Mark’s Fast Start: Gospel, Identity, Wilderness

A sky torn open, a voice of love, and a desert road—that’s how Mark begins, and we’re jumping in with both feet. We kick off a yearlong journey through the Gospel of Mark by unpacking its rocket-start thesis: the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. In a world obsessed with power and image, this royal announcement reframes what authority looks like and how real change takes root in everyday life.

We trace John the Baptist’s gritty call to repentance and why turning back to God feels rare in a culture that avoids quiet and fears honest reflection. Along the way, we talk worship debates, “seeker friendly” labels, and why style is secondary to Scripture, prayer, and truth. Then we stand with Jesus in the Jordan as the heavens tear, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks identity before any public miracle. That moment reshapes how we think about calling: affirmation first, then assignment.

From there the path bends unexpectedly toward the wilderness. We explore why testing often follows spiritual highs and how the desert is not punishment but preparation. With personal stories and practical takeaways, we outline four anchors from Mark 1: Jesus is King, repentance prepares the way, identity comes before activity, and testing is part of obedience. If you’ve been hungry for clarity, courage, and a faith that holds under pressure, this conversation offers a grounded start.

Listen, share with a friend, and tell us: where are you right now—mountaintop or desert? If this helps you steady your steps, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on so others can find their footing too.

Transcript

Welcome And Icebreaker

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Welcome to the Jeff Fuel Podcast, a series of Concord conversations. In each episode, our lead pastor and a guest will sit down and dive a little deeper into what we learned as a church that week. These are honest, practical conversations to fuel your faith and help you live it out with purpose and consistency. Or, in other words, this is Jet Fuel for your soul.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

All right. Well, welcome back to the Jet Fuel Podcast here at Concord.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

What's up, everybody?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

We are so excited to help people fuel their faith for everyday life. You know? Um, you know, last week we had uh something kind of interesting and fun that Aaron and I started with. And first, let me just say, Michael, thanks for being with us today. You're usually behind the board.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Yeah, it's uh it's different being on this side of the camera, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

But I can't wait for our people to get to hear you and hear your thoughts on Mark and uh really excited to have you. So I want to start out with a question again. So this is a question we were just given. Uh, you know, they say it takes approximately 10,000 hours to become uh or 10 years to become an expert at something. All right. Um but if you could become an expert overnight at just one thing, I mean you bypass all the 10,000 hours, the decade you get overnight to become an expert, like the elite in one area, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

And this might be out there and a little bit weird, maybe, I don't know. But like for me, my mind goes to like primitive survival. Right, like like outdoor just survival, go outside and live.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Isn't that why they created inside though? So you didn't have to survive outside.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Have you ever watched the show alone? Yeah.

Yearlong Study Of Mark

SPEAKER_02 1:45

So like I love the show alone, and actually something I've always wanted to do was since college. Um, like if I could just take six months, go out to like the Midwest, middle of nowhere, horseback, have like a couple of weeks' worth of food, and then just go live for like six months.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Oh man, I'm like just go out. I think I'm dead day two. Like there's there's no way, even with a week's worth of food, I couldn't do it. But that's like your jam outside, and you'd be an expert survivalist. Expert. Man, that is that's absolutely wild. See, I I was gonna go with something that's a lot less um doable because I really think that you could probably you probably already got a good start on that. But I'm thinking we're sitting here with all these planes, man, I'd want to be a fighter pilot, man. Know what all the buttons and computers do and fly and stuff like that. But I found out something like super discouraging as a kid. So growing up, I had a picture of uh a jet on my wall, like a poster, like when you used to have posters in your room. Uh, and I had a poster of a jet on my wall. Then I found out you couldn't be over six feet and be a fighter pilot. And I was super discouraged when I hit that growth spurt after eighth grade. But I would say fighter pilots. You're like, don't grow, don't grow. Yeah, get in, get in small. You know, Top Gun was a big deal. So well, here's the deal. We are going to, we just started our brand new series in Mark. And it is gonna basically take the whole year, but we're really gonna spend time, I mean, uh chapter by chapter, section by section, verse by verse, uh go through this because uh, and this is gonna be the first time we've done it uh for our people, more than just I think Exodus was our longest one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Do you think I think so, yeah. Because we had two like main series that broke up with.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah, but it was 12 or 13 weeks. We're looking at this one's nine months.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Yeah, it's like what, 39 weeks, I think.

Gospel As Royal Announcement

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, something like that. It's gonna be great. But this was uh week one, and so we wanted to go back and grab some of these things because you know, we've said, Michael, 2026 is gonna be about the three M's. We're gonna pour a lot into our men's ministry, building up our men, encouraging them, equipping them, uh, really fanning the flame in that. We're gonna study the book of Mark uh and we're gonna push people towards opportunities for missions. Yeah. And so men, Mark, and missions, it's gonna be great. But we started this past week and um it's great because uh Mark is like all gas pedal.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Like Yeah, like right in immediately. Absolutely. It doesn't, doesn't do any like sidestep, just like straight in.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yeah, no genealogies, anything like that gets right to uh the very uh beginning, but the whole thing really happens in verse one where it says absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

He sets up the whole thing. It's like the thesis statement. Basically, he's like, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God, like straight up, like no doubt, no hesitation, just absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

