When God’s Grace Rewrites Your Story: The Comeback Story of John Mark

Failure does not have to be the final chapter of your life. Looking at the life of John Mark, Pastor Chris Teien explains how God's grace restores broken people, rebuilds trust, and gives believers a fresh opportunity to serve Christ. Discover how God's grace can rewrite your story from failure to faithfulness and use your life for His glory.

In This Message

1. God's Grace Sees Potential Beyond Your Failure
(Acts 13:13; Proverbs 24:16; Mark 14:51-52)
John Mark walked away from Paul's first missionary journey, leaving many to question his reliability. Although failure brought painful consequences, God never stopped working in his life. God's grace sees what a person can become, not just where they have fallen.

2. God's Grace Restores What Has Been Broken
(Acts 15:36-41; Galatians 6:1)
Barnabas saw potential in John Mark when others had lost confidence in him. Rather than abandoning him, Barnabas invested time, encouragement, and discipleship into his life. God often restores broken people through faithful believers who are willing to walk beside them.

3. God's Grace Rebuilds Trust Over Time
(Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11)
Years after their disagreement, Paul welcomed John Mark back as a trusted coworker and valuable servant. Faithfulness over time repaired a damaged reputation and restored important relationships. God's grace not only forgives but also transforms character through patient growth and obedience.

4. God's Grace Gives You a Story Worth Sharing
(Mark 1:1; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:8)
John Mark went on to write the Gospel of Mark, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with countless generations. His greatest legacy was not his failure but God's faithfulness in redeeming his life. Every believer has a testimony of God's grace that can point others to the hope found in Christ.

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Helping you apply God's Word and follow Jesus in everyday life. Learn more at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.church  Find episode transcripts at Well.faith 

