Persistent Faith

We walk through Mark 7 as Jesus enters Gentile territory and meets a desperate mother whose faith refuses to quit. We wrestle with a hard line from Jesus, the kind of humility that keeps asking, and what it means to trust God before we see results. 
• Jesus’ ministry crossing cultural boundaries in Tyre 
• Desperation stripping away labels and defenses 
• The danger of a gospel that skips repentance and need 
• Interpreting Jesus’ “children and dogs” statement with the whole of Scripture 
• Humility and faith shown by accepting “crumbs” 
• Persistent prayer through yes, wait, or no 
• Trusting Jesus’ word without immediate proof 
• The deaf man’s healing and Jesus’ personal care for individuals 
• “He Has Done All Things Well” as a picture of restoration 
• Three closing questions to examine our faith posture 

Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Purpose

SPEAKER_02 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_03 0:27

All right.

Weather Forecast Personality Question

SPEAKER_03 0:28

Well, welcome back to Jet Fuel Comboards Podcast, where we're fueling faith for your everyday life.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Yeah, we have a question before we get started. So, uh Brie, let us know what is the question today.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Okay. If your personality was a weather forecast, what would it be?

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Oh man. If my personality was a weather forecast, people are looking up on the app. What's it gonna be like to interact with Clinton Aaron today?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Today specifically.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Today specifically.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Well, if it's today, that's more like your mood. But we're saying personality. You could choose either one if you want to go for your mood or personality.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

What's your personality? Like long-term, 10-day forecast. This is interesting. I have never heard this question before.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Personality was a weather. Uh it would probably be sunny with a chance of scattered thunderstorms. I feel like that is crazy accurate. Because most of the time I'm like, yeah, okay, this is going to be a good thing. Sunny disposition, optimist. But at any moment I could just strike.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

I think yeah, I think that's that's super, super uh, yeah, Sunny with a chance of scattered thunderstorms. You would agree with that, Herndon, you agree? Oh yeah. Oh, he said 100% thunderstorms. Yeah, I'm just kidding. He didn't say that. All right. I think for me, um let's let's see. It would probably be what would have been funnier is if we gave each other the uh that's a good one. What is yours? Um I think I would um probably imagine uh a tornado with hail. You know? I'm thinking that's how people view me sometimes. You know, here comes the tornado down the hallway. Uh but yeah, I think that might be accurate. You know, a little bit of tornadoes coming back. That's a little extreme. A little extreme. That's a little extreme. I would have to say uh partly cloudy. Okay. That's it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. I mean, there's gonna be some sunshine. Yeah, yeah. I you and I are a good balance. You're optimistic. I always see room for improvement, you know, those kinds of things. I didn't want to say pessimistic if you're listening. So uh always room for improvement. Always room for improvement. We can always get better, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Okay, accurate.

Mark 7 Moves Into Gentile Territory

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Um, so we are still in Mark 7, so we're gonna finish out Mark 7 this morning. And so in this, we see something extremely powerful happen in this passage. And it's interesting to me because and we've talked about this a lot. This passage opens up in another region. Like we've we've already moved on to a different part of the story in a random.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

There's a lot of uh backstory to this. You know, Jesus has been facing a lot of oppositions coming out of some conversations with the religious elite, you know, challenging tradition and and some of those things, and he's kind of getting away and he's moving into a Gentile territory, which so much of his ministry has done to the Jewish nation to whom he was called. Yeah. And we know that um all the way back from Genesis and Abraham, you're gonna see um that all will be blessed through that, you know. Yeah, yeah. And um it's it's a big deal. But this section isn't, Aaron, just about the healing that's about to take place. It's about the reach of the gospel, not just being for one people in one place, but that the gospel message has no boundaries.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Yeah, yeah. It's definitely about kind of almost restoring the idea of being able to restore what's broken and who does that and who does not do that. Yeah. Um, and so yeah, it's it was it's a good passage for sure.