So I love that because there's so much just there in that first version. I know we talked about this on Sunday, but it says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But even in there, when it says uh the gospel, that good news, but Jesus Christ, if you just break down that name, and I I think for a lot of people, uh, we did a little bit of this in the past, but looking at Jesus, that uh it's a you know from that root Joshua, which means the Lord saves, and then Christ is the Greek of the Hebrew Messiah, and it kind of comes together the Lord saves with his anointed one, uh, and he is the son of God. I mean, Mark is crystal clear, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:12

And this word gospel also literally means good news. Obviously, we we learn that growing up in church all the time, but also in the Roman time, in this frame, like in their culture, it was used when you say gospel, the good news. It was an announcement about kings, it was an announcement about victories of wars, of conquering nations, things that they were experiencing. So it's very interesting to see this opening the way he lays it out in terms of what they would understand in their time.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Well, and it's it's so interesting because there's a lot of scholars that believe that Mark wrote this while in Rome. You know, uh, you know, Matthew and Luke and John write to specific audiences, but this is written in Rome, probably too, definitely Gentile Christians, but even the Roman early church. And so to use even that gospel, that declaration of a king, and so much of this is about authority and power, which the Romans they loved, they admired power.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

It was all about the glory of Rome. And so when you talked of glory, power, anything they they ate it up.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

And so here we are, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, uh, the Son of God. And so when you hear um the word gospel, you you just you just explained it race uh recently that that there's information, there's the announcement. But uh what does it change? Uh how does it change things to see the gospel as news that demands a response?

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Um well, for me, and and just something is reading through this and prepping for today, like one thing I noted was, and I don't know why, because it's actually something that I read into like a week ago. Um, and it's actually about the triumphs, and they called them sometimes triumphs, which were just these big parades that the Romans had. And it was always done after like massive, great, like life-changing victories that Rome had.

SPEAKER_06 7:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

And they would parade the army through the city after the battles. Um, but then in there's there was a lot of obviously very awful things that happened at the time with uh slavery, with literally conquering nations, killing all kinds of things um through their battles and conquest, but they would parade their prisoners of the town as well. They would parade their kings and queens that they conquered, and like even crazy. And I've love history, things like this, but I know we're seeing the real history buff side of you.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

A lot of people see you as our one that leads worship, but you've got a like a heart for this.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

They would also take the gold from temples of nations that they conquered, and they use that gold to build chains and shackles, and they would put those around their kings and queens that they conquered. Oh, way and they would parade them through the city. And like for Rome,

A Different Kind Of King

SPEAKER_02 7:50

it was like this massive celebration, they just conquered this nation, right? You know, glory of Rome, all that. But for those who were conquered, they had no idea what was going to happen to them. Because at the end of that parade, they were either one going to end with public execution, like immediately on the spot, parades over, boom, in front of millions of people.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Romans were brutal.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Absolutely brutal, or also crucifixions, because if it was with rebellion, they would do crosses all up and down the road and uh crucify hundreds of people at a time. Right. Um, or if you had enough political stance, you would be basically exiled and given a villa out in the middle of remote nowhere to just live the rest of your life out as a servant. Wow. And so, like you see this concept. So coming back to the idea of gospel, this same terminology that Mark is using for the conquered people, for those who are in bondage, like there was no good exit out of this idea. But when we look at the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ, those who are in bondage, at the end of this celebration, there's freedom to be found. Right. Oh man. So like it brings out this like for me, how do you go through something like that and then be like, oh my gosh, I thought there was execution, I thought there was being sold into slavehood, I thought there was all these things going on. But actually, instead of that, Jesus says, No, you're loved, here's grace.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Well, and that's kind of a theme that runs through Mark is he's a different kind of king. Yes. Because I think Israel, who was oppressed by Rome at that time, ruled by Rome, you know, they were looking for a deliverer. They were looking for someone who was gonna smash Rome to pieces, that was gonna conquer and put Israel back on top. And they were looking for this conquering king. And what they got was a servant king. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:37

The one who did something different. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

And you see from the very beginning of Mark that this is the gospel to the end of it, of going, this is the king who suffered and served and did things differently, but ultimately, you know, paid the price for their own sin and then conquered the grave. And so this gospel, this good news, while the ending was tremendously uh more incredible than they could have ever imagined, the process was not going to be like anything that they would ever see. Well, I mean, that's just verse one. We've got a lot to get through.

John The Baptist And Repentance

SPEAKER_01 10:12

We have a lot more verses to get through. But verse two, we we start getting a picture of this dude named John the Baptist. Yeah. And what's cool is he is kind of the transition between the end of the Old Testament and Malachi, and then you have these 400 years of silence, the intertestamental period where God doesn't speak. Now, think about this. I mean, there's a couple of ways that I try to, for you guys that are listening, put this into perspective. You know, our nation's about to celebrate 250 years of being a country. Our church is about to celebrate 175 years, which you and your team have been working incredibly on that, and that's coming up. So, church, know we're gonna celebrate God's faithfulness for 175 years. But it's been 400 years since we've heard the voice of God as recorded in Scripture, and we get this John the Baptist who's gonna initiate this where we get to the baptism and then God speaks. And so I love it because you get John the Baptist, and this dude was out there. Out there. I mean, if I think about it, now that you said it, because you you caught me off guard with this wilderness thing outside, Michael. Uh but I'm like, this guy lived in the wilderness. I mean, his whole um, you know, vibe, if you will, is it if I use that correctly. He loves that word, by the way. Yeah, I hate that word, and I try to be so relevant with my language and it just embarrasses everybody. But but his whole deal was different, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