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

Don't you just love those comeback stories? Don't you get excited when you hear those comeback stories? And the Bible is full of comeback stories. So I like comeback story movies, football ones, facing the giants, a faith-filled story of a high school football coach who trusts God amidst diversity, leading his team to unexpected victories. That's a pretty good one. Or Woodlawn, overcoming racism in 1970s, Alabama. Grader, Brandon Burlsworth, University of Arkansas, Walk On, who became an all-American before his untimely death. That was sad. This is a good movie, though. Then the story of Kurt Warner, American Underdog. Those are all good ones. So the Bible is full of comeback stories and sometimes failure stories that aren't left to be failures. Like Noah, he built the boat, saved his whole family, saved humanity. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and he did so many good things. He did get drunk, though, after growing some grapes, making some wine, and he ended up cursing his son Ham. But 2 Peter 2.5 says that Noah is still remembered as a righteous man and a preacher of righteousness. Abraham, the father of faith, doing so many great things, trusting God to go to the promised land. But he got a little impatient waiting for that promised child. So he took things into his own hands and had a child with his wife's servant. And Ishmael was born. And so in Genesis 16, it says about Ishmael, Abraham's son, not through his wife. Not the one that not Isaac, not the one that God was going to provide, but instead Ishmael, considered a patriarch of patriarch of Islam, the angel told his mother, You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You're to name him Ishmael, which means God hears. For the Lord has heard your cry of distress. The son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey. He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all of his relatives. So you just wonder if Abraham had just waited for the one promised child. All lives matter, but you just wonder if world politics and everything would be different because of that. David, the man after God's own heart, wrote many of the Psalms, fell into adultery and murder, repented of that, and tried to pick up the pieces and he restored his relationship with God, but there was never peace in his family after that. But he is an ancestor of Jesus the Messiah and a great man of God, Solomon, his son, the wisest man who ever lived, blessed with wealth, wisdom, and power. But he got led away by his wives into idolatry. He is a cautionary tale. Jonah, which we talked about in October to November 2024, a prophet who called by who was called by God ran away, went the other direction, and ended up coming back and serving the Lord. Jonah teaches us that God's mercy is bigger than our grudges. Peter, he denied Christ. And he was able to be restored and became a great preacher of righteousness, a great comeback story. Paul, a fierce persecutor of Christians, yet transformed by an encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, became the greatest missionary of the early church. And Paul's story reminds us that no one is beyond redemption. And then one other is Zacchaeus and Matthew. So Zacchaeus the tax collector, Matthew, the follower of Christ the apostle. Both tax collectors. A terrible job. People did not appreciate you. Unfairly taking their money. God restored them and used them both as they sought Jesus. And those are all great comeback stories, but none of those are the story that I wanted to mention today. The one that I wanted to mention today was John Mark, the writer of the gospel of Mark, someone who was rejected by Paul because he was unreliable, someone who started down the road of serving Jesus, and then for some reason decided that he was going to go home, that he was going to quit, that he was going to give up, that there was something that caused him maybe fear or anxiety. And instead of continuing to follow and serve Jesus, he messed up. He walked away. He blew the relationship he had with the Apostle Paul, and it seemed like it was beyond repair. And I don't know where you're at in that, but maybe you've made a mistake. Maybe you've you feel you've blown it, and there's no hope for you to move forward. But God in his grace shows us ways, shows us ways that we can still be used, shows us ways to find forgiveness, shows us ways to move forward and to even learn from our mistakes, that we can be not a cautionary tale, but a comeback story. That we can spend the rest of our days, which we may be many, serving the Lord and living for Him, even if there's something in our past that we did that might cause us to think that we are no longer qualified. Because God's grace rewrites our story. God's grace transforms us. Life is a roller coaster. Often in times of stress or anger or loneliness or temptation, good Christians do dumb things. And God can forgive. Sometimes the relationship isn't restored or immediately restored. Sometimes they don't get the job back or the opportunity back. Sometimes they lose their place on the team, but that doesn't mean that God can't use them. God can't continue to use them. God can't use them to do something else. So in the series on grace, again, grace is God's undeserved, unearned favor and kindness poured out on people who don't deserve it, like you and me. It's not a reward for good behavior. It's not something we can earn or pay back. Grace is God's heart toward us. Reaching down when we can't reach up, forgiving us when we can't make it right, and loving us when we've done nothing to deserve it. And that's what the great the gospel is all about is God's grace. God showing his love for us while we were still sinners. Jesus coming to die on the cross for our sins. That's all grace. Helping us to live the Christian life, giving us the Holy Spirit to empower us and to convict us and to encourage us and to give us at least one spiritual gift to serve. That's all God's grace. Grace is bigger than our mistakes, grace is bigger than our struggles. Grace is from God. Number one, grace sees the potential in your story even when you fail. Grace sees the potential in your story even when you fail. So it's interesting. Mark was around when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, it appears. If you look at Mark chapter 14, verses 51 and 52, it seems like he might have been the young man who fled naked, was the mob tried to grab him as he was trying to watch and see what was happening, as he was trying to see what was happening to Jesus. Mark had an interest. Mark had a connection. Mark had such a connection to the Christianity, to the apostles, to the disciples, to Jesus people, that when Peter in Acts 12, 12, when Peter escaped from prison, when the angel helped him to escape from prison, where did Peter go? Peter went to Mark's mother's home, which was a hub of prayer for the early church. Acts 12, 12. So Peter goes to Mark's house to hang out with Mark's mom where everybody is praying. Colossians 4 10 also says that he was Barnabas' cousin, so Uncle Barnabas. And he was connected to Paul and Peter. So he had these great opportunities to learn, to grow, to serve, and to be involved in ministry. And in Acts 13, 13, so let's set the date for this. Bible scholars say somewhere between 80, 44, and 46. This is Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey. Okay, so remember these dates. It says Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. So it appears that John Mark was serving alongside and proclaiming Jesus to the people and being involved in the Apostle Paul's ministry, that he was one of Paul's guys, that he was on the team, that he was doing the work. And then for some reason, when they got to this point, he left. He said, You know what? I'm going home. And so is the Bible doesn't say why he left. It doesn't give examples or it doesn't give reason. But