When Faith Moves From Head To Heart

We trace Mark 1 from crowded synagogues to a quiet room, from spectacle to solitude, and from curiosity to costly compassion. Jesus heals by touch, prays before dawn, chooses mission over momentum, and restores a leper with a willing hand.

• private healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and the call to serve in gratitude
• crowds at sundown, messianic secret, and the danger of entertainment-driven faith
• early morning prayer in the Eremos as the engine of healthy ministry
• mission over momentum and why numbers are indicators not masters
• the leper’s bold faith, Jesus’ touch, and a hint of the great exchange
• practical tools for prayer and creating space for silence
• reflections on hospitality, compassion, and maturity in Christ

Transcript

Warm Welcome And Road-Trip Icebreaker

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Jet 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_06 0:26

All right. Well, welcome back to Jet Fuel Concords Podcast, where we say, this is how we we package it all the time, that we are fueling faith for everyday life. And uh I love that because this is really what we're here to do, Eli, is to help people just that extra level to give them a little jet fuel for their life, to get from Sunday to Sunday through uh life. So glad to have you with us today, Eli. Glad to be back.

SPEAKER_05 0:50

It's uh season two. Season two. Can you believe it?

SPEAKER_06 0:54

I don't know if it was by popular demand, but at least uh you know, it was by a demand. By a demand. We'll take a. Well, you know, one of the things that I love that we've been doing recently is getting some questions, and I think it really helps people understand uh a little bit of the side of us that they may not know, that they only get to see in a real ministry capacity on Sundays. And uh one of the ones that we're gonna be answering today that I think is of paramount importance, all right. I mean, I just I can't imagine anyone listening right now not wanting to know the answer to this because I think it's pretty life-changing if uh if if I can be honest. This is a big question, it's gotta be a big question. It's not really at all. And so the question uh comes like this, and and I think uh in the future we're gonna have Brie ask these from uh off off camera. She's sitting over there right now, get her a microphone uh next week. But um, it is this you're on a road trip. Okay. All right. This is not a math question, not like you're traveling 50 miles an hour, but you're on a road trip. Yeah. Uh what is your go-to gas station snack and drink?

SPEAKER_05 2:01

You know, this is a big deal. Yeah, the funniest thing is that I'm like one of the worst people to ask this question to. Why? Because I'm not very big like a snacker. Like I didn't get this this size by eating snacks. Uh it was just straight meals. Okay. Um, but if I did have to choose, because obviously, you know, Bucky's is the the road trip place to stop at and that might be something we need to differentiate.

SPEAKER_06 2:21

Are we talking like just a gas station or are we talking Bucky's Bucky's is like the Cadillac of gas stations? It's a different thing. I think we can go either one.

SPEAKER_05 2:31

Okay, so if if I was to stop at Bucky's, right? If we're like planning a road trip, we're like, okay, we're gonna

Setting The Stage: Mark Series

SPEAKER_05 2:35

hit Bucky's, right? Uh they're they're beaver chips. I don't know if you ever had a beaver chips. They're like it's just a potato cut very thinly, like a chip. But they make them in-house and they're out of delicious. Beavers, yeah, beavers. They cut beavers wrists. All right, so these are potato chips. Yeah, potato chips, and they are delicious. So Lauren and I will get because they come in like a like a Chinese to-go container look alike thing. Um so we'll get one of those together and we'll just share it, and then we're like, we should have bought a second one every single time.

SPEAKER_06 3:07

But you're not a snack guy, so one was good.

SPEAKER_05 3:09

So one was good because um at first I'm like, oh, that was really good. I wish I had more. But if the second that I have like another one to dig into, I'm like, I don't like this anymore. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 3:16

All right. And so what what are you getting to drink? If y'all are rolling out of Buckys, you got your beaver chips made from real beavers.

SPEAKER_05 3:23

Anyone who knows me runs that or knows that this machine runs on Diet Coke. I love Diet Coke. Yeah, I don't know what it is. I I've I figured out that I don't like the the sugary taste that I get from like full sugar drinks that gets like left on my teeth. Like there's like a weird like film. I don't know. It it freaks me out. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_06 3:40

I think people listening right now are going, that's a little too much information for me right now. You're what uh the Diet Coke is the way to go. Well, you know, one of the things I do love about Bucky's is you know, you can literally get like a brisket sandwich there. Um their their breakfast tacos are great. Um, you know, their their uh coated pecans are great. But if I'm getting something from Bucky's, it is absolutely it's not even any anywhere out on the floor. Like you have to be checking out, and they've got the chewy pecan pralines. Grab a couple of those, throw them in the in the console in the middle, and you're good for the rest of the trip. Um, but uh if I'm I've I'm at Bucky's, I'm probably getting some kind of Gatorade Zero or Propel. But if we're going true gas station, like real life, not stuff, yeah, yeah, yeah. Icy is the way to go. Coke icy, drop a little bit of the cherry in there and then cover the rest back up with uh coke icy. Man, I'm I'm crushing an icy any and every day during the summer if I'm stopping at a gas station.

SPEAKER_05 4:43

You know, if I if I'm stocking up, stopping at Bucky's and it's closer to payday, I'll I'll splurge a little bit and get some beef jerky because you know you have to pay an arm and a leg to get all that. But uh for a regular gas station, a normal people gas station, if you will, not from Texas, uh, it is the honey roasted peanuts. Okay. In either a Diet Coke or sometimes I'll I'll switch it up and it's like if it's like later in the drive, I'll get an energy drink. Uh and those can vary from any whatever I'm feeling. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_06 5:10

Gotcha. Well, cool deal. Well, I hope that did not just waste your time. That was something that you wanted to know. But if you're ever on a road trip with our college ministry and Eli, we're stopping. You got to know Diet Coke is the way to go for him.

