cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities and he put them to open shame that's where you shout amen come on the demonic has been put to shame because jesus took your sin so when the devil reminds you don't you remember what you did don't you remember what you looked at don't you remember what you thought don't you remember what was done to you you think
that defines you and the devil is going to remind you over and over but in jesus name you put them to shame and say that's forgiven in jesus name by the blood of jesus christ that's forgiven you put them to shame by triumphing over them in jesus that's how it's the authority of jesus it's not you stepping forward trying to be strong enough or good enough it's all about jesus john wrote it this way in first john chapter 3 verse 8 he said whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning you see the lord created satan to be a worshiper and instead of giving glory to god he said you know what i don't want to give glory to god i want to take that glory on myself
and ever since that moment he's been trying to get everyone else to do the same the reason the son of god appeared the reason jesus came the reason he died on the cross was to destroy the works of the devil he came to do what no one else could do we've been set free from the authority of the devil and all demonic in jesus name it's been broken so let's come back to these 12 for a moment that dream team crazy crew call it whatever you will you got these guys james and john the sons of thunder you know they had like issues when they were offended how jesus was treated they said jesus we will call down lightning right now and kill every one of them and jesus is like whoa whoa whoa this is good news
you don't do what you feel sons of thunder i know you want to get in the octagon right now i know you want to go at it i know you want to show the devil what it but i've already won so you do what i do so you look at this image of these 12. okay look at those 12 in your mind and i want you to look at the image of yourself the 12 that jesus chose in his time and you whom he chose today i want to consider if you will this any puzzle people out there come on any puzzle people you know you're either a puzzle person or you're not it's like a cat person all right you either love them or you hate them is that true you guys agree with that i mean like there's some puzzle people and i've got some in my family there's like i could spend days putting together
it's therapeutic it's wonderful i love it then there's some people like us with the adhd and it's like wait a second we're going to focus how long on that days like i can't watch a tick tock reel like i i got a thousand piece puzzle right here that's a lot of pieces and you know why it's a thousand pieces because these pieces are tiny you see how tiny these are maybe maybe can we get a close-up this is tiny it's like the thighs the size of one of my fingernails this is tiny now if i pick up a piece like this here's my problem with puzzles i look at a piece like this it's this one has four you know edges cut out of it right there's no holes in this one so this is going to fit in the holes the problem with these puzzle pieces is it's
confusing you've got to figure out where it fits some of us right now are really confused in the world we live in we got to figure out where we fit a maker was very intentional about this he did not make a mistake this maker was intentional they said i'm going to cut these pieces because i know if i if i was to take another piece let's find one with um some holes now here's one with four holes on it come on i this look at this this one has four edges cut out of it this one has four holes they should go together right i'm gonna try this real quick i'm gonna see if the lord just put this together i could already tell what the colors it just doesn't go together these two pieces although they look like
track with me here they look like they'll fit they do not fit some of us have been trying to make this world fit but it doesn't fit you know you're made for more you know that god is real you know that you have a purpose in your life but you just can't quite figure it out and you look around the other pieces and sometimes some of us are like you call me crazy i don't fit into this i don't look like everyone else i don't think like everyone else or maybe you do but it's still not working that that gets frustrating too and you go to this box and you got a thousand pieces we got billions of people on the earth it's like what are you doing i look at the 12 disciples and i say god
what were you thinking what were you thinking choosing fisherman come on what were you thinking choosing a zealot what were you thinking choosing who you chose but the invitation was you follow me and you're gonna learn who you are so all that you've done in your life and you've been trying to squeeze yourself into the wrong pieces anybody ever done that before like that this just isn't fitting i thought i knew my calling i thought i knew who i was but then a pandemic hit and i don't know who i this happened you lose somebody you lose a job stock market hits something happens in your life that doesn't make sense and it doesn't fit i mean i just tell you you're not alone we got to keep going in the text look at verse 20.