I mean, he ate locusts and honey or camel leather, like Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Well, there's so much a parallel to him and Elijah. You know, that's how we see him in, I think it's 2 Kings 1, that's how Elijah dressed. And then in Malachi 4, you know, there's going to be one like Elijah, Matthew 11, I believe it is, where he says, if you'll Jesus says, you know, uh compares him to uh, you know, Elijah. But this dude dressed like a prophet uh out in the wilderness, not a priest, not in, you know, the nice uh drapings of clothes, but he ate locusts and honey, which this is a little nugget for you guys listening. You know, locust was a clean uh food that he could eat, you know. I think it's actually listed in there. But um, it wasn't seeker-friendly at all, his message, his ministry. Now, that's something that uh, you know, Aaron's helped us with as we prepared this, this seeker-friendly thing. I I want to ask you a question just because of your role. And I know you're so much more than your role, but you know, that's where you have a lot of expertise is in leading worship. We hear this seeker-friendly. And so you say somebody like John the Baptist is not seeker-friendly. You know, he was given a hard message in a hard place, doing things very unusually. Um, it wasn't seeker-friendly. You know, that's a a big accusation against a lot of churches nowadays, seeker friendly. Well, unpack that for me. What does that what are people trying to say when they say that's seeker friendly?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Um the first thing that comes to my mind is different. Okay. And what I mean by that is like a lot of times when when people don't um, and I don't know if this is the right word, enjoy worship or like the worship, it's usually down to a difference of perspective and just uh it's usually down to a uh um preference, realistically. You know, um, and I I think it's you know, going to looking at Johnny Battle.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Let's stop, let's stop, let's go back. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

No, it's all good. I swore. I didn't know if I should try to say something or not.

unknown 13:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

I was I am so sorry. I swear I turned that off. Don't do it unless it's can I throw this to you?

SPEAKER_02 14:05

It has to happen.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Sorry.

SPEAKER_05 14:08

As soon as it started, I was like It's the old man.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Well, I normally always say, all right, phones on due next turn, so that's not like instead I've turned mine off because I thought I

Worship, “Seeker Friendly,” And Truth

SPEAKER_02 14:20

did.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 14:21

Just go back to the when you ask me the question.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Well, real quick, just so I know, just because there can be so many um controversial responses to this, what what are you trying to explain? I think what what point are you trying to reach?

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Because I think what he put in here, the line is it's not seeker friendly. That I think you know, the accusation against a church that does modern worship or anything that doesn't look old school is that we have watered it down. It's a version of the truth, it's it's just so people will enjoy instead of respond. And I'm sure you've heard that before. Oh, well, you're just doing that seeker-friendly stuff. You're just trying to do rock and roll so people like the music, and you're like, no, we we do anthematic praise and we we sing songs that are rooted in the Psalms and scriptures. And you know, uh seeker-friendly is uh an abused term that says, you know, I don't like that, instead of going, is this something that God can use? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

So I don't need to go down this rabbit. No, and I'm I'm fine with that because I think I mean I know how I want to respond to that, so I'm good with that.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

All right. So let me ask you this. When we say seeker friendly, uh just you and your expertise, you know, as a worship leaders, a lot of times that's a word we hear, you know, just kind of thrown as an accusation against churches sometimes is that's seeker friendly. What is somebody meaning when they're saying that? What what's the what's the barb that they're trying to get to?

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Um there's a lot of different things, but the the foremost thing that comes to my mind is when, in my experience, people who've talked to me about these exact things is it comes down to that it's different. Okay. It's different. Um and I get that because we all have, you know, things that we like. We all have preference. You know, you maybe like coffee without as much creamer. No, I'm a creamer guy. Like if it doesn't have creamer, then I'm good. Right. Um, and I'm not talking like the powdered creamer, I'm talking like a good creamer. The full-fledged FBI. Absolutely. Um, but uh, you know, many times it comes down to it's just different. It's not what they prefer, it's not what, you know, even I prefer, different things like that. But I think the the truth is like God's truth is God's truth. Right. No matter how you rap it. And we even talked about this in previous podcasts when we talked about worship. You know, Jesus says worship in spirit and in truth. He doesn't say worship with the newest hill song songs. Right. He doesn't say worship with the hymns. He doesn't say worship with this or that. He says worship in spirit and in truth. And I think that, you know, as as we work on, you know, developing what we preach, what we sing, how we present that out to the people in our community, like we want to completely wrap it up in truth. You know, and we do it in many different ways.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

But uh, you know, there's one lyric that that I love in a song, um, Ancient Gates, where it says, Um, raise your voice, he loves to hear it, sing with every prayer-soaked lyric. Right. And uh, and I think that is that is a great representation of so many worship leaders, the prayer and the thought and the intentionality that goes into the songs that we sing. Not only that, but like the the people who write the songs, things like that, when you're hearing testimonies of how songs came to being, things like that, like it's amazing. And we have the same thing both with hymns, you know, from hundreds of years ago to songs that are written last week or songs that were written last year. Um, and so I think the the ultimate thing, like when you look at John the Baptist, like he was different, like kind of almost in some ways weird, different, you know? Right. But just because it's different doesn't mean it's not God's truth.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Aaron Powell Right. And that's what I love about what you say. If I could just unpack just one more level of what you said, and I respect it so much, is going, um, you know, the song melody or the song volume uh doesn't matter as much as if it's rooted in the Bible. Absolutely. If it's rooted in Scripture, you know, and that our hearts come to praise. There's so much in Scripture, just about worship um that is about to sing loudly and to shout and play the cymbals.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