SPEAKER_05 5:25

We took a road trip and uh Chandler was with me. And so he's like, we stopped at a gas station. He's like, Can I buy you a Diet Coke? And I was like, I feel so loved and so seen.

SPEAKER_06 5:33

Yeah, that's your love language, Diet Coke. I bet there's a lot of you out there that that'd be your love language as well. Well, here's the deal. We are in week three uh going through our sermon series on the Gospel of Mark. And so far, I I feel like it has been connecting with our people a lot. They're learning a lot about theology, they're learning a lot about doctrine, they're really seeing and putting their hands on just the way it's written a little differently than some of the other gospel accounts. And today I want to kind of finish up. We we walk through verses 29 through 45 and and looking at the end of Mark chapter one, because there's some big things that happen here. We're we're starting to see, you know, this part of our series, we're breaking Mark up into four series. Um, this one is crowds and calling. Yeah. And so calling people to himself, calling people to follow. And we're seeing as he performs miracles and teaches that just really this power and this preaching is really increasing his popularity. Yeah. Um, and so we're gonna get to see

From Synagogue To Home: Private Healing

SPEAKER_06 6:32

some of those powerful moments in here, but I think we're also gonna get a glimpse into Christ's heart as well. And so, well, let's start out here, um, Eli. Let's look at this first interaction when Jesus has moved from the temple. Remember, he's he's teaching in the synagogue and he has this authority that they've never experienced before.

SPEAKER_05 6:53

Yeah, they were amazed at his teaching.

SPEAKER_06 6:54

Right. I mean, the word of God teaching the word of God.

SPEAKER_05 6:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:58

And uh it's just this powerful moment. And in the middle of his teaching, you know, this demon cries out, he handles this demon, and right after this moment in the synagogue is where we pick up this story. And so uh, we're gonna see him head from the synagogue to the house.

SPEAKER_07 7:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:16

And so uh let's let's look here in verse 29. It just says, And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John, and Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her, and he came and took her by the hand, lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Now, this is this is a a wild moment. Walk us a little bit through, you know, moving from how how Jesus moves from this this crowd to this intimate moment in a house.

SPEAKER_05 7:48

Well, it truly shows like Jesus' character. Because, you know, the character is always the who you are when no one's watching. And, you know, he leaves the crowd to go into this this private home of uh some of his disciples, and they're like, hey, like our mother-in-law is sick. You need to heal her. And so Jesus takes the time and goes, All right, I'm I'm gonna heal her. And then she immediately gets up, starts serving them, and starts repaying the I mean, there's no like repayment that she can really make for healing, but she starts to immediately serve them. And so it's just a wonderful like glimpse into who Jesus is, not just in front of the crowds, but also just who he is for his life as well.

SPEAKER_06 8:23

Right. And I I love this because one of the things that I think we see here that's maybe a little nuanced if you look at the text is when Jesus cast out the demon right before this in the synagogue, he spoke with authority. Yeah. And he said, Be silent and come out of him and obeyed. Here, uh Mark doesn't record any kind of authoritative command. Literally, this came from touch. Yeah, grabs her hand, met her where she was, and immediately she was healed. Now, I love this because you mentioned it just a second ago uh of you know, as soon as Jesus healed her, her response was to do what? Just to serve. Just to serve, yeah. What what is this normally our response? I mean, when you think about the people of Concord and they're they're needing God to move in a big way, and He does.

SPEAKER_05 9:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:11

What's the response we often get sometimes?

SPEAKER_05 9:14

I mean, in a lot of ways, if if we see God move, we we rejoice for a moment and then we just move on. We're like, oh, that was great. And on to something else. Right. Going back to what I just came from. Um and so from here, like we we see her rejoicing through getting to do what she wanted to do, which was to serve them. Because I know like if anything, if anybody's like my mother-in-law, she loves serving. As soon as we get into her house, she's like, Can I get you something to drink? Are you hungry?

SPEAKER_06 9:38

You know, and that's what I love about that generation. You know, you know what it's like when you go to your mom's or your in-laws or the grandparents. I mean, the first thing they do when you walk in is do you want something to eat?

SPEAKER_07 9:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:47

You know, can I get you something to drink? Hey, why don't you sit down and do this? That the hospitality is a huge thing. And I I feel like sometimes that that's a uh in the busyness of our schedule, hospitality can really take uh a back seat. Yeah, you know, like a dying heart. Yeah. And and I just love that heart. And you know it when you experience it. When you walk in and somebody's like, hey, how can I serve you? It's it's so different than what we experience most of the time. And and and I I just think a lot of times, like you said, Eli, what we do is we need God to move, and then he does. And we are so passive in gratefulness, and we, like you say, you just kind of drop back in and we've gotten so accustomed to the goodness of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, uh, that sometimes we can we can get really calloused to the move of God and almost like God owes us. And because we've experienced his blessing sometimes, uh, that can be a real trap for a lot of us. And um, that's that's wild. So uh let me ask you a question. Um, you know, why do you think Mark includes this private healing alongside the public ones? Why do you think he's giving us not just the big scope, he's giving us these tiny, insightful moments?

SPEAKER_05 11:01

Like I said earlier, I think it's just to show that this Jesus guy is not just putting on an act for the crowds or putting on a performance for people to come and know who he is. Like this is this is the heart of Jesus is to say, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what the crowd size is, I'm gonna meet you there.