SPEAKER_03 4:08

I absolutely love that. So, Mark, chapter seven is gonna be a big thing for us. And so we're gonna open up in the region of Tyre. That's kind of northwest of the Sea of Galilee, and um it's a it's a big deal, but it's Gentile territory, different culture, different background. You know, and when I think about that, I really think about what Concord has become in the last couple of years. You know, I I feel like we are um reaching people of different backgrounds, different stories, different age demographics. And I think that adds such beauty to who we are as a body as we continue to gather different people to the same savior. Yeah. Uh, and so we're gonna see this that that Jesus is doing ministry in places that's very different from where he's been.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

All right. And so it opens up, you know, it's in this region, and then right from the beginning, and at the very first of this passage, a woman approaches him and basically is begging, Hey, my daughter has a demon. Please, please, please get it out of her. And so he, and it's interesting that Mark makes a very specific point that this woman is a Gentile.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Yes. Uh, I mean, verse 26, he goes right after it. He literally says this woman was a Gentile, uh Syrophrenician uh race. It's a it's a big deal. It's it's busting through every etiquette, every barrier, every unwritten rule for her to be a woman, to be a gentile, for Jesus to be doing ministry there. Um, and so it's a big deal that she comes to him asking for help because this would cross everything that's explained. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

I mean, culturally and religiously, she's completely an outsider. According to who has been who we have seen with him up until this point.

SPEAKER_03 5:45

You know, but I feel like Aaron, uh tell me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't matter as much when you're at the end of your rope. You know, I mean, it matters a lot to a lot of people of going, hey, what's your background, where are you from, what's your race, what's your tax bracket, what side of the fence are you uh are you um like, you know, voting on those kinds of things until struggle happens, until tragedy comes, until we deal with things that push us to a place of need. And we see this woman who is from somewhere else, but she's probably heard of Jesus and knows what he can

Why Desperation Removes Barriers

SPEAKER_03 6:20

do. And it none of those things matter. Yeah. She just needs help as a parent for her daughter. Yeah. I mean, it is extreme, it is harmful, it's scary. And she's going, Jesus, I'm begging you. Yeah, help me. And I love that all those differences disappear at the feet of Jesus. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yeah, me and Liz talk a lot, and this I think this goes to back to or goes to the one of the first questions that we were going to talk about, about why desperation removes these barriers. Me and Liz talk a lot about we so we have some friends who are not believers. They aren't like vocally opposed to Jesus, but they live their life in a way that like they don't really need him or they think they don't really need him, and they don't want to have conversations with about faith with us. Um, but there has been two times specifically that me and Liz can think about when something really bad has happened in their life. Right. And then they want to talk about faith. Then they want us to pray for them. Then they want us to tell people at church like to pray for them. And so all of a sudden something difficult or terrible happens in their life. And just like you were saying with this woman, like it didn't, it doesn't matter if they have told me they believe what I believe. It doesn't matter if they're actually following Jesus, it doesn't matter if up until that point they were totally opposed to any kind of faith conversation. In that moment when that terrible thing happened to their family, because of conversations and the way that me and Liz live our life, they knew, okay, maybe I should like that's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

And that let's use that situation as we go into this first question. So why do you think desperation often removes those barriers?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Yeah, I just think like you were saying, it it almost creates you're at your last, like the last part of what you think you can handle. Like all of a sudden you're like, I don't know, I don't know what to do. Because even like even as believers, we have this idea that we can hold things together, we can plan, whatever, and and we when stuff goes wrong, at least we have the hope of Jesus to lean back on. But a lost world does the same, like they plan, and but then when something like what they're like, okay, what do I what do I do at this point? And so I think it's all of a sudden realizing that you cannot do it on your own and you don't know what to turn to, and so you're just latching on to any, and that's why we see like I know this is an extreme example, but I that's why we see like people join a cult or something like that. It's because they are trying to grab something that has meaning and gives them hope and gives them and so that's gives them a solution. Yeah, it gives them a solution to whatever is happening in their life, right? Um, and so I think that's why those barriers just fall away because you're you get to a point where you're like, Well, I don't know what to do here. I need something to grab onto and hold on to.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Well, then let's jump back into that text for this next question. So, what stands out to you when you look at this passage about this woman's willingness to approach Jesus? She didn't care.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Like she had no any preconceived notion about this man, any th any feelings about what the people around him were gonna think and what his followers are gonna think. And she didn't care that she was culturally on the outside of this group of people. Like she was like, My daughter's there is someone who can help. I need someone to help. I have been told this man can do it, and I've been told by multiple people that this man can do it. I'm gonna ask him to please heal my daughter.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