And I know not everyone might might like this, but when it talks about worship specifically, I have yet to find a time where it says to worship quietly. It says to worship with loud or resounding symbols, loud voices, loud horns, loud, loud liars, loud lootes, all that.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

So yeah. So once again, everybody has their preference and their place, but at the end of the day, we need to make sure it is bathed in prayer, it is, you know, anchored in scripture and then it is about truth. And that's what we get because when we see John the Baptist, although he's different than many of the Pharisees and preachers and teachers of the day would look like in how he dressed and how he spoke and where he did ministry. He didn't do it on the big platform. He did it out in the wilderness. And what we see is people were coming to him, but he were calling him to re he was calling people to repentance, not to comfort.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

To turn your ways. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

And so uh it's important. I love this idea of repentance. Um, you know, I think it's a word, Michael, that you and I probably grew up on in the church, but it's something that's kind of disappeared from churches nowadays. Um, but repentance is really this idea of being sold out to turn, really to turn from my way and turn the other way, which is the Lord's way, and and it's reorienting your life towards God. So why do you think repentance is something that gets overlooked uh in conversations about Jesus?

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Oh gosh. I have a long answer, and I'm gonna try to keep it short, but uh I think in our day and time now, we do not like self-reflection.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Because unpack that because that's a great line. Because we can't stand to see the things we don't like about ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Do you think that's why we have a generation that lives with headphones on and airpods in and music going? Absolutely. Because we're afraid to be alone with what the spirit could speak to us. I mean, I mean, um, we're not even talking affirmation of encouragement, but maybe some standards in our life. It could bring some some discipline, some you know conviction.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

When you're looking at because in our in our age where we live now, we have the

Baptism Of Jesus And Identity

SPEAKER_02 20:45

the best health access for mental health. We have the the best studies done on all of this, we have the medication for it. We have, you know, people constantly reaching out saying, hey, if you need mental health, we've got it. Like provide, like protect your mental health. Yet at the same time, we are in the worst mental health crisis ever. Even to the point that like the US government has declared an emergency on national health, national mental health, yes. And so in a in an environment where we have more people and more community, end quotes, around us than ever, we have more access to help than ever. But we have the greatest issue with it more than ever.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

And and part of that is just, you know. Getting alone, getting quiet, and let the spirit of God speak to you, but we can't do that with all the noise.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Absolutely. And we we distract ourselves with that. And there was actually a study done by the University of Virginia. Um, and I don't remember if we had talked about this on a podcast or not, but something that I've I've learned lately is uh I think it was 26% of females and over 60% of males chose to undergo electric shock rather than to be in a room by themselves with their thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

I've heard that I don't know if we've done that before, but I have. Heard somebody mention that before that you would rather take pain than be alone with your own thoughts. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

And then here's where I see, here's where I, you know, bringing it back to the idea of repentance. Repentance requires us to look inward and see that we are wrong, to see that we have failings, to see that there's no way in my life, even at my greatest strength, that my strength will not at some point fail. Wow. And we don't, I don't think we want to acknowledge that because we want to say, no, I got this. Boom.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Well, we're talking about pull yourself up by your bootstraps and be strong and some of that. But following Christ, repenting, turning from your way and turning to Christ, putting full faith in him requires surrender. Absolutely. Trust. I mean, it is a complete different paradigm that you have to adopt to say, I'm no longer in charge. Jesus is. And I trust him, not just with my moment or my life, but I trust him with my eternity. Yeah. You know, uh man, that is that's powerful. Well, the next part of Mark chapter one, after we see this connection to there's going to be one who prepares the way, we see him preach this baptism of repentance.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Um, and we've got all of these people coming out to him, this diversity. I could just imagine it says all the people were coming of age demographics, you've got males, females, educated, uneducated, professionals, priests, Pharisees, you know, and they're all coming and they're being baptized. But then we get this wild thing that happens coming in, just a handful of verses into Mark, you know, and then Jesus gets baptized.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

By John. By John. Which, and I would be like, if I'm I'm not to say that I'm like John the Baptist, but if I put myself in his shoes, I would be like, What? Yeah.

unknown 23:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

And just as John said, no, you you should be baptizing me. Like this is twisted. Like, what's going on here?