SPEAKER_06 11:20

Can I ask you a question? I mean, you work a lot. I mean, I I I know you grew up in church, you had an incredible parents who taught you in the ways of the Lord and people that have mentored you. Um, but you work a lot with the younger generation, with college kids, people that are on their own for the first time and and and walking through some of this. Do you think in this coming generation, do you think they understand that the Lord cares for them? Is that something they grasp or is that something that they wrestle with? Because I know self-worth, um, anxiety, doubt, those are things that kind of hallmark this generation. Do they really understand how much Jesus loves them?

SPEAKER_05 12:04

I think everybody would be very quick to say yes.

unknown 12:08

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:08

That's a good church, but they're not not very quick to actually believe it. Okay. Um I actually like I've been discipling some of our college students specifically, and uh, we were talking about how God reveals himself through scripture, and we looked at some of the passages where he's saying, This is who I am. This is these are the characteristics that describe me. Um and I asked them a question and said, Look, if if these things are real, or things that are true, because this is God, not just us describing God, but God describing himself. If these are true, how should this change our lives? It should change everything. Like this, if this is who God says he is, then why am I so worried about what people think about me? Why am I so worried about this, that, and the third? Like, I if this is true, my whole entire life should be built on it.

SPEAKER_07 12:50

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:50

It was just so like a such a cool moment to see like what you're talking about of the it drops from the yes, I know that God loves me to the I know that God loves me.

SPEAKER_06 12:58

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

And it's just super duper cool. And so I think a lot more people need to to to remedy that disconnect between the I know in my head that Jesus loves me. I know in my head that Jesus came for those who like

Crowds Gather At Sundown

SPEAKER_05 13:10

our downtrodden, the the the meek and the mild, but I need to actually know that for real.

SPEAKER_06 13:15

Well, and I I I just think anybody listening this morning, I want you to hear something. You have to know that the Lord cares about you. And I think we can become so lost in the idea of the general acceptance, of course, and we get lost in the crowd. Yeah, but here Mark makes a great, you know, just other side of the coin to say, yes, he was healing people, he was preaching, but then he was taking this lady and going to her and meeting her where she was, and it really shows the compassion and love that he has. And I don't want you to forget how much the Lord loves you and cares about you. Um that doesn't change any of the standards that he has for righteousness or holiness, but the understanding that he does love you. Now, uh I I will say this what does it show about how Jesus cares for people? Um, you know, recently we had a man in our church that got uh some bad medical diagnosis and it was heavy and it was devastating to he and his wife. And one of the things he did is he texted me and said, Hey, would you pray for me and anoint me with oil and um let's let's do the James V thing and ask the leaders of the church. And so we gathered some some men just the other night and got in a room and we just cried out that God would heal. Um and I think so many times we just forget that it's not just about the big sweeping revival movements. We hear about all these college campuses and you know, repentance and praise for days, and you so we see these big things, but I mean God works with the individual as well, right?

SPEAKER_05 14:50

Yeah, yeah. It's it's it shows that you know God moves just as much in a worship center as he does in someone's home.

unknown 14:56

Right.

SPEAKER_05 14:57

Like when it's just like individuals crying out to God saying, God, would you move? He's there. Right. Right. And and our God is such a personal God that he like he meets us where we're at. And I just think that's one of the coolest things about the God that we worship is just that, yes, he is the the unsearchable, the creator, the one who's above all things, but he invites us to find him out and search him. Right. And like I'm I'm going to meet you in the searching. Uh I going back to the discussion that I've been having with our college students, it's like, you know, the cool thing about studying God is that whenever you find something out about God, it's not you finding something out about him, it's him revealing himself to you because of his love for you. And like it shows in this moment with with Jesus and uh Simon's mother-in-law is that he is a personal God who wants to meet us where we're at.

SPEAKER_06 15:47

Right. That's awesome. Well, it it goes on because right after this, you know, the sun goes down. Uh it says there um in in the next verse, that evening at sundown, uh, they brought to him all who were sick and oppressed by demons. You have to remember, just in the timeline, this is on the Sabbath. And so when the sun goes down at Sabbath, probably we're thinking about 6 p.m. or so. Something about that's technically the end of the Sabbath, which you know, we get all of the Levitical rules, uh not the Levitical rules, but the the Ten Commandments of honoring the Sabbath, doing no work, you know, that's the fourth commandment. Uh and so people have waited until some time, but then they just bum rush the house and they're bringing everybody possible. Um, and so you know, what does Jesus do? It's he's had this long day at ministry. What does he do?

SPEAKER_05 16:34

Does he just shut it down or I just I just imagine Jesus just taking one one big deep breath and then just going into it. Um it says that he healed all of them. Like it wasn't just the he got as many as he could before midnight, he got as many as he could before he met his working hours, he healed all of them and like was ministering to them.

SPEAKER_06 16:54

Yeah. Well, and what's crazy too is we we get this whole thing where um you know the the demons uh that he's casting out not permitting them to speak, you know, uh there's this um this little phrase that I heard that I as I was researching to prepare for this sermon um the called the messianic secret. I never really heard of that before, but this whole idea of going, you know, you know, Jesus is the Messiah, there would come a time to declare that, but as he's doing all these things, there's this like waiting period. And I thought it was a really cool little um I wouldn't call it a doctrine, but this this you know idea around why Jesus is not permitting them to speak and do that. And we'll see later when he interacts with this leper that it kind of shuts down his ministry opportunities to meet people uh where they are in the area he was in. So why do you think the crowds came that night? Like why why they they've heard Jesus teach, they've seen him cast out demons, we know he's healed uh Peter's mother-in-law, but but but why are the people coming to Jesus? Why not to the other religious leaders? Why not to other skilled physicians of the day? Why Jesus?