You know, when you say that, I mean it's so relatable, but it makes me think as a pastor, just even about the gospel. You know, the gospel that has gone out so much in this generation, yeah, which is why I think we have a lot of people who are falsely converted, who have a sham of a

The Real Need Behind The Gospel

SPEAKER_03 10:15

faith, is because we've sold them a gospel without exposing the need. Yeah. They're like, I would love to add Jesus to my resume. He can help me out, he can do these things. It's very me-centric instead of being very firmly convinced of our depravity and our sin and offense against a holy God who's righteous and just, yeah. And we skip that part of the gospel that leads us to a need to go, I need salvation, I need to be made whole, I need to be reconciled to this God who created me. And we've just skipped that for a couple of generations, and we've missed this whole repentance part of it. And we're just like, hey, do you want Jesus to make your life better? Yeah. And that's that's no solution at all. That's adding something to your resume. And here we've got a lady who's at the end of her rope. She got a real need and she needs Jesus. I think for us, even with the gospel, we've got to come back to show people their need for the gospel. But we're about to jump into something that's a little sticky and difficult to understand.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

It sounds a little harsh. It does. Coming from Jesus. So he makes it c when you see this woman approach and ask this question, Jesus then makes a statement that's pretty difficult. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Um, you're gonna have to use your critical thinking and

Jesus’ Hard Saying About Dogs

SPEAKER_03 11:30

your maturity to read into this.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

So he says, um the will you read the statement and in the verse?

SPEAKER_03 11:37

It says uh she's asking for help, and then he just says, Well, let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Yeah, what at first glance, one, at first glance you may be thinking, Well, what does that even mean? Right. And then if you really start thinking about it, you're like, that's kind of mean. Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

And and that's why you use the whole of scripture, but scripture interpret scripture and what we know about Jesus' character speaking to that, his kindness, his compassion, his intentionality, the suffering servant who would lay down his life. Like, we have to put the whole of scripture together. And and this seems uh more about uh the priority of his mission. Yeah, you know, a metaphor to say, hey, the Jews first, Israel first, not rejecting the Gentiles altogether. We know that Gentile salvation being grafted in it being, I mean, even with Paul, you know, Peter was called to the Jews, Paul was called to the Gentiles. We know this is a part of God's plan. I I think in the sentence we're talking a little bit more about the priority. Hey, this comes first.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Well, and what's interesting to me is it would be it would have been very easy for this woman to not respond great to that statement. Cause she would because I mean I think about if someone was telling me, like, oh, well, you're not my first priority. Right. Um, but I don't think that's necessarily how he meant that statement. He was just trying to explain why he was sent and who he was sent to and what that means. And but she responds with like incredible humility here. And she makes this, I mean, she says, even the dogs aren't at the table eat the children's crumbs. She's recognizing that even a crumb from Jesus is enough for her.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

And so and and there's uh there's a little deep dive too. When you think of dogs, sometimes when you hear something like that, you think of like street scrap uh scavenging, you know, scruffy survivalist animals. You're probably talking here like a a beloved family puppy a pet that would be eating at the table, cleaning up things that fell off. It's not, you know, it's one of those things. It is one of those, but I mean, just her perspective to go, but listen, even just a little bit would be the whole meal. I don't I I'm not looking for a seat at the table. I'm looking for you to help me in the situation I'm in. That's good.

Humility That Keeps Asking

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So what do you think what does the women, the woman's response teach us about like the relationship between humility and faith?