then jesus went home home for him his home base was capernaum it wasn't nazareth in fact in nazareth he wasn't even accepted they were like how can you call yourself the son of god we saw you grow up i mean he wasn't accepted in his own hometown but he often went to capernaum where andrew and peter lived and when he comes to this place the crowd gathered again the crowd started in chapter one now we're only in chapter three and this is like over and over and over i mean it's a crowd after crowd so much so that they could not even eat you ever worked so hard that you can't even eat one of two things happen you either get hungry or angry unless you get both you get hangry i gotta wonder which of the disciples were hangry
we know james and john because they're the sons of thunder their stomachs were growling like thunder was deep inside there right so we know james and john judas he had to be hangry right maybe peter too right okay all 12 of them were hangry right they're like jesus that's enough preaching for the day jesus enough miracles today we're we're hungry in verse 21 i want don't miss this if you got your own bible i would highlight this text i would circle this verse 20 21 and when his family heard it those who were closest to them they went out to seize jesus for they were saying he is out of his mind when they heard what they heard it they heard what the crowds they heard that jesus chose the craziest
people to be on his team he can't pick as the zealot in the tax collector uh-uh we better go get him and set him straight that's not going to work out jesus we know maybe maybe when they heard he was doing miracles on the sabbath because right before he chose the 12 it says the religious had a huge problem that jesus kept doing miracles on the sabbath and maybe they had to stop him and say jesus jesus we have a cultural way of religious way and you got to make sure that you fit in the box you got to make sure that you don't break the rules they heard it heard what that jesus wasn't eating this guy's too skinny we got to feed him you know his mother was there because we're about to read a text that says his mother was there and you know mary's like jesus eat some food be fasting 40 days in the wilderness
you're too skinny already when they heard it they seized them and they said what he is out of his mind translated he's crazy he's crazy now they call jesus crazy what are they going to call his followers today now why did they think he was out of his mind let's just go through just a few of the hundreds maybe thousands of them why did they call him out of his mind well one is they thought when the messiah came the messiah means anointed one christ is the greek form of the word messiah when when the chosen one would come they thought he would come like a conquering king but instead he was a meek messiah he was not weak he was strength under control he did not need to be caesar because he was a suffering servant he
came in to demonstrate his love not not prove it with power he he came not as a powerful orator he would keep his mouth silent so some people said he's out of his mind so much so up to the point when he took his last breath he was being mocked get off the cross if you are who you say you are then jump off the cross and he could have he could have called upon an army of angels to rescue him and save him but he came to fulfill his mission because he loves you you can call him out of his mind because his mind is not like our mind he has the mind of god his ways are not like our ways when he preached the gospel he repeated the message the kingdom of heaven is here it's at hand it's not one day it's not someday it's not one day the world will be better quit thinking that the only
day will be better is when you're with god in glory in heaven you start living it out right now and the kingdom of god implies this there's a king and there's his ways and when jesus says the kingdom of god is here here's what he's saying there's a way of this world and there's a way of god that's it one choice will you serve jesus the king of all kings or will you serve the prince of this world that's it there's no in between you can't do half jesus half in the world one day i'll take jesus more seriously it's all or nothing i'm gonna follow him with all that i have jesus summarized all the scriptures and says this love the lord's god with all your heart soul mind strength that's it aren't you glad that message is so simple he didn't say i want to make this so complicated you got to do all these rules that you do it right you're good enough you get in heaven no no you love god you're in and when you love god you're going to
look like it you're going to start loving other people and the moment you give your life to jesus people are going to think you you're out of your mind you're going to quit doing that thing you've always done you're going to quit drinking that to numb your problems going to quit looking at that to feel better you're quit being bitter because that person hurts you and replace it with joy you have lost your mind but when you follow jesus you give your life as a worship romans 12 1 says and then in romans 12 2 it says you no longer are going to be conformed to the patterns of this world you're not going to act like the world anymore you're going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind you don't think like you used to think because now you're following jesus you're with jesus now you're thinking the message of jesus in your life and and now you want to according to romans 1 2 test that you may discern what the
will of god is what's good acceptable and perfect because your flesh says i should be angry right now i should say what i want to say right now i should do what i want to do right now but the will of god would say nope you have the power and authority over the demonic you're not going to let that into your life you're not going to regret what you say you're not going to regret what you do you're going to live in the gospel do you see this your mind changes and they will look at you and say you're out you should say something different than that you should live something different than that jesus jesus demonstrates his his power and we can look back at the bible and god has been using people who are out of their mind from the beginning remember noah hey build a boat even though it's never rained you're out of your mind i want you to commit to just obey god's word not the way of this world you're out of your mind rahab do you remember