SPEAKER_05 18:08

Well, one of the reasons that I mean throughout the entire book of Mark, that we see the crowds just flocking to Jesus is that Jesus is impressive. Like He's he's doing all the things that he says he's gonna do, he's doing the healings, the miracles, all the the public ministry. They were wild at his teaching. Jesus on the surface is impressive. Not even just on the surface, he is impressive, and people want to be impressed. People want to be, for lack of a better word, entertained of seeing what is what is Jesus gonna do now? How is he gonna do this? What is he going to do for this person who's like demon possessed? Um, and so I think that's that's a huge part of it, and that's even a huge part of today why there's still a lot of crowds and some of these ginormous megachurches of people saying, Okay, I I've heard of this Jesus thing, and uh he's saying he seems pretty impressive, right? But at the end of the day, these crowds they all walk away. None of them stay and be a part of the discipleships of Jesus because you know, entertainment is not discipleship. That they they want to just be entertained, and then later on, you know, when we see like the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, he they all follow him because he's like, He gave us food. Right we we want to continue to be a part of the miracle.

SPEAKER_06 19:17

There's an old student ministry saying, I wonder if anybody uh watching right now has heard it, but says uh this was kind of a nineties ministry thing. It's uh what you win them with is what you win them to.

SPEAKER_07 19:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:29

And so if you

Prayer Before Daybreak: The Eremos

SPEAKER_06 19:30

win them with pizza and big events and special events that you gotta keep the giveaways and the pizza and the stuff because you're winning them with a certain style, then when that's not there anymore, you know, they stop coming. And so that's why just as a church, we want to be so strategic that, you know, we keep the gospel the main thing. Uh even, you know, one of the things that that Michael has really helped me with on the worship end is when we get to like Christmas and Easter. You know, Christmas and Easter for some reason becomes this huge production and we do things that aren't normally us. And I'm not against the the production others. I come from churches that do great, great jobs with that. But going, you know, what happens when you have the big Easter service that everybody comes to and you've got all these special things and then they come back the next week, they they feel almost a little bait and switch, you know, like, hey, wait a second, you got me here, but that's not really who you are. And so we try really hard to dress pretty similar to the way we do, service feels now. There's going to be things that are special and and and awesome, and and I I love when we put a lot of emphasis behind those special times. But you know, what you win them with is what you went them to. And so if people are coming just for the miracles and the healings, when it gets to the hard parts of discipleship, the crowds, then I think uh I think what is it, uh John 6, maybe, when Jesus gave a hard saying. I think it's maybe about uh being the bread of life. And they said, This is a hard saying, and a lot of people left him.

SPEAKER_05 20:55

And he even asked the disciples, Are you gonna leave now too?

SPEAKER_06 20:57

And they said, Where else would we go? For you have the words of eternal life. And so at the apex of our ministry needs to be the words of eternal life. Um my mentor put it like this when we were praying for this man, I asked him, um, you know, that I was just talking about a while ago, I was like, How do I approach this? I said, you know, good old Baptist, when we pray, we we love a good if it's your will, which is kind of our cop-out of going, we don't really want to pray with that authority. And then on the other end, some of my more charismatic friends, they pray with a lot of authority, and you're like, I really want to kind of get this right, you know, and when you pray, um, trusting that the Lord will heal and will do, but he gave me this illustration. He goes, We know that one day we will all be healed.

SPEAKER_07 21:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:42

If you know the Lord. And it's like building this cake, and you you make the batter and you bake it, and you, you know, one day it's gonna be this perfect thing. But every once in a while, God lets us lick the spoon in the bowl, you know, let's go. And we get a taste of what's coming. And I thought, man, what a beautiful picture that every once in a while. You know, uh, you get a little taste of what God's gonna do ultimately.

SPEAKER_07 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:04

Um, and so when we see these miracles, they're not a bad thing, it's a it's a it's a gracious, merciful foretaste of what's gonna happen when we're all healed, but the ultimate thing is the gospel.

SPEAKER_05 22:15

It's funny you brought up the the John 6 passage where you know the the he even asks the disciples, Are you gonna turn away too? Um and like it's the the moments like this where we see the crowds come, but there's no life change. It uh funnily enough, it reminds me of you know the the band Outcast. Okay. Their song Hey Yeah. They've got a line in it that says, Y'all don't hear me, you just want to dance. Like it's a it's a really fun and upbeat song, but he's talking about something very serious, and he's like, I he's talking about having this relationship with this girl that she loves him, but he does not love her at all. And so he's singing about this, and he's like, Man, y'all, y'all don't actually hear what I'm saying. You just want to be entertained. And that's that's ultimately like what happens with the crowds, is like they just want to be entertained. They don't actually want to follow what Jesus is calling them into.

SPEAKER_06 22:58

That's that's it is a perspective. Um now, one of the if you know a couple of verses out of the book of Mark, you probably know Mark 1045 that um the Son of Man didn't come to be served, um, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. We know that one. You probably secondarily might know Mark 135, which is um, and rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

SPEAKER_05 23:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:28

I mean, this is wild.

SPEAKER_05 23:29

I mean, Jesus love this verse, love this section of scripture. Tell me why. Um, if any of our college students are listening, they'll they'll be like, okay, Hila's gonna go off on another soapbox again, talking about finding your deserted place. Um it it's just so cool the fact that he had a super long day of ministry. Uh he had the crowds came to him, Simon's mother-in-law, like he was for for lack of a better word, probably whooped, right? Because Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Um and yet when most of us would just go, man, I I'm gonna take a day off, I'm gonna sleep in, I'll I'll get a late start tomorrow morning. While it was very dark, Jesus got up, went by himself, and there he met with the Father. He went to a the the Greek word there is the Eremos, the the deserted place or the desert. He went off.

SPEAKER_06 24:17

Very similar to like when he was tempted earlier.

SPEAKER_05 24:19

Yeah, right? And the same place that he was tempted, uh we see and and after his baptism is the same place that he returns to to go meet the Father.