some Bible scholars and commentaries lists some different reasons. Maybe, maybe he was homesick or needed to get home for a family thing. So, I mean, his mom had a prominent home, and maybe he thought that he could, you know, do effective ministry stuff at home and didn't have to continue on this missionary journey. Maybe it wasn't what he planned for. John Stott says a young man from a well-to-do family may have been unprepared for the rigors of missionary travel and simply wanted to return to familiar surroundings. So maybe he feared hardship or danger. The journey from Perga involved difficult and dangerous travel, including mountainous terrain, possible bandit attacks, and health risks like malaria. So maybe the threats of persecution or the threats of danger were too much for him, and he just wanted to go home. You know, Paul was pretty sold out to doing things no matter the cost. And you can read at the end of Acts, the book of Acts, in Acts 27 and 28, about Paul's shipwreck and how he endured the storm and how he was bitten by a snake on the island and all the things he endured, and he did not seem phased by it. So not all people are like that. And maybe Mark wasn't in that place. Maybe. Maybe he was uncomfortable with Paul's leadership. Maybe Paul was just too harsh of a leader. So early in the journey, the mission was described as Barnabas and Saul. But as time moves on, the order shifts to Paul and his companions, indicating that Paul was in charge, that Paul was the leader. F. F. Bruce speculates that Mark may have been loyal to Barnabas, his cousin, and uncomfortable with Paul's assertive leadership style. So maybe there is a disagreement about strategy. Maybe there is a theological disagreement. Many people in that time struggled with Paul's desire to be a missionary to the Gentiles, the uncircumcised heathens, the Gentiles. And so many Jewish people in those days had a problem with that. And maybe Mark wasn't willing to do that, to go on that journey, to be part of that at that time. So maybe he was just youthful and immature. Maybe he was unprepared spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Wern Whisby says that not everyone is ready for frontline ministry, but that God's grace allows us to grow and be used later. Reminds me of something when I was preparing for ministry, that Dr. Peter West, I used to be able to get together with him once a month for a period of time. He used to be the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis. And so I met with him during his retired years, and he would speak wisdom into my life, said a lot of great things. But I wanted to go be a missionary to America with village missions and go plant a church somewhere where there was no evangelical witness within 45 miles. And he said, Don't do that until you've been a pastor or an associate pastor under other pastors that you can learn from. Find three different pastors with three different leadership styles and learn from them, and then go off and plant a church. And I listened. I didn't put that on my agenda. I'm just like, that's an interesting thought. And that's turns out that's exactly what happened is after being under three different types of pastors, I was able, actually, it's more than that, went out and planted a church. So sometimes when you're young in your faith, it's not good to be thrust into a leadership position. Sometimes when you're just a young person, it's not good to be given a lot of responsibility to begin with. So, but God can use these setbacks, God can use these difficulties, God can use broken, messed up people to be trained up, to learn from their mistakes, to realize the things that they did that were wrong in the past had such a consequence that they never want to do it again. I feel that sometimes people who have made a mistake and found forgiveness and restoration are the most loyal people going forward. They remember how painful it is and they remember how difficult it is, so they don't want to go that way again, and they'll be some of the most loyal people that will serve Jesus with you. It's interesting that Proverbs 24, 16 says the godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again, but one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. How many times have you tripped and fallen? You may trip seven times, it says in Proverbs. You get up, you just keep getting up. So where are you at right now? It's number two. Grace reveals and repairs the shattered parts of your story. Grace reveals and repairs the shattered parts of your story. Sometimes as Christians, we're too nice. And we think that, well, this person has made a mistake and we don't want them on our team anymore. But we don't want to tell them. We just want to be nice about it, give them some kind of excuse and kind of shuffle them off and not let them know that they've done something to offend us, that they've done something so that we don't trust them anymore, we've lost confidence in them, and so we feel that we're being nice. But grace, true grace, is coming alongside of them and saying, I care about you, and I want you to know that this thing that you did or said or what I heard was hurtful or harmful. And give them an opportunity to respond, give them an opportunity to find forgiveness, give them an opportunity to be restored, give them an opportunity to change. And again, they can become some of the most reliable people. So let's just look at this section in Acts 15. So we're gonna move the calendar now to 8049. So it's been a bit of time since John and Mark abandoned the team. And so now Barnabas is trying to get Mark back on the team. So let me read it. After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, let's go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord to see how the new believers are doing. So that seemed like a good plan. That seemed like a good thing to do. A second missionary journey. Let's do this. And then Barnabas, verse 37, Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. So I think that Barnabas had been working with John Mark. I think that Barnabas had invested into John Mark to help him overcome his shortcomings, to help him get trained up in the things that he should have known, to help him understand the level of faith commitment, and maybe the theological barriers that he struggled with. John Mark had a appears, had a great interest in the things of God, and maybe he just needed some direction. Maybe he needed some encouragement. Maybe he needed someone with more experience to come alongside of them. And so as I talk about comeback stories and people who have made a mistake and people who have need net restoration and a need to come back, maybe that's not you. Maybe you've got it all together and you haven't made a mistake for a long time. But maybe you can be the Barnabas kind of person that sees an opportunity and comes alongside a person and says, Let me help you to grow in your faith. Let me help you to learn some things that you may not know. Help me, let me help you to become a valuable worker that other people want on their team. And that can be a good thing. Acts 15, 39. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. On one hand, you might think that that's a terrible thing. On the other hand, some good could come from it. So I'm just showing you that Paul said, I don't want John Mark on my team. But on the other hand, what if, because instead of four of them traveling in one place, you've got two teams traveling out in multiple places, spreading the gospel even more? We hear about this with churches who we claim they have unplanned pregnancies or splits where one church, one large church, splits and turns into two churches and reaches more people effectively. Sometimes church planting actually reaches lost people more effectively than existing churches. So maybe what Satan had intended for bad, God could use for good, because you never want to have believers who have this dislike or distrust of each other. But Barnabas agreed and went his way. So in Galatians 6:1, it says, brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently, but watch yourselves, or you may also be tempted. So I've already mentioned this, but could you be a minister of reconciliation? Could you help restore people? Could you help people to get back into a right relationship with people that they've offended, people that really don't want them around, people that don't want them to come to the party or be on the team? I'm sure that when John Mark looked back on his life, he's like, man, I really messed up. I didn't know that going home was going to be such a big deal, but I guess it is. And to know that your choices matter, to know that your choices make a difference, to know that when you are making a decision to leave a church or ministry or job, the door might not be open for you to get back in. And the opportunity that you had or wanted might not be there in the future. And so you should think about that. And you should also look back on your past and be thankful for all the times you didn't walk away. Thank you for all the times that were difficult and all the times that were hard and all the times where you just wanted to quit and you didn't quit, but you just kept going. So I'm thankful that I didn't quit. So I'd been a youth pastor for, I don't know, about a year. And it was more difficult and more costly than I expected. It was really hard to provide a family, provide for a family on what we were getting paid. The ministry expenses were a lot higher than I anticipated. Some people in the church weren't happy that I wanted to expand the youth ministry with a student-led worship team, and some people in charge thought that wasn't going to work. It turns out it did work. But there was a day when I was looking for another job and I had actually found one, and I thought about leaving ministry, the thing that I really wanted to go back to sales and marketing, and even found a job opportunity. But I continued to pray about it and continued to seek God's will for it and decided to stick it out. So we sticked it out, we stuck it out for a season, and then eventually we got a call from Chisholm Baptist and ended up going up there. And I've been in full-time ministry now, it will be 30 years next July. And I'm so glad that after that first year of difficulty that I didn't give up, that I didn't give in, that I didn't quit. And as I look around at other people that I know have started in ministry, people that have been in ministry, that they've given up, they've quit, they've walked away, they've gone back to work in construction or selling cars or doing other things. And they're still involved in their church, but they're not doing the ministry that they had planned. And I just wonder if I had made a different choice, if it would have affected anybody's life. I know that I wouldn't be here as a pastor. Number three, Grace rewrites your story from unworthy to trustworthy. Grace rewrites your story from unworthy to trustworthy. This is the best part of the story is that John Mark's reputation is repaired. Pretty soon, Paul is like, I need John Mark. He's a good man. So let's just look at those verses for a minute. Colossians 4 10. So where are we on the calendar? We're here somewhere between 80 60 and 62. So this is towards the end of Paul's life. He is in prison. Colossians 4 10. Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark. Mark, Barnabas' cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. So something has changed in John Mark, and the Apostle Paul sees it and values it, and it is a good thing. He has been reformed, he has been changed, he has been restored, he is wanted on the team. Philemon 24, we've mentioned this two weeks ago, I think. Paul ends his letter with, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. It's Demas who walked away and is noted for going back to the world. Luke gave up his prominent career as a doctor to follow Paul and to write the book of Luke's and the book of Luke and the book of Acts. Aristarchus is one of those reliable friends that is there for you. And but not Demas. But Mark's on the list. Mark is on the A team again. Mark has been restored from unworthy to trustworthy. And that is a good thing. In 2 Timothy 4 11. Paul is disappointed. Paul is in prison. Paul knows the end of his end of his day is near. This is the last letter Paul is actually going to write. And he writes, only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. So Mark, he ended up going on and writing the gospel of Mark. He spent a lot of time with Peter, learned a lot from Peter. They say that Peter is extremely influential in Mark's gospel, which appears to be the first gospel written. So Mark went on to start a church or be the leader of the church in Egypt until he was persecuted, until he was martyred for his faith. Mark lived a great life after that, doing all that he could to proclaim the gospel. And number four, grace compels you to tell the story of Jesus. Mark tells the story, the gospel, from a point of grace, from a person who was hurt by his own choices, a person who was rejected, a person who was restored, a person who was made right with Jesus, a person who was then able to serve Jesus in such a way that he had never imagined before, because he came back, because he was restored, because someone like Barnabas came alongside to help him get on track again. Someone like Barnabas who saw the potential, who showed he cared, and grace compels you to tell the story of Jesus. It's your story that you are able to tell. People can't refute it if you tell it truthfully, of what your life was like before you came to Christ, how you came to Christ, what your life has been like since. Maybe times when you've fallen, times when you've fallen into sin and sought forgiveness and move forward as we struggle in the Christian life. If you look at Romans chapter 7, you see how the Apostle Paul talks about this struggle to do what's right. And then Romans 8:1 says, There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So Mark chapter 1, verse 1. First thing that Mark writes is this is the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began, just as the prophet Isaiah had written. Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. What if Mark had walked away and no one went back to get him? What if Mark had walked away and told he was no good and that he couldn't be used anymore because he made a mistake? What if Mark wasn't showing grace to be restored? What if Mark let failure define him? What if Mark didn't step up to God's purposes for his life? We wouldn't have the gospel of Mark. So the scripture testifies, and we agree, that we are all sinners and we need to be forgiven of that sin. We need to be cleansed from that sin. Jesus made it possible for us to be cleansed and forgiven of sin when he died on the cross for our sin. He then took our sins upon him. He rose again from the dead, and he is alive and paying attention to what we're doing. And it's a gift, a gift of God. Salvation is a gift that needs to be received, and somehow we need to receive it. And one of the best ways to receive it is by repenting of our sin, turning from our sin and running towards Jesus. Maybe praying is a good way to communicate your desire, praying something like, Lord Jesus, I agree that you died on the cross for my sin, and that you rose again, and that you make it possible for me to be forgiven of my sin by believing in you, by turning from my wicked ways and running towards your righteous ways. Jesus, please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me. Help me to follow you in Jesus' name. Amen. And if you did that, let us know. If that's your desire, let us know, because we have resources out there, how to find God New Testament to help to help you live the Christian life.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