rahab she's called a prostitute a harlot she helps the bad guys who end up being the good guys you're out of your mind god is constantly looking for anyone doesn't matter who you are it doesn't matter what you were defined when you follow god you will look like you're out of your mind but like noah like rahab and the many who follow who decide to give their all to god you will not only save your life you'll save those around you and you can call me crazy all you want but i'm going to go after jesus i want to love jesus with all that i have first corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 paul's speaking to the church and he says for consider your calling remember that calling you are called god made you he doesn't make mistakes the fact that you have a heartbeat in your mother's womb before you stepped in the world god said i know you i love you for
consider your calling brothers not many of you i'm not going to call out who this is but i'm going to say i'm in this group here not many of you were wise according to the worldly standards those are probably those of us that don't like puzzles all right the ones that like puzzles you're the wise ones and not many of you were powerful not many of you were of noble birth but here's how good god is god chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise god chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong god chose what is low and despise in the world even the things that are not to bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of god i just i have to speak and prophesy to someone today you you think you're worthless you think you're nothing but the word of god just spoke right now to your heart
he's going to reverse that message right now you thought you were nothing because that's a lie of the devil and you have authority over the demonic you cast that out right now i rebuke it in the mighty name of jesus you are loved you have purpose and that person that thought they could do nothing for god will actually do the greater things for god he's looking for the humble so he can exalt them he's looking for the last so that they could be first he's looking for people who are willing to follow him who are willing to not care what anybody else thinks of them but to say you call me out of your mind i'm going to keep following him with everything and that happened to jesus and for the sake of time i just want to paraphrase what happens next let me just paraphrase this you read this on your own all right this is your homework you're going to read some of the following texts they go to jesus so his family said
what does his family say jesus you're doing good job how can we support you oh whoops i got it messed up that's what we wanted his family to say how many all wanted your family to say that too but it didn't happen your daddy didn't say what you want to say so his family's not not saying what you would expect them to say and then the religious come to him again i'm going to paraphrase this for the sake of time the religious come to him say here's how he's doing all this by satan he's of satan he's of the devil he's casting out demons and healing people because the devil and jesus just gives these parables you know what parables are they're fictional stories so that we'll understand the truth he doesn't even go to the scripture he's telling a fictional story how could satan be against satan that just makes sense and jesus says a house divided against itself will not stand that principle is true a mom and dad are fighting guess what the kids are going to be messed up too
[Music] we need to be in unity and jesus said no i came to you i came to unite you see when you follow jesus you've got to hear his words matthew 7 24. this is what jesus said everyone who hears these words of mine and does them you've got to hear it but then you've got to act on it you can't just be religious it's not enough to know scripture scripture doesn't get you into heaven jesus does but when you hear the words of jesus and you do them you'll be like a wise man who built his house in the rock he said the counter to that is a person that does not hear his words and does not do them it's like building your life that's the metaphorical house here on the sand and when the storms come you've got no foundation but when you have the foundation of jesus you're going to stand you're going to make it because you're part of the family of god
[Music] the last text we'll look at in mark is verse 22-30 jesus says [Music] he says truly i say to you all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter but whosoever blasphemes against the holy spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean spirit now this is this is what many people call the unpardonable sin that is to to grieve the holy spirit that is to deny the holy spirit and so many times people come and they're wrecked by this did i do this have i done this maybe i'm not going to heaven because i've made god angry if you have that in your heart you've not done that because the holy spirit's been speaking to you to follow him and you know what's of god and not of god jesus was speaking
to the religious that said he was satan he's talking about those that reject jesus entirely if you have in your heart that you want jesus you have jesus the enemy will try to pervert the sex but text but it's really simple if you look at this he says he's forgiven you of all your sins all the only sin that's not forgiven is rejecting jesus entirely that's eternal separation from him and if you read the continued text his mother and his brothers and his sisters they were all trying to get to him and they couldn't they're like hey jesus your family's here she's like who's my family and now the people around him are like he's gone nuts he doesn't even know who his mother and brothers are and jesus says i'll tell you who my mother my brothers and my sister let me
tell you who they are he says those who do the will of god those who do the will of the father he says you're in the family see jesus didn't call if you're born in the right family some of us think lord i think i was born in the wrong family no you weren't he always gives you an opportunity to be born again as the right family i mean you're born again it's not about your birth families not about the church that you attend [Music] when you have jesus he calls you a child of god it changes everything this is not a frozen chosen those people over there they got it and i don't get it nope you it's a free gift it's a free gift of god it's yours today if you want it in jesus christ so the question is do you want jesus now i realize for some of us let me just go back to this puzzle illustration again we got these small pieces but if
