March 22, 2015: The reward for following Jesus

This week, Pastor Hodge expounded upon Mark 10, verses 28-29. In these verses, we learn who is first in the Kingdom of God, and in heaven...and who is last. First, comes sacrifice. We must be ready to leave everything we have, and that we know for Jesus. We must sacrifice worldly possessions, as necessary, relationships and other things as we are led by God to do them. With this comes heartache, pain and suffering, but the rewards are great, as we see in Mark 10:30-31. And in verse 31, we have a final warning from Jesus about this. Listen to his sermon today and ask yourself the hard questions that are asked from Jesus.

We also had Molly Blobaum do our children's sermon today. we hope your children learn from it.

You can listen to both of these, here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorMichaelHodgeTheLastBecomeFirst

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

March 15, 2015: How to be a part of the Kingdom of God

Today, Pastor Michael Hodge continues in the book of Mark, chapter 10 verses 17-27. We come to the verses where the young rich man claims he has done everything to qualify for getting into heaven. And Jesus says he has done well, except for one thing. He commands him to sell all that he has, give everything to the poor, and follow him. What happens next is a lesson for all who are rich, and most of us, even the so-called "middle class", are very wealthy compared to the rest of the world. Everyone isn't called to give up all their possessions. If we had none, we'd have nothing to give financially. So, what did Jesus mean? Not to make money our God. Listen to Pastor Hodge expound on these verses.

We also had our special music, done by Roger and others, "Wonderful, Merciful Savior". We hope you enjoy it.

And, we apologize, but the new battery in our pastor's microphone mysteriously died towards the end of the sermon, but you'll get the gist of it with what is available. We apologize for the inconvenience.

You can listen to these recordings here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorMichaelHodgeHowToBeaPartOfTheKingdomofGod

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

March 8, 2015: the blessing of children

This week, Pastor Michael Hodge continues in the book of Mark, and focuses in on Mark 10, verses 13 through 16. So often today, life is devalued, and especially that of children. And in fact, in these verses, children are coming to Jesus, and the disciples are turning them away (rebuking them). But Jesus immediately tells the disciples how wrong that is. And, He responds to the children as well in a way that we, as believers, should all take heart of.

You can listen to Pastor Hodge's sermon, as well as our special music, done by Roger Seldal, here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorMichaelHodgeTheBlessingofChildren

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

March 1, 2015: An awkward question, a moral response

This week, Pastor Hodge looks at Mark 10:1-5. And, here, the Pharisees asks the question: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? They were trying to entrap Jesus and cause him to stumble, looking to ultimately kill him. But here, Jesus responds with a question, and then explains their answer. Today, with high divorce rates, unfaithfulness and a lack of commitment, everyone---including our church---really needs to hear this and pay attention. Because the answer that Jesus gives here impacts all of us to the depth of the soul, regardless of whether you are single or married.

You can listen to this recording here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorHodgeMark10Anawkwardquestion

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

February 22, 2015: The importance of salt, or a disciple of Jesus

Today, Pastor Hodge expounded on....salt. Like many people, we put a lot of salt on our food to add flavor to it. But what does that symbolize for the Christian? Listen to Pastor Hodge's sermon and find out, as we study Mark 9:49-50.

Also, we had the Men's Choir give us our special music today, and Molly Blobaum did her children's sermon on chocolate chip cookies! OK, while it's a part of the sermon, it's really about temptation. You can listen to these recordings here:

https://archive.org/details/03PastorMichaelHodgeMark94950

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

February 15, 2015: Oh, be careful little hands what you do!

This week, Pastor Michael Hodge continued his series in the book of Mark, in verses 43-48. Here, Jesus issues very stern warnings about sin, and how terrible it is to sin against a holy God. If your hand causes evil, cut it off? Or if your eye does, gouge it out? Did Jesus really mean that? Listen to Pastor Hodge's sermon to understand what these verses really mean, and a reminder on how sinful...sin really is.

We also had Amy Taylor do our special music, and of course, Molly Blobaum had our children's sermon. You can listen to all of these here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorMichaelHodgeOhbecarefullittlehandswhatyoudo

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

February 8, 2015: Take this warning, seriously

Today, Pastor Michael Hodge expounded on Mark 9, verses 38-42. In these verses, a man was driving out demons in Jesus' name. But the apostles took exception to this, and tried to stop him. Jesus said that they must not hinder him, for whoever is not against Him is for him. Listen to his sermon today to understand how that applies today.

You can listen to this sermon here:

https://archive.org/details/PastorMichaelHodgeTakeThisWarningSeriously

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!