All right, real quick, here are four unrelated stories, all with a common bond. First, let's go back to November 20th, 1982. For the 85th time, Cal and Stanford are involved in a heated contest. After a wild game, Stanford, led by young John Elway, takes the lead with just four seconds left. The Stanford fans and band are already celebrating, and why shouldn't they? The game is over. One final play begins as Stanford kicks short to Cal. A mad scramble ensues. Laterals follow near tackles, then a blind over-the-shoulder lateral, a mad race to the end zone. Down goes the Stanford trombonist as the touchdown is scored. The unthinkable happens and Cal wins. As it turns out, it wasn't over. How about this one? Meet the Lilies, Russell and Terry. It's 2001. Their 10-year marriage has been a constant source of frustration. A vicious cycle of selfishness, fighting, and isolation has left them both exhausted, angry, and done. Never mind the vows. Never mind the two young boys. This one is beyond hope. This marriage is over. Following their divorce, Russell becomes a follower of Christ, and Terry begins to notice a transformation taking place in Russell. Harden hearts soften. The relationship begins to heal. Forgiveness is sought and granted. In 2007, they remarry. The one that became two is now one again. Then there's Raylean Kuferschmidt. It's January 2008. Ray suffers a cerebral hemorrhage. Declaring her brain dead, the doctors remove her breathing tubes. Knowing that it's over, the hospital releases Ray to her family so she can be taken home to die comfortably. Meanwhile, Ray's family plans her funeral. But someone forgot to tell Ray that it was over. At home, Ray suddenly wakes up. She's checked again by her doctors who cannot believe that she's still alive, much less alert and healthy. Funeral plans have now turned into vacation plans for Ray and her family. Logically devoid of hope, legally divorced, literally dead. Everyone thought it was over. It's not the first time. Flashback almost 2,000 years, a man claiming to be the long-anticipated Messiah is unfairly accused. Offered up to the lying crowds by a Roman official, the supposed savior is flogged, mocked, tortured, and beaten. He is nailed to a tree and crucified. He dies and is buried. Hopes that he is the Messiah fade away. It is finished. Friends scatter, disciples hide. Evil celebrates. And for three days, it is over. But on the third day, there's an empty grave. Evil has lost its victory. Death has lost its sting. Suddenly, miraculously, the only thing that is now over is hopelessness. Four stories. One message. It's not over. Even when it's over.