you look at this if this puzzle is so cool it's got wolves on it and the the mother wolf is with the cub wolves and back here is a an elk that the wolf could easily eat but this is a biblical puzzle so in uh in isaiah it says the the wolf will lay with the lamb you guys know that verse one day the wolf will lay with the lamb maybe we'll get a close-up on it so that you can see this it's not really a biblical puzzle but we can make it that all right when you put a puzzle together if you have a thousand pieces and they're all tiny if you never saw the image you're going to go crazy [Music] but when you see the image you can start to make a frame a foundation and you can start to put the pieces together because because you're looking
for the colors you're looking for the signs you're looking for some support because someone had a plan here although it feels like you're going crazy you're not crazy there's a plan and a purpose now i'm here to tell you this is the image of what god wants for you it's like there's so many metaphors for the word of god it's a sword that pierces your heart one of the metaphors is it's a mirror that you look into you want to see what god wants you to be you've got to look and see the ultimate image that god had planned for you you're meant to be more than a conqueror you're meant to be forgiven you have all authority over the demons every one of them all
through jesus christ today the most serious thing i can ask you is do you know jesus because if you do you speak jesus it's jesus over everything jesus over every issue that we see every sin every family member over every heart you speak jesus jesus changes everything i want us to take this serious would you just right where you are just close your eyes i'm gonna i'm gonna give you the greatest invitation that you could ever receive today and that is to follow jesus and this is according to his plan for your life if you've yet to declare jesus as the savior of your soul the lord of your life right now is your
opportunity to say yes to jesus and it's going to require you to do something in your heart but i'm not asking you to do something physically as well and here's why it's a representation of your surrender that you would take him serious if you want to say yes to jesus it could be for the first time you could have grown up in the church but right now god's speaking to your heart that you've not taken him seriously if you want to know with confidence today you've received the gift of eternal life this is free god gives it to you through jesus receive the power of the holy spirit god himself in your life if you want that right now i'm just going to ask with eyes closed would you just slip up your hand nice and high so i could see you and pray with you praise god praise god praise god praise god right now you be bold right where you are praise god your daughter of the king i love it praise god it's never too late with god
ever there's nothing you've done in your life that he won't forgive right now and set the whole destiny of eternity different in your life anyone else just throw your hand up i want to see it this is a bold proclamation in your life i'm going to live different from this day forward boldness all over the place i want you to pray with me if you've ever received jesus we're gonna do this in unity as a family as a body of christ we're all gonna pray these words out loud if you believe in jesus as lord and savior i want you to say these words out loud lord jesus i trust you forgive me of my sins i receive the gift of grace i receive the holy spirit and today i follow you help me lord i believe in you in jesus name amen and amen come on can we celebrate the lord right now praise
god yes now here's here's the hard work it's to continue walking it when people say you're out of your mind when people call you crazy to embrace that identity that in jesus the world may not understand it but your lord does we're going to sing one last song and in just a few moments there's going to be a prayer team right over there if you need prayer for anything would you go receive that prayer if you made a decision to follow jesus we've got cards in these seat backs we would be honored if you fill that out let us know you made that decision we will pray for you we will give you some next steps you are not alone this is not the end this is the beginning of greater things still to come now the challenge is my friends to live in jesus if you're able would you stand your feet let's sing this to the lord god i give you everything i speak jesus over my life over my family
over every stronghold over every city over our nation let's sing jesus i just want to speak the name of jesus over every heart and every mind [Music] cause i know there is peace within your prayers i speak jesus i just want to speak the name of jesus [Music] till every dark addiction starts to break declaring there is hope and there is
freedom i speak jesus [Music] your name is healing [Music] shine through the shadows [Music] i just wanna speak the name of jesus
[Music] jesus your name is healing your name is [Music] we're [Music] jesus in the streets and jesus in the darkness over
everything to me jesus for my family i speak the holy name [Music] [Music] jesus for my family i speak the whole of the name of jesus jesus
[Music] i speak jesus [Music] oh your name is [Music] your name is healing for your name is
[Music] [Music] i just wanna speak the name of jesus over every heart and every mind [Music] cause i know there is [Music]
jesus thank you that your name is enough you're gonna help us to live into that the reality of your goodness and your grace on our lives you have called us appointed to us be messengers bearers of the gospel the good news gonna help us to live into that everywhere i pray in us jesus name amen
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Anointed and Appointed
Keith distinguishes two realities that often get blurred: the anointing, which is God's Spirit given to every believer, and the appointment, which is the particular plan God has for a life. He uses the twelve as the case study and cites Acts 1:8 for the promise of power, then says God wants to use a person regardless of career, title, or gifting.