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Like that doesn't make sense. And and it's it's this this wild thing because it you go from John saying, Hey, uh, I baptize with water, but the one who's coming that I'm unworthy to even untie his sandal, he says, he's gonna give a baptism of the Spirit. He's gonna be more powerful, more mighty. He his baptism is gonna mean more than just this symbolic getting uh, you know, dunked in the river, but it's gonna be uh something wild. But there's a question that comes up though, because we talk about baptism in terms, especially here at Concord, of it being symbolic, it

Affirmation Before Temptation

SPEAKER_01 24:35

being an act of obedience. It's a picture, uh, it's an external picture of what happens inside, right, Michael? I love baptism at our church. I love the way we do it. Yeah, I know. Um it's it's just been great and we celebrate. But the person literally mimics death by going under the water, that repentance, I've gone from mild way, that old person's gone, and I've been raised in the newness of life. And so we see that. And so when Jesus gets baptized, the question is why did he need to get baptized? Has Jesus sinned? Did he need to do this? Um did Jesus need to repent of something? No. I mean, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Okay, there were like he didn't, he didn't to make sure that's clear. That that half second of silence there felt like I was debating if that was a rhetorical question or not. Sorry, that was where that hesitation came from. That got me right there. No is the correct answer. We need to make sure we know our worship pastor is this. Yes, that's so good. But no, I think this is what is so beautiful about the act of Jesus coming to earth is he identifies with us. Oh, that's so good. And and even more so than just simply being personal to us, um, he sets the example. He doesn't ask us to do anything that he didn't already do. Wow, you know, and and I I'd say this, you know, and it's different for everybody. Every some people are like, hey man, just throw me up there. I can be in front of people, I can do whatever. You know, I remember me when I got baptized, I was uh 14 or 15. I was nervous as all get out. Like I was so nervous. But like the I think the the reality is is just simply to be able to give the example of saying, this is what I believe, this is what I build my life foundation upon, and I'm letting everybody know it.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

You know, Michael, I think that's so powerful though, just your testimony right there, because I think most people feel the same way when it came to their baptism or the reason they're not getting baptized right now, is there's so much fear. Uh, I heard a comedian say one time, he says, you know, the number two fear that most people have is death. Number one is speaking in front of Christ. Absolutely. And they said, so at a funeral, you'd rather be given the eulogy than in the in the casket, which I think is funny because I think for us who do spend a lot of time on stage, you know, it's something we work on, something we feel called to, it's something we depend on the Lord for strength to do. Um, but then there are other people that go on, man, just to get in front of people, but it's so important because it is a public testimony of a private

Ministry Highlight: Herndon’s Story

SPEAKER_01 27:10

decision, and you are letting everybody know this is who I am. And for the context of a church, walk with me. Yeah, help me, hold me accountable, fan into flame the gifts that God's given me. But it is one of the ordinances given to the church. But what's cool about this is right after Jesus comes out of the water, and immediately, I think it's used 41 times in the 16 chapters of Mark. I mean, Mark is fast-paced, like just grab you by the collar of your shirt. Oh, yeah, come on. Drinking from a fire hydrant, it's like, let's go. But he he baptized, he's baptized, he comes out of the water and then the sky tears apart.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

It says the heavens open. And I honestly, like, this is something like if I were to be asked, like, if I could go see something from the past, I would have loved to see this. Right. Like, just to experience this. Because I I can't imagine just the power of being in the presence of this moment.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Where it says the heavens open up and the spirit descends as a dove and the father speaks.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Can you imagine? Can you imagine being in that moment? I mean, and what I love about it, it doesn't, I think sometimes when growing up reading the Bible, I viewed everything real soft, right? Like Jesus was, you know, wearing a robe, holding a baby lamb, just kind of walking through the fields, you know, the heavens open and they part and it's kind of this, you know, and the sun comes through. But the sky was torn open. Yeah. And I mean, and then the voice of God, the same voice that spoke our world into existence, goes, Hey, I am well pleased with you. You are my son, and I am well pleased. You are my beloved son. Uh, and and just thinking about the the authentication that God gives to Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. Absolutely. You are my son.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

I mean, and it's basically like going back to the thesis statement, you know, that Mark said that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, like this is God simply saying, This is the identity before his ministry, before he goes to the wilderness, before he performs all these miracles. He's like, boom, this is my son.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

Yeah, authenticates the ministry that's going to come. But then there's this affirmation. And I was kind of caught by this as we were preparing. Uh, this affirmation that says, with you I am well pleased. Um, I started thinking uh my kids and I were watching a show the other day, and it's this wilderness outdoor show, and they can extract their friends or family or something. And there was a dad and a college kid that were out there, and uh they send them all these care packages and stuff, but then they can ask to be extracted or stay, and it's whoever stays the longest wins the money. But there was this dialogue that they couldn't hear between a son and a dad, and he was just like, I just want my dad to be proud of me. I want to do this. And I think there's just something that a son wants from their dad, just affirmation of, hey, you're a man, I'm proud of you, you're doing well. And and there's almost this thing of, you know, not only the authentication of Jesus' deity. And you see the Father, Son, and the Spirit in the same moment, but there's this thing of, and you I'm well pleased. Uh and I just think that's a powerful thing to think about, the authentication of the identity, but also the affirmation that the Father gives the Son in that moment. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Well, and and if I can ask, like just discussion here, like why do you think that's important that Jesus hears that affirmation before?

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Well, because I get to see the next thing. I mean, he is going into the battle station after this in the wilderness. I mean, he's going straight from this holy Trinitarian moment that we catch a glimpse of, and we'll catch another bit at the transfiguration, you know. But um he's hearing this affirmation, and he's about to walk into 40 days of testing and tempting and um beginning a three-year battle that l ends at the empty tomb, not at the cross, but at the empty tomb and um you know, with his ministry on earth. And I just think it's it's it's just a powerful, powerful moment.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Um How does that uh how does that like if if looking at our own lives as well, like how does that speak to us and how we approach our own calling in service of what God's calling us to do?