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Well, if I could I mean that's an interesting question, but I think it's kind of because we operate in the opposite of that. Okay. I think a lot of times today, just especially as Americans, you know, the most prideful people that walk the earth at times, I think we adopt a mentality of God owes us. That that He is at our beck and call and His highest priority is to make our life healthy and happy and filled to abundance, that God exists to bless us. And so we take this posture of God, you owe me. And so if something bad happens, this this is what I need from you. But I think the posture she took is hey, I don't have anything to bring to the table. I need your help. Can you help? I will take just this smallest portion of anything you have that would help me. And it's just a different posture and approaching instead of demanding from God. And I'm not talking about praying in faith, I'm talking about an arrogance, but adopting a posture, Aaron, really of humility, going, God, whatever you entrust me, I will take. Yeah. But I'm asking that you would give a crumb extra of grace to help me here. I just think this woman teaches us about that posture of humility and the faith we need to have in what God can do, not what we think he should do in the time frame in the way.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Why do you think so? This isn't the only example of like very persistent faith that we see in scripture. Like we see story after story of people who had to have. Why do you think that is so important for us to see over and over and over again in Scripture?

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Well, I love just the idea of persistence. You know, one of the things that I think we suffer from, and I think why there's a lot of bitterness towards the Lord is I think we set up our timeframe. Somebody gets sick, somebody gets a diagnosis, somebody's in a tragedy, something bad happens, and we want God to move right now. We've grown up in the, you know, the Burger King and subway culture of your way, hot and ready, you point, you got it. And we just expect God to operate that way. And I unfortunately what I've seen is I feel like sometimes people give up right before the breakthrough. Like they have prayed and prayed and asked God, and then they're just like, oh, I'm just gonna accept it. And they give up right before he breaks through.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

And I I was actually thinking and praying through this the other day because I there when if you if you go through a season, a lengthy season of Jesus saying

Persistence Through Yes Wait Or No

SPEAKER_02 16:40

yes, the moment it's really hard to transition from when Jesus is like saying yes a lot to Jesus is either saying wait or no. Right. And so Which we talk about in church often. We do. And so I was I'm I'm I was praying through this with my wife the other day because we have just we've gone through like a season of like a lot of yeses, and then right now we're uh praying about a very specific thing as a family, and Jesus is saying, wait. Right. Sorry. Yeah, not we're not gonna do that. And so it's and but that's it's a hard transition to go to have like it's almost like, oh, okay, now I my faith, I have to bump my faith up to another gear here because I'm not getting the yeses that I was getting before.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Well, and a lot of that has to do with time frame. There's this uh thing, and it and I can't trace it back to a source, but it's out there on in companies and in uh preaching clips and all kinds of stuff. It's called day 41 or whatever. Where it's just like we see in the Bible so many times 40 days, 40 years, and you know, 40 years in the wilderness, and it wasn't until year 41 that they went into the promised land, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

Uh 41 is when they got off the boat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

And so I think sometimes we just stop short, and I think this woman is showing us persistence that when the Lord said, No, this is not right, she didn't just go, Well, I tried.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:04

You know, she's like, No, no, no, no, no. Just anything. And so I think uh just for you guys listening and watching today, just continue to be persistent with the Lord. Continue to um cast your cares on him, continue to approach his throne room. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow. It I mean, I know people that have prayed for years and years for God to move. And in his perfect timing, yeah, he does something. And so I think this woman teaches us about persistence and then being okay with yes, wait, or no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so uh for for this statement, uh Jesus then tells her, for this statement, go your way, the demon has left your daughter. He does answer yes after her persistence.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Yeah, well, and what's interesting is she doesn't see the miracle happen immediately here. Right? Like, because Jesus says, Hey, you may go your

Trusting Before Seeing Results

SPEAKER_02 18:55

way, the demon has left your daughter. So she didn't even see that.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Yeah. I mean, it's you have to she had to trust Jesus before she saw the evidence.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

She wasn't back to her daughter yet.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

She just had to be like, okay, well, it's not like she could pick up her phone and text her or something like that. I mean, she would have to travel home and see.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Well, I think that's another example of her faith. Like she's like, okay, like I'm gonna trust what you said. I'm gonna go home and everything, I'm getting I'm trusting that everything's gonna be exactly like you said.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

And Aaron, I think this is a principle that'll preach the this idea that when she gets home, it was exactly as Jesus said. Yeah, like I think you need to hear this over and over and over and over and one more time over again, is that Jesus always, without fail, comes through on his word. Yeah. Never has Jesus failed his word, never has Jesus gone uh There's never been a promise that hasn't been from. Yeah. I mean, when Jesus speaks, he comes through. And so that's something we as believers need to hold on to is that he always comes through. Yeah. Now that's good. I I I just think that's something that's that's a big deal. So let me ask this because you made a big deal about it. I I saw you get a little fired up when you said that that she didn't see the she didn't see the results. She had to trust Jesus. Jesus says, go home. It's handled. Yeah. She has to literally turn around and trust on that walk home, that or ride home that that her daughter's taking care of. So why is it hard for you and me today to trust God before we see the results?