SPEAKER_06 24:26

Wow. It's just amazing to me. Now, now let's talk some practical, let's talk some reality real quick. So I mean, I mean, think about this. Why is prayer often one of the first things that gets nixed from our routine? Like if we wake up late, we've got an extra meeting, you know, we've got a test, we've got a work project, we've got a a meeting, we've got something. Why is it that that is one of the things that gets hey, and I'll get to it later, which we never do.

SPEAKER_05 24:58

Yeah. Well, I hope people are sitting down when I say this. Uh most people don't actually believe that their prayer has power, I would argue. Um, most people would say, Yes, I should pray. However, I don't see a profit to my prayer, and so I'm just not gonna do it, whether consciously or subconsciously, because if we truly believed what Jesus says about prayer, we would never stop.

SPEAKER_06 25:21

Wow. Well, I think that I think that's wild. Now talk to me as someone, okay. So I've been a uh perennial early morning person. So I mean, my parents used to, you know, exclaim with some volume for me to be quiet in the morning as a kid when I was uh, you know, I mean, middle school age. I'm up at five, six in the morning, I wake up happy, I'm singing, I'm smiling, I'm ready to go. Um, not everybody's like that. So some people don't enjoy mornings as much as others. I love mornings in college, all eight o'clock, right? All right. Everybody loves eight o'clock classes. No, I think most people like those noon classes, those two in the afternoon classes. But um, so getting up early is a is a thing that comes very naturally for me. Is there a benefit to doing your time alone with the Father, your your your one-on-one time with Jesus, the Spirit, you know, leading you in your your Bible study early in the morning as opposed to whenever you can squeeze it in or before you go to bed? Because that's what I hear a lot of going, I don't really do mornings, I'm gonna do it at night before I go to bed. And that ends in not always happening.

SPEAKER_05 26:35

Yeah. Um I think for sure there is major benefit to doing it in the morning. One, because most people are not awake, and that's part of the the good thing, is like there's less distractions to walk in or to interrupt. Um also if you like are like me and like to do your quiet time outside, uh, nature is also still a little quiet. Um, you don't have all the birds singing or the the cars driving or anything like that. Um, and so I think you know, for sure that it's it's harder for some people to get up and some people like are not able to be a quote unquote morning person. Um, but if you are trying to squeeze it in or you're trying to do it at night, like there it's

Mission Over Momentum

SPEAKER_05 27:15

still profitable, but like you're playing on hard mode, basically. Like it's it's so much more difficult for you just be like, okay, I'm going to spend this time just me and just the father because there's so many more distractions. Um you know, people are up and about, there's so many more just interruptions to your schedule. And if you try to do it at night and you're like me and you can barely keep your eyes open when you start reading at night, then you're most likely just gonna fall asleep.

SPEAKER_06 27:36

So well, I I just think uh for many of us, uh you need to understand prayer is non-negotiable for the believer. Um, you know, it was in uh one of the sermon notes, which was really taken from a Spurgeon quote that says, We must pray, the more the better. Um and I think going back to what you said earlier, that sometimes we view prayer as more of an obligation than something that actually has prayer uh power, um, but also fellowshipping with the Father. All relationships need time. Yeah, all relationships need honesty, all relationships need proximity, and it's the same thing with your Heavenly Father, like you need that time. And Jesus, in the midst of all of the meetings and things like or all the ministry, he stole away to a deserted place, no distractions, to pray.

SPEAKER_05 28:28

Yeah. So much so that the disciples had to go and start looking for him, like trying to seek him out.

SPEAKER_06 28:33

And what's cool about the word when it says they search for him, it's actually uh a Greek word that is used kind of like a bounty hunter, yeah, like hunting somebody down, finding them. Um but I think it's so important, and and I know if if you have um questions about your prayer time, you you want to know how to effectively have that. We've got different acronyms. The A C T S is a great one, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, uh, supplication. You have the pray, P-R-A-Y. Um uh during uh the sermon, there's one Chase, C-H-A-S-E. These are just ways to do that, but you get you some good books on prayer too. Um, you know, I've got one here about praying through the Bible, praying scripture. Um, you know, there's just some some great resources out there. You don't have to just wing it.

SPEAKER_07 29:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:19

I mean, I think there is something special to being alone with the Father and just letting the Spirit lead you. Um, but there are some good resources, books, ways, uh, how to pray through Scripture. Um, because I remember early on in my faith, I would just pray and pray and pray, and I'm like, I'm out. Like I prayed everything I know how to pray. I don't know if y'all have ever felt like that before, but where you pray and you're like, I don't know what else to do, and you just kind of turn it into a grocery list instead of getting a recharge, because so much of prayer is not just about talking, it's about listening. And so I think it's a really, really powerful deal.

SPEAKER_05 29:52

That's one thing that I would um I challenged our ministry development pathway just very recently, uh, using this passage talking about finding their Eremos of hey, this week for 30 minutes, go and do nothing. Like outside in silence. And they're like, What do you mean do nothing? I was like, literally, don't pray, don't read your Bible, just go and sit and do nothing. And the the reason that I challenge them to do that is because most people, even if even if they're an introvert, are very uncomfortable being by themselves. Like, we do not like to be left alone with our thoughts.

SPEAKER_06 30:25

And I was like, I guarantee silence can be the most deafening sound you ever experienced.

SPEAKER_05 30:29

I was like, go out there, be alone, and be silent for 30 minutes. And some of the things are gonna pop into your mind, you're gonna be like, where the heck did that come from?

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Right.

SPEAKER_05 30:37

And I was like, take it and deal with it. And they all came back and they're like, that was the best 30 minutes of my week.