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Man, dude, that is such a great question, Michael. And I have to say, when we think about us, of course, none of us are Jesus, right? We have the Holy Spirit of God that lives inside of us, praise the Lord. Um but our own calling, I think just in today's way of doing church, there's so much discouragement. Um, there's so much questioning. Just when you um face a spiritual situation that's tough, or um, you know, in leadership of church, you get a lot of criticism and critique and things like that, and you can start to doubt am I doing the right thing?

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah, it's so easy. Am I cut out for this?

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Do they need somebody else beside me? You know. I'm called as the pastor here at Concord to shepherd the flock, to guard them, to protect them, to lead them, um, to watch over them, to feed them truth, um, but at the same time to know that it's not for their approval, but that God has called, God has appointed, and God has anointed this time of leadership to have the Father's affirmation makes it easier to go through the deep water, the the hard times, the times you feel like, you know, it's razor blades and lemon juice you're walking on, you know. Um What is it?

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Paul says, I I do what I do to glorify God, not man.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

You know, I think that's that same affirmation, you know, knowing that what you're doing is being called by God for a specific action for a specific reason.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Aaron Powell And just like you were talking about um, you know, Jesus setting the example in baptism, I think there's something too that we can see here and follow the Lord's example for you and I to encourage other people, to affirm and to to say, hey, you're doing a great job. Here's some things. I think for me, even a leader, sometimes I'm working

Wilderness As Preparation

SPEAKER_01 33:20

on the corrective measures of, hey, let's try to do this better, let's improve here. But I need to be mindful to look at our team, to look at our incredible volunteers, from those that serve in the parking lot to production to preschool to say, hey, you have been called by God in this season to do what you're doing for the glory of God in the church. I think that's affirmation is a is a big, big deal. So uh I want to push pause right here in our discussion. I'm loving this discussion, but we've got another uh ministry highlight, and I can't wait for y'all to see this.

SPEAKER_05 33:54

All right, Herndon, welcome to this side of the camera. I know it feels weird, man. It is weird, but uh everybody needs to see you, everybody needs to hear from you. So I'm gonna ask you some questions today. You have no clue what I'm gonna ask you, which is one of my favorite things today. Okay. So, first of all, you've grown up, you grew up in North Hall, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

North Hall. When did you how long have you been here? I'm my family and I moved here uh in first grade. Okay, so yeah, but you pretty much graduated from North Hall High School. Yep. Did you play sports? Uh cross country and track. Okay. And then I did I also did baseball, but that was outside of like North Hall. I didn't do more like student distance.

SPEAKER_05 34:32

What were your events in track?

SPEAKER_04 34:34

Uh 800 in a meter. Long distance. Yeah, long distance. 800 was perfect. It was just long enough where I didn't have to like run forever, but it and it was also short enough where I could I could sprint a little bit at the end.

SPEAKER_05 34:48

There you go. Um recently married, not that long.

SPEAKER_04 34:51

When did you and Brittany get married? We got married in February of 2025. So it would be a year uh this February. Uh how did you meet her? Uh we actually met online, um, which is which is actually really cool. Um it is it was an app called Upward. Uh it's a Christian dating app with basketball. Yeah. Yeah. Um and you know it the the funniest story is that she was like giving this app one more try. She had been on like one day before and it was awful. She's like, I'm gonna give it one more try. And so I was I was the least.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

You were the least. I was the last one. I was the last one, man. You made it. I made it. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 35:29

Okay, so what did what did Herndon like ministry for Herndon look like before you got to Concord?

SPEAKER_04 35:35

So before I got to Concord, um I spent four summers at Woodlands um in Cleveland. Um and I also did an internship, a year-long internship with them. Um so that's kind of how like my ministry was. What did you do at Woodlands? I I did a bunch of other things. I did a lot of things. So my first summer, I did programming. So that's like all the games, setting up games and running the games. Um, and then I did maintenance for a summer, and then the last two summers I did video and production. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 36:02

And that's what you do here. Yes. So tell everyone what what is your job. I know you do a lot, but like main things that you do here at Concord, what are you?

SPEAKER_04 36:10

So when it boils down to everything, my main job is on Sunday mornings is running our Sunday morning worship services. So everything that goes on from the booth to on the screen, um to I mean lights on stage. I have a hand that goes in perfectly. And you've been on staff here for how long? Uh I started in October of 2022.

SPEAKER_05 36:32

Okay. So this year will be what, four years, four years. Wow, that's gone by crazy.

SPEAKER_04 36:38

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 36:39

Um, let me ask you this. Outside of Concord, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_04 36:44

Um so Brittany and I love going on dinner dates. Um Texas Roadhouse is one is one of our favorite. Top choice, huh? The cinnamon, the cinnamon butter. Okay. That's good. That's good right there. You play a lot of golf. Play some golf uh with my dad and brother who are significantly better than me. Um if I can keep it out of the woods, that's good enough for me. Okay. If I can come out with the same or more balls than the other. The number of balls that you started, yeah. That's a good day. That's that's a good day. And then me and my college buddies love playing uh Mario Party. Okay. We love playing. What is your um console of choice? Uh Nintendo Switch. Okay. That's that's what we're what we're planning on.

SPEAKER_05 37:23

Um okay. Last question. I've kind of been asking everyone this. If you could say or ask one

Spiritual Highs And Testing

SPEAKER_05 37:30

thing from our people here at Concord, what would you say?