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Well, we want tangible things. Like we want to be able to touch and feel and see this thing happen. And when we don't get to see that, you start wondering, like, okay, is something actually happening here? And so I think that's, I mean, that's for me, that's one huge part of faith is I don't, a lot of times I don't see the result of a prayer for someone or like we talk all the time about like sharing your faith and sharing the gospel, but a lot of times we don't get to see the fruit of that. Like if someone else waters it a little bit, someone else tends to that, and then all of a sudden then someone else gets to see the fruit four steps down the line. And that can be frustrating at times because you want to see, you want to see the result. Like I want to see the result of what's happening here. Well, how does this story challenge our tendency to want to demand immediate proof from well we we demand immediacy in every aspect of our life in general? And so, like, we want we can get news at the like the at the drop of a hat, we can find anything out that we want instantly on the internet.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Like there's I was gonna say the push of a button, but you don't even have to push a button anymore. You just talk to your buttons.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

You can just talk to your phone. And so there's this immediacy that we live in all the time. And so when it comes to our faith, this story challenges that because she is walking home. Like, we don't know how far away she was from her house or where Jesus was or how long she had to go, but she was like, Okay, well. Well, I'm gonna trust. And when I get home, however long this walk is, I'm gonna see that Jesus did exactly what he said.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Turn to it. There's a verse that I think of Hebrews 11:1. It says, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Like faith is the assurance of things that I've hoped for and the conviction of the things that's not seen. I mean, that is just so powerful.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Yeah, yeah. Big, big we don't want to see, we don't we want to see it. We don't want to see it. We don't want it to be the things not seen. We want to see it. Yeah. That's

A Deaf Man Healed With Care

SPEAKER_02 22:35

it. Okay. So another shift here. We see another healing. This time it's a deaf man who also has a speech impediment. Right. And so we see another healing. What does this story, what does it look like?

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Well, for me, once again, I think so much of what we've seen Jesus do has been in the crowd. Um, and and we've seen him teach, we've seen him cast out demons. But here, once again, like when he healed the man of leprosy, he's gonna get very intentional, very individual, uh, very interested in just having a moment with this man who has something uh needed. And and I just want to remind people that Jesus isn't just about the masses and the crowds and the numbers. While he does minister to that and he has great compassion for those groups, but he cares about people. Yeah. Individuals.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Well, yeah, he takes this guy, he almost takes him, like he takes him over to the side and basically has a private conversation with them, touches his ears, looks to heaven, says, I'm not gonna try to say that word that he says, but it basically means be opened.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

Well, and um I love this too because he's really adapted for the scenario, what happens. And so a lot of times, you know, like what we just saw is he just said, Hey, the your your daughter's uh healed, the demon's gone. He didn't give a command, it just happened. Yeah, yeah, you know, and there's other times that he gives commands and does things, he reaches out to the room.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

It's interesting to me when you look at the miracles about how, like you said, he speaks and wasn't anywhere close to this girl with a demon. But this time he like touches the man's ears.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

Like, well, and you have to think that the man is is deaf, and so he's not able to have a conversation, maybe some lip reading or something like that. He can't speak, and so Jesus does things with his hands. He reaches up and he touches his ears. He he spits on the ground, he mouths or says a word that he can read, and it's it's completely tailored to that man's struggle and need in the moment, which is absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Well, and he doesn't rush through it, he takes the time to have this intentional conversation and then immediately the man hears and speaks clearly. And so what stands out to you? We you you were kind of getting to this a minute ago, but what stands out to you about the personal nature of this healing?