Acts 1:8
- How does Keith's distinction between the anointing and the appointment change the way you think about God's call?
- Where does the message say the power for a calling comes from, and where does it not come from?
- How does Keith say a person's career, title, or gifting relates to God's willingness to use them?
Following Jesus: Walking in the Rabbi's Steps
The message explains that a first-century disciple followed closely enough to mimic the rabbi, learning his rhythm and ways. In Mark 2:14 Matthew left a tax booth; in Mark 1:16-18 Peter and Andrew left nets mid-workday. Keith clarifies that the call does not erase gifting but redirects purpose, so ordinary skills become tools for the gospel.
Mark 2:14 · Mark 1:16-18
- Which parts of your identity does Keith say are relocated when you follow Jesus?
- What does Keith say happens to your gifting and skills when Jesus calls you, and what changes?
- How does the picture of a disciple walking in the rabbi's steps shape your understanding of following Jesus?
With Him, Sent Out
Keith draws two lessons from the commission in Mark 3:14-15: the disciples were to be with Jesus, and they were to be sent to preach. He ties spiritual health directly to time spent with Jesus and reframes preaching as something every follower does, carrying good news into ordinary places rather than only from a platform.
Mark 3:14-15
- How does Keith connect the health of your faith to time spent with Jesus?
- What kind of message does Keith say a follower of Jesus preaches, and where does he say it is preached?
- How does Keith describe the difference between trusting in circumstances and trusting in the gospel?
Authority and the Finished Work
The sermon takes the authority to cast out demons seriously rather than treating it as a relic of Jesus' day, citing Ephesians 6 for a real spiritual conflict. Yet the authority is not located in personal strength. Keith grounds it in the cross, where the debt of sin was canceled and the powers disarmed, and applies that to the accuser's reminders.
Ephesians 6 · John 10:10 · Colossians 2 · 1 John 3:8
- Where does Keith say the believer's authority over the enemy actually comes from?
- What does Keith say happened at the cross to the debt of sin and to the powers?
- How does Keith say a believer should respond when the devil brings up past sin?
Called Crazy, Called Family
Jesus' family thinks he is out of his mind, and Keith treats that charge as the expected response to a renewed mind. He then addresses what is often called the unpardonable sin in Mark 3:22-30, reassuring anxious hearers that rejecting Jesus entirely is different from fearing you have grieved the Spirit. The section ends with family redefined around doing God's will.
Romans 12:1-2 · Mark 3:22-30 · 1 Corinthians 1:26 · Mark 3:31-35
- What change in your life has looked strange or extreme to the people around you?
- How does Keith distinguish the unpardonable sin from the fear a sincere person carries?
- What does Keith say about how a person becomes part of Jesus' family?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Who were the twelve men Jesus chose in Mark 3?+
Keith lists Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. He emphasizes the range: fishermen, a tax collector, and a zealot who would have wanted nothing to do with each other. The point is that Jesus intentionally picked an unlikely group to change the world, which Keith says reflects how God works.
How does the mix of Simon the zealot and Matthew the tax collector shape the way you understand Jesus' invitation?
What does it mean to follow Jesus in this message?+
Keith reads Jesus' call in Mark 2:14 and Mark 1:16-18 as walking in the rabbi's steps, a first-century picture of a disciple closely imitating the teacher, learning his rhythm and ways. He argues that following relocates identity: career and money stop defining you, but your gifting is not erased, only redirected toward God's purpose. The call came to Peter and Andrew mid-workday and to Matthew at his tax booth.
How does Keith describe the change in identity that following Jesus brings?
Why did Jesus' family think he was out of his mind?+
According to Mark 3:20-21, which Keith reads, Jesus' family went out to seize him because they were saying he is out of his mind. Keith offers possible reasons: the family may have heard that Jesus chose such unlikely disciples, that he kept doing miracles on the Sabbath in conflict with the religious expectations of the day, or that he was not taking time to eat. He presents this as the expected response to a messiah whose ways differ from ours.
What reasons does Keith offer for why Jesus' family responded the way they did?
What is the unpardonable sin, and should a worried person fear it?+
In Mark 3:22-30, Keith explains that the unpardonable sin has to do with blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which he says is rejecting Jesus entirely. He distinguishes that from the anxious question, have I done this, telling hearers that the fact they care at all demonstrates the Spirit still at work in them. The passage itself follows the religious leaders attributing Jesus' power to an unclean spirit.
What practical difference does it make to know that ongoing concern is not the same as full rejection?