SPEAKER_04 37:33

I would say, I mean, Sunday morning production is is it can be a grand jun a grand hu a lot of things. But we don't need all of that to worship. We just need people and we need the Bible to worship. Um and it's great to have all the lights, it's great to have new speakers and projectors and all the things. But when two or more people are gathered in the name of Jesus, we're able to worship. And I mean, the fact that, you know, we have such great tools to do all of these things is a wonderful gift from God. Um, but one of my favorite things is just when people gather in this room and just start worshiping. And even if something goes wrong, people still worship. Yeah. And that's just what I love.

SPEAKER_05 38:18

Well, Herman, thank you very, very much. We know that you do a lot behind the scenes. Everything there are lots and lots of things that happen at in our building, around our building, and most a lot of them happen because you have orchestrated somehow them happening. So thank you for that. You do a great job. And yeah, it just thank you for continuing to help us make Sunday morning special. Well, no place I'd rather be.

unknown 38:43

Hi, like.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

All right. Well, uh, back to Mark one. And to recap just a little bit, we talked about the baptism immediately after the baptisms, the heaven opens, spirit comes down, and then the spirit sends Jesus into the wilderness.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Isn't that wild? I mean, just this incredible, miraculous moment, 400 years since uh it seems that God has spoken, and now, boom, yeah, Jesus experiences that, and then he's compelled, sent. Yeah. This is not accidental. This is led specifically time into the wilderness.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

Which wouldn't you think is like in my mind, I'm like, okay, boom, affirmation. Jesus is gonna go like start making disciples, Jesus is gonna go start healing people, like doing his ministry like right away.

SPEAKER_01 39:32

But yeah, it's but it's calling and then testing. And it seems backwards, but uh, what we have to keep in perspective, especially all of you that are listening right now, we have to keep this in perspective that the wilderness isn't punishment, it's preparation. Yeah. And and I think in today's world, now I want you to listen to me, all of you who are listening right now, because if there's one thing I want you to hear is this we, myself included, but but many of us in the church, we want the platform and the privilege, not the preparation. Yeah, absolutely. We we want the opportunity, we want the um the accolades, we want the opportunity, that platform of privilege without being prepared. And a lot of times, Michael, we curse the times of preparation. We we curse the times of the wilderness.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah. Well, and it even reminds me, and and I know we weren't planning on talking about this, but like Acts, when the disciples, after Jesus raises from the dead, everything, the disciples are like, okay, let's go. Like, we are like, okay, we had this season of, oh my goodness, Jesus was killed. Okay, now he's resurrected, he's back, he's with them. Um, and they're like, Okay, so now's the time we're gonna restore the kingdom of Israel, right? And Jesus is like, nope, no. And and like, and this is a short paraphrase for me because this is very much it changed my life in a big season of my life um when I was facing calling and understanding what that was, is Jesus was like,

Personal Wilderness And Growth

SPEAKER_02 41:00

It's not for you to know but what you will do is tell people about me. But before you do that, you're gonna go and wait. And then I'll send you the Holy Spirit. So, like, I see this parallel of the same thing. It's like, okay, where Jesus is baptized, got the Holy Spirit. It's like, all right, let's get this thing started. Right. No preparation.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Let's get set before we well, let's unpack a little bit of this. One of my favorite Bible study methods called OIA. I don't know if you're familiar, but observation when you read, then interpretation, and then application. Yeah. You know, an application can get sticky. Sometimes people try to claim, you know, different things with that. But the application, so for for folks listening today, why does it seem like times of testing often follow a very spiritual high moment? Like we have this incredible encounter with God, and then it just seems just almost immediately, we go into another season of testing or preparation. Why, why is that?

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Um, one, I think it is spiritual warfare.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 42:06

In a sense, because I mean, you look at that when Jesus went to the wilderness, what happened? Like Satan tempted him. Like there was spiritual warfare big time. Um, and many times when we aren't aware of that, we forget to use the tools that God's given us, such as scripture.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

Which is what Jesus did.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Absolutely. Um, and so I I think part of that is just our um our natural inclination, like how this works. Because I mean, it even happened to Jesus, which is actually now that you're saying this, this is like an incredible encouragement as you're walking through that testing season.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Because sometimes you feel like you're alone or you're the only one that's done that, and you're like, Jesus has already done that. And you're like, why me? You know, yeah. I mean, how many of y'all have ever asked, why me? Yes, God, yes, we just experienced you. We just had this. I mean, for our church, the 21 days of prayer, like this times where we're faithful to God and we're doing all this, and then all of a sudden it's like we've had these encounters with God, and then it's boom, we get hit with testing and temptation and all those those kinds of things, and it just almost feels counterintuitive, but there is a pattern that we see that happens when that that this follows immediately. I I don't know that we prepared you much for this, but just as in our closing moments, uh how has there been a wilderness time for you that's really helped shape your faith rather than destroy it? I mean that you've had this incredible moment with God and you move into this desert place and you're being attacked and you're having to fight through, but it's on this side of it, you can say, hey, it built me rather than destroyed me.