SPEAKER_06 30:42

That's right. That cell phone man will get in your way of spending time with Jesus. So all right. Well, hey, we're gonna take a quick break and have another ministry highlight. I hope you guys have been enjoying this because we want to introduce you to our team, to our ministry partners. So check this ministry highlight out.

SPEAKER_05 31:04

What's up, JetFuel? Welcome back to another staff highlight. Today I've got our interns here with us, uh, just a glimpse into their guys' life. Uh, and so to get us started with this, uh, for those of you who have microphones, just tell us a little bit about yourself, just a brief introduction,

Ministry Highlight: Meet The Interns

SPEAKER_05 31:20

all those kinds of fun things that you get on those random personality or uh the the first day of class kind of vibes.

unknown 31:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Uh my name's Chandler. I'm actually a nonprofit management major at True McConnell University. Uh, I'm in my senior year and I'm graduating in May.

unknown 31:36

Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 31:37

I'm Cam. I have an exercise science degree that I'm working towards. And um I go to UNG in DeLonaga, and I'm from Warner Robbins, Georgia.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

So my name is Ethan, and I am an interdisciplinary studies major doing business and history. Um, I've lived in Claremont my entire life. I also go to the University of North Georgia as well, but lived in this area uh all my life.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Um and my name is Claudia Russell. I am a digital marketing major at UNG, and I'm currently studying um just more into social media and how that plays a role into my life. And I am from Gainesville, Georgia.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

Awesome. Uh well, they're all part of our ministry development pathway. Uh they are serving as interns in their year number two. They went through the classroom portion of it the first year, and then we hired them on to actually serve uh in ministry capacities this year. So with that being said, this is gonna be funny for you, but what uh what brought you here to Concord from wherever you came from?

SPEAKER_02 32:34

So for me, uh this is actually I I was born like this is where I've always been all my life for the 20 years that I've been here. Uh my parents even got married here. Yeah, plus one month. A little added on there, yeah. But um my parents have uh always been here for most of their life as well. And so just such an an honor to get to see the faithfulness over the years here at Concord.

SPEAKER_05 32:57

Claudia, what was you?

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Um when I came to college, we um really heard just the importance of finding a local church. And I went to a few different local churches and I went to the Jelanica campus of Concord, um, and I just fell in love with it and the community and just getting to see Eli Lead. Um, and so that's kind of when I started coming to Concord about three years ago.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

So after uh my freshman year at Truett, I'd been church hopping around uh and I really just began to fall in love with Concord while attending the Mount Yonah campus. Uh, but then after my freshman year moved over to Claremont, that way I could serve uh within the youth ministry under Miles. So awesome.

SPEAKER_04 33:38

Yeah, I came to Concord my freshman year, um, started at a few other churches and then um through BCM got plugged in with Eli and the college group that he does at Concord that he did in Delonega. Um so started going there and then really just got my feet set really when it we uh merged over to Claremont.

SPEAKER_05 33:55

Yeah, fun fact, actually, Cam was one of my first ever baptisms. So that's that's I was the first. Good lord. Um for for those of you who still have your microphones, uh just what what led you to do MDP?

SPEAKER_04 34:08

So I always joke with Eli that the reason I did it was because he told me to do it, but um, in our reality, it was just something that um as we were talking through with Eli, he was like, This will help you either discern a call to ministry or be a really high-level church member. Um and that was something that I was really interested in because I'm relatively newer to my faith and just being able to learn more was a great opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Yeah, I discerned my call to ministry uh sophomore year uh when we had our student weekend, and then that summer Eli sent me a text like, Hey, do you have time for a quick call? And said, We've got this MDP thing. Uh, I want you to be a part of it. And so I gladly accepted.

SPEAKER_05 34:48

For for these other two, um, for those who are listening who might be considering the ministry development pathway, what would be a word of advice that you would give to them?

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Um, I would say for me, the biggest thing was it's so amazing to get to see the other aspects of how church goes on. Cause I mean, being at Concord for 20 years, there were so many things that I didn't even realize what all was going on. Um and it got to I was able to see the other side of the the conversations, the planning that goes on, and I got to be a part of some of that, and that was really cool for me to get to do that. So just getting to be more involved at a higher level, even even if uh for me because for me, I know that I have a uh call to vocational ministry, and even if it's not for um a little while that I have that, I can still have the opportunity to get to be a high-level volunteer now. Um and that's such a blessing to get to do.

SPEAKER_05 35:40

Yeah, that's awesome. What's you, Claudia?

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Um for me, I really just loved about MDP just getting to sit under the teaching of different ministry leaders here at church um and just get to learn more about doctrine and teaching um just from them and how that plays a role into our faith. Um and then I loved that we got to serve in different ministry areas and kind of figure out like what we felt called to do and what we had gifts to do. Um it was something that really challenged me, but also really grew me a lot.

SPEAKER_05 36:04

Awesome. Well, if you guys see them around, make sure you uh say hi to them, introduce yourself. But for now, let's get back to the conversation

The Leper’s Bold Faith And Touch

SPEAKER_05 36:10

about the Book of Mark.

SPEAKER_06 36:11

Hi, Like All right, back from our incredible interns and crazy just that uh those kids have jumped in and I call them kids, the these young adults, these teammates of ours. Uh, man, started out in our college ministry, went through the MDP program, came back year two to do internship. Just really, really proud of some of the young leadership that you and some of the others are raising up in this uh church. Very, very excited for those four. Well, let's jump back to this last part and finish out Mark chapter one. Um, and we're gonna get to um this idea where you know Jesus has gone to pray, but now they're looking for him.

