The reMARKable story

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We’re in a series of sermons on the remarkable story of Jesus by going through the Gospel of Mark. Mark, the author, is also a remarkable story. Mark is mentioned on ten occasions in the Bible using either his Jewish name of ‘John’ or his Roman name ‘Mark.’

Mark was most likely introduced to Christianity through his mother’s activities. It would seem she had a large enough home for the early church to meet and gather there (Acts 12:12). Some even believe it was her house that held the upper room where Jesus washed the feet of His disciples which would then support that Mark knew Jesus.

Later on in Acts, Mark will accompany Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, around 46 A.D. However, there will be a problem, and Mark will leave them prior to the completion of that journey (Acts 13:13). This will not sit well with the Apostle Paul. In fact, Paul and Barnabas will have a significant dispute over whether to allow Mark to rejoin them on the second missionary journey (Acts 15:37-39). In Paul’s mind, Mark was a quitter.

There is a good ending to this story. Later, Paul and Mark are reconciled. And even later than that, Paul will compliment Mark several times as being a very important ministry partner (Col 4:10, 11; Phil 24; 2 Tim 4:11). Mark was nearly lost to the cause because he quit but got himself back in the game.

In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. The satellite’s primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter’s magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target.

But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter’s immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.

 

And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. According to Time Magazine, “Perhaps most remarkable, those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth.”

The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible. Three years became thirty. For 30 years, Pioneer 10 sent signals back to earth. The last signal received happened on January 23, 2003.
So it is with God who can work through anyone, even someone with only 8-watt abilities. In some ways, that could be considered Mark. God cannot work however, through someone who quits…through someone who gives up! The lesson of Mark’s life is simple, “Don’t give up!”


Current Sermon Series
Feb 1- Jesus—More than a Story Teller (Mk 4)
Feb 8- Jesus—A Force to be Reckoned With! (Mk 5)
Feb 15- Jesus Never Said it Would be Easy (Mk 6)
Feb 22- Jesus the Teacher (Mk 7:1–8:26)
Mar 1- Seeing Jesus for Who He Really Is! (Mk 8:27–9)
Mar 8- What Jesus Stands For! (Mk 10)
Mar 15- Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mk 11:1–12:44)
Mar 22- Jesus Unveils the Future (Mk 13)
Mar 29- Jesus—Suffering King? (Mk 14:1–15:20)
Apr 5- Jesus Finishes His Work (Mk 15:21–16:20)

[Ron Otto, preaching Minister at Lincoln Christian Church]

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