SPEAKER_02 43:40

Yeah. Um, absolutely. And and if you don't know my story, I'm gonna try to keep it brief um because we don't want this episode to be like two hours long. But uh um I would say there was a there was a season of my life about five years that was probably the most spiritual high I'd ever had. Had in my life. Just consistently. Just in consistent growth. And it was funny because I would tell people, like, just where I was, I was like, man, if you would have given me, and it's funny because I actually did this because one of my mentors at the time, um, I was just getting into ministry, just understanding, I was like, okay, what does that mean to go to a church? Like, what does that mean to go do this? So, what do I know is the right way? How do I get there? Like, how do I know is the right church is a fit for me? And I remember he just said, write out what you feel God is leading in your heart that you would want to be a part of in a church. And so I wrote everything down. You know, at the time I was doing a lot of other work, contract work, like doing sound, playing denous, all that stuff. And uh um I remember I sat down and I wrote it all on paper, every single thing. And I was like, I'm not holding back. I'm like, this is my big ask, right? Like God, this is what I'm looking for. And uh I remember after this five years of time, I was like, I literally sat down and wrote the best of the best of what I wanted in life. And God way overdelivered.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

Really?

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Way over. And it wasn't even like half the things on my checklist weren't even checked at that time. But I was like, God has blessed in such an incredible way. I grew in ministry. I had numerous mentors around me that just built me up, helped me overcome a lot of things. You know, as you're working in leadership and you got criticisms, things, and you're still trying to define like who you are, even in that. Um, and so having a lot of that in my life, and I just remember being like, I literally could have planned out my life. If I knew I would have gotten it all, I could have planned out my life, but God so far exceeded what my plan was. And so it was just phenomenal. Um, and that actually led me to taking a campus pastor position. I was actually letting go of leading worship at that time in my life. Um, I got married in that time frame. Like it was something that was just a significant um growth season, both physically, mentally, spiritually, biblically. Um and then uh then I come home from church on a Sunday morning, um, and understanding there were there were some issues in in my marriage, um in just walking through that in the first year. And I come home and there's a moving truck in my yard. And uh, and honestly, I had no idea how I was gonna walk through it completely. Um and then I I also say this following up like if if I could have written the worst things that could have happened in my life, it was so much worse than that in the next two years of my life. And um I think something that changed for me specifically were the the people that I had around me, constantly pointing me to Christ, constantly pointing me to finding that peace and that safety in Christ and not things of the world. And so in that time frame, it could have been very easy to and and I'm gonna be honest, I did have anger at God. I did in a lot of ways, and I told him many, many times. But in that season, that was something that

Key Takeaways And Reflection Questions

SPEAKER_02 47:10

um looking back now was something that strengthened my faith more than anything else I've ever experienced in my life. You know, and boom, now looking and seeing this story of Jesus and how he went through this great moment of affirmation of God in his life, saying, This is my son in whom I'm pleased, and then immediately going into hardship in the wilderness and then seeing what came from that. Right. Because it's almost like a salvation. Not to well, yeah, absolutely, but not to, and I'm not saying that this is like the the best quote in the world, but it's a quote from a movie, Evan Almighty, if you've ever seen it. Oh my goodness. Like where is this going? But but there's something that is said in this that I think speaks to this. You know, he says when you pray for patience, God doesn't just give you patience, he gives you opportunities to be patient. You know, and so as we go through this growth season or this affirmation, okay, is this moment that moment for you to have the opportunity to live how God has called you to live? I think it kind of tests our faith and like holds our faith to the fire in a sense of saying, okay, is this real? Right. Or are you at the first sign of hardship going to turn back to whatever addictions or whatever things, vices you have in your life that you're gonna run back to, or are you gonna stand strong in your faith, being knowledgeable in scripture to be able to know where you stand and combat the enemy on a spiritual level as well. And I think that's that's it, that's where I say, like, I'm seeing this in a whole new light. Like, that's encouraging to me to see that Jesus walked through the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

I think it's Hebrews that says he was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin.

SPEAKER_02 48:50

Yes. And and that's like my encouragement for anyone listening to this: like, hardships are gonna happen. It's not a matter of if, it's definitely a matter of when, if you're not already walking through one. Now turn to scripture. Turn to the peace that we have in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives, because there's nothing else like it. There isn't.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

Right. Well, man, thank you for for sharing a piece of your story because here's what we need to understand with Mark chapter one. This first uh 13 verses is Jesus is the King.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Repentance prepares the way. Um, identity comes before activity, and testing is a part of obedience. And so uh I I love just the example that we see. And Mark is so power packed, and I cannot wait, church, for what God is gonna do over the next nine months of us studying this together and really watching Jesus live, not rushed like the Bible or like Mark reads, but it is very intentional. Yeah. And so uh let's land our time in this uh episode. And so a couple of questions just to think through. Am I preparing room for Jesus or am I crowding him out?

SPEAKER_06 50:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Um is my identity rooted in God's voice or my performance? That is something that we need to ponder, guys. You need to take a minute and think, is my identity rooted in God's voice or my performance what I bring to the table? And lastly, do I trust God in the wilderness as much as I do on the mountaintop? Um, because you will have both in your life. You will have mountaintop experiences and you will uh be in the wilderness at time. Um, but uh I love the clarity and I love that Jesus is the focus of this gospel. And so, Michael, thank you for your time with us this morning. Thanks for coming out from behind the board. Yeah. Thank you for having me. Thank you. And uh I really appreciate it. Hope you guys will join us next time.