SPEAKER_07 36:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 36:53

And they're a little annoyed. I mean, there's some implied annoyance here, but I think it's because they they liked maybe the spotlight of the ministry. The crowds were there, his popularity was rising, they were kind of the inner circle and and also has some other people like from the town being like, Where's where's your guy? Yeah. And and so, you know, a lot of times we like to feel important and we like to be near things that are great, and um, but they're looking for him, but then Jesus draws this line in the sand and just I mean, it's almost like you you think of just kind of grabbing them by the by the the collar and being like, Hey, let me tell you why we're here. So he he he literally says this his reply in in verse, well, I don't know how my readers are 38 says, and he said to them, Let us go on to the next town that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all of Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. He said, Hey, look, man, I'm not here to be popular, and I'm here to preach the gospel. You got to go all the way back to verses 14 and 15 that once John was arrested, he began to proclaim the gospel, said the time is fulfilled, the the the kingdom is now, uh, the kingdom is near. And then he says, Repent and believe in the gospel. And he says, We got to get this message out to everybody else. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's kind of a wake-up call for those guys.

SPEAKER_05 38:09

Falling off after like using the momentum that he's gaining in these one areas to continue on to the next, not just to sit and fester and be like, I'm gonna make my name for myself in this area.

SPEAKER_06 38:18

Aaron Powell But how easy of a trap is that to you like so easy. Because you get a little success, you get a little notoriety. I mean, you're the king of White County or Hall County or Lumpkin or you know, UNG or your workplace, you know, your friend group, you get a little bit of that notoriety. How easy is it to kind of stay and soak in that instead of being on mission?

SPEAKER_05 38:40

Very easy. We we all want to feel important. Like that's just a a natural reaction of humanity is we want to feel important. And when we find our place, we're like, yeah, we are important here. We don't ever really want to leave there. But then we then we realize like the Jesus words is like, hey, other people need that as well. Right. Like if you're talking about, you know, if you're going to preach the gospel and people know that, hey, that guy's the one who preaches the gospel, you have people around you who are continuing to do with you. Like other areas need that influence as well. And so we should be willing to leave the crowds that have have been like, hey, we we like you, you're our guy, and be like, hey, great, they also need a guy as well.

SPEAKER_06 39:17

Right. Well, and I I just think about Concord in that fact of going, um, you know, you can get caught up on your reputation or the amount of people that are coming, and almost this innocent feeling, but it's really depraved competition with other churches. And how many do they have, and how many baptisms here, and how much in their student ministry, and you know, VBS numbers, and we we get all of this stuff, and it it can be very trapping instead of going, hey, we've got to be about our purpose, and we articulate our purpose out of the Great Commission, basically this idea of proclaim the kingdom of God in our homes, our community, and the world, that we win when we keep the gospel and the mission first. We don't win if we have 12 more people than that church, or we have, you know, this many, that or the other. And and I think it's a it's a really big thing, not just in the church world, but also in a lot of our lives.

SPEAKER_07 40:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:09

And so I love that Jesus just snaps these guys back into perspective going, Hey, look, I've come so that people can know the gospel. Yeah. Um and and I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_05 40:20

You know me, I love my my my pithy one-liners.

SPEAKER_06 40:23

Yeah, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_05 40:24

Um I was reading one the other day and uh it's just kind of stuck with me about talking about like success being our idea of how many, how much. Um it says the numbers are great indicators, but they are terrible masters. Oof of, you know, they can tell you when things are going well, but if you the only thing that you care about is the number, you're going to like drive your life into a ditch. Um numbers, I mean, for lack of a better, like we there's no really other great way to measure things other than numbers, um, but you need to measure something that actually matters because what you measure is what you'll go towards. Like if you measure how many people we have in the worship center on a Sunday morning, you're going to trend towards what's going to get the most people in here.

SPEAKER_06 41:04

Right. Not the, hey, how do we push people towards maturity in Christ?

SPEAKER_05 41:08

And so it all it all hinges on what do you measure and how do you measure it. Right.

SPEAKER_06 41:12

Now, I will say this we still want you inviting people to church and sharing the gospel and it's not to mean we don't like a lot of people in the worship. But I mean, our heart is we want to help grow people into maturity in Christ. We want people living in holiness, we want people living in generosity and purity and service. I mean, even going back to some of the little things we start at the beginning of the podcast, hospitality and um, you know, going, God has planted you in your family. You you go, you can choose your friends, you can't choose your family, right? Like you you're in your family for a reason. You're at that job right now for a season and a reason, and going, we have to understand the purpose for which we're doing. But I want to cover this one last thing before we end our time together, which is Jesus healing a leper, a man with leprosy, which in that day, Eli was a huge, huge deal. Um leprosy could cover um a wide swath of things medically. Uh I mean, from, you know, maybe something like a ringworm all the way to, I mean, uh I know this is gonna be gruesome, but kind of masses of rotting flesh. You know, but these people were turned into pure outcasts, pure outcasts socially. You weren't allowed within so many paces of people religiously. Uh you you were you were unclean. Matter of fact, you'd have to cover your mouth and and yell unclean as you came in. Um, you know, relationally, they were no longer allowed to be touched because of the contagious nature of it. And so lepers were just isolated and I gotta think, just mentally, spiritually, emotionally, just broken people.

SPEAKER_05 42:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:53

And and so here we see something that's a little out of the ordinary because we see a leper actually approach Jesus,

The Great Exchange And Takeaways

SPEAKER_06 43:00

which was no no you weren't uh huge big no-no.

SPEAKER_05 43:03

Against like that's like against Levitical law. Like I'm actually like just read this part in uh my read through the Bible in a year plan. And it's just the the amount of safeguards that they have to keep leprosy, like they were outside of the camp, and like we're not permitted to enter into the camp. And so for for this guy to come up and like approach Jesus, that's a huge no-no.

SPEAKER_06 43:24

Yeah. Well, and I think some of us maybe you can't identify with like the physical ailment that would keep, but I think sometimes there's a lot of people who feel, you know, um spiritually or emotionally leprous, like they've been through a hard thing and they've got all these walls and unresolved issues, and they just feel like they can't get close or be themselves.

SPEAKER_05 43:43

Or I've just I've just done too much, but Jesus saved me.

SPEAKER_06 43:46

Oh my gosh, that's something we hear all the time. And going, man, if if the Lord can save me, he can save anybody, right? And we have people that come to church that put on this mask like they're clean, but on the inside they are struggling. But this is the place to come because we're gonna see. What Jesus does. But before we get to that, I mean, this leper has a confession of faith that puts us to shame.

SPEAKER_05 44:07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:07

Because he doesn't just say, Hey, can you? He he basically says, you know, if you will, you can.

SPEAKER_07 44:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:18

Like you can make me clean. Like I believe, like his faith was, you are the one out of anybody that can absolutely 100% without a doubt do this. I just need to know if you're willing for me, which is where I think a lot of our people are of going, we believe God can, but we may think he may not be willing. Yeah. But how does he how does the Lord respond?

SPEAKER_05 44:39

He just he literally just says, I will, and then just says, be clean.

SPEAKER_06 44:42

Right. He said, I'm willing. Now, what's interesting is that he reaches out and touches him.

SPEAKER_07 44:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:50

You got to think, no matter how long this guy's had leprosy, maybe a couple of weeks, a couple of months, maybe years, um, you know, he probably hasn't had physical touch in that entire time. And it says Jesus reaches out and takes a hold of him, you know, and touches him and and and heals him. Um now it it's amazing because the idea is that if you touch somebody with leprosy, it's contagious. And Jesus blows past that, touches him, and instead of Jesus being infected, the cleanness is transferred over, and it's this beautiful thing. Now, this guy has this moment where he doesn't do what Jesus tells him to do.

SPEAKER_05 45:32

And this is one of those things that like growing up, I was always just like, Jesus, why would you say this? When he heals him, he goes, Don't don't tell anybody what I've done for you. And what does the guy do? He just immediately just goes, listen to what this guy did to me.

SPEAKER_06 45:45

Right. Well, and Jesus tries to get him to walk through the proper system. Go show yourself to the priests, offer the right sacrifices according to Moses, do it the right way. This will be a proof to them. This will show them This is enough. Because I think in the Old Testament, now I I could be wrong, somebody probably needs to check me on this, but I think there's only two recorded cases of leprosy being healed in the Old Testament. You have Miriam, who is struck with leprosy and healed. That's Moses' sister. And then you have Naaman, um, who's healed by dipping in the river. Um, and so this wouldn't have been a normal thing, but they had provisions for it. But this I think would really um stake the claim that Jesus is the anointed one, the Messiah, the one they've been waiting on. Um, but you and I were actually discussing this in my office the other day. I think it was me, you, and and Miles, and I just said as I was studying and prepping for this, oh, yeah, there's this shadow, like a glimmer of this idea of substitutionary atonement that you see. Yeah. Because there's a switch. So the leper who was an outcast had to stay out of the town, Jesus, who was doing ministry in town, great crowds, healings, teachings, all this kind of stuff. When they interact, they switch places.

SPEAKER_07 46:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 46:57

And and uh, you know, Jesus is now draw into the desolate place because he can't he's the ministry has gotten complicated with all the crowds in there. And it's this idea that this man who was in need comes to Jesus, Jesus takes from him and gives him cleanness, which is a lot like what we get in what I think it's Martin Luther calls the great exchange, that you know, Jesus takes our sin, our sorrow, our shame, he takes, he takes all of that, and then we get his righteousness. And it's this exchange, and we almost see like this glimmer. Now, I'm not, I'm not trying to do anything. I I've looked at some study on this, but it's just it's just almost this little faint shadow. So if you're listening, I would encourage you to go back and look at this idea of substitutionary atonement and and this interaction here uh of the great exchange. But I think it's a really um, you know, beautiful glimmer of some truth that we're gonna see on the cross towards the end of the book of Mark.

SPEAKER_05 47:59

The the leper who was outcast has now been brought back in, and Jesus, who was a popular person, has now been pushed out of the cities.

SPEAKER_06 48:08

And so it's it's absolutely amazing. And so I'll tell you this, as it's some takeaways for this end of it is going, um, you know, do I, uh as a believer, as someone who walks with Christ, reflect Jesus' compassion towards people's needs? Uh, we talked about this a little bit on uh Sunday, but not necessarily in this podcast that ministry is messy.

SPEAKER_05 48:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 48:28

Right? Uh we shy away from messy people, we shy away from messy situations, and it seems like Jesus just leaned into them.

SPEAKER_05 48:34

That's why he's called the friend of sinners.

SPEAKER_06 48:36

And so I think asking ourselves, do I really have compassion for people or situations that may be messy, like Jesus did, taking a woman with fever, taking a leper? And uh then the second one is Am I grounding my life in prayer like Jesus did? I want to ask you, listeners, do you prioritize prayer in your life? Yeah. Meeting with the Father. What does that look like? Do you need help? I uh when when you uh have a chance to connect with us, we would love to help uh pour into you, show you some things that may increase those opportunities. Um, and is there a place that I am getting sucked into momentum rather than mission? Yeah and do I lean into the popularity and the opportunity, or am I trying to be on mission with every interaction in my home and my community and the world? Uh and so I just love this because it shows the heart of Jesus. Yeah. So, well, I hope this has been jet fuel for you. It's been jet fuel for me, and uh, we'll see you next time.