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Well, it just shows me that it wasn't a show. You know, there is some validity to a lot of times the miracles and scriptures are performed and done so that it validates the message. It gives the authority. Hey, I did this, so you need to understand that. Yeah. But but also Jesus wasn't just a single lane in ministry here. He's he's not putting on a show, but he's looking to connect with someone, someone who desperately needs him and is coming to him, and he takes this moment to get face to face, to put his hands or his fingers on his ears, to speak over him. Yeah. And I just love that that Jesus isn't about the accolades and the applause, which we can all get drawn into. You know, that's one of the things uh, you know, like sometimes with mission trips, it feels sometimes it's more about the Instagram reel than it is about the ministry that's going on. And I think here we see Jesus so perfectly love this man in a very intentional, non-showy way that was catered to him to meet a desperate need that he had. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Um, why do you think it's so important? Because we see this a lot. Right. We see Jesus do miracles, either privately, publicly, different ways that he does it. But why do you think it's important that we see here that Jesus is not treating people like interruptions or projects or like why is that so important for us to realize that's what's happening?

SPEAKER_03 26:13

Well, I think it sounds simple, but it's just to be reminded that God loves you. I think a lot of times it's just kind of a trickle-down effect, maybe just from bad theology or bad understanding of who God is, that I think times, especially for Christians, we think we're bothering God with small stuff. Yeah. Like He well, we we see all this stuff happening in the African church with the persecution and martyrdom, and uh we see wars and famine and and big political things, this and that, and we go, oh, I've got this little thing. I don't want to be a bother too. This is not not important. And and I think we we adopt a mentality that God doesn't care. And I think that's a very dangerous place to get where we categorize what God cares about. And I I think really you have to see that Jesus' pattern of ministry wasn't that people were annoying or they were interruptions. He looked at them as comp with compassion and great need. And I think we need to be reminded that the Lord cares about us, that the Lord loves us. Uh that

He Has Done All Things Well

SPEAKER_03 27:15

doesn't mean he's gonna fix everything in a drop of a hat. No, but he's very, he's very personal. But but Jesus, he, he's a savior who who cares about the person, not just about the world. Yeah. Um, and so I think that's a big deal. No, it's good. No, what's amazing though, is the crowd's response. Uh you were saying this um when we weren't recording or when we were recording previously, where you said um it's it's amazing how Mark has a habit of recording the crowd's response. You know, it's not just about it's not just narrating, you know, uh a first or third person, you know, account of this.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

He's just like, and this is this is what the crowd look what they said. Yeah. And so and they do say something. It's re he records something that they did that they do say, which is he has done all things well, is the statement that they make.

SPEAKER_03 28:02

Well, and that's that's very similar sounding language to things we hear in the old testament, you know, about how God made things and they were good. And um, you know, it's just very familiar language that that Mark uses there.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

And so it I think it shows that like he's not just that statement he fixes he fixes all things well. I think is just showing us that Jesus is not, he's not picking and choosing like isolated problems that he wants to do. Yeah, remember this is outside of his ministry area. He's not just like, oh, I'll fix that, but I'll leave that over here. No, he's saying, no, everything that's broken, I'm gonna restore that.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

And everything he does, he does well. Yeah, yeah. And well, and I think uh a lot of this even points to a, as you were saying, a greater restoration in time. You know, ultimately we can have our problems on earth fixed, healed, sustained, restored, all of those things. But ultimately, salvation and eternity with Christ is that ultimate thing. I love, you know, the language of Revelation that talks about um, you know, he'll wipe away every tear from our eye, you know, the sorrow, the grief, the hurt that we go through. I know for us as a church, we we have uh, you know, some teammates that do a great job with card ministry. I mean,

Takeaways And Summer Break Plans

SPEAKER_03 29:20

multiple times a week, we hear about somebody who's sick or somebody who's passed away, and you know, those things that people feel, the hurt, all that stuff that just a small, you know, card from us does bring some encouragement, uh, and that helps in the moment, but one day everything will be made right. Yeah. And Jesus shows us that He does all things well. So as we finish chapter seven, uh, can you give us a few takeaways just to ponder and think about at the end of this? Uh a couple of things.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah. So I think for me, three questions that we need to be asking ourselves coming out of this passage is one, am I approaching Jesus with humble and persistent faith? Am I one the persistent word is important? I love that, but also the humble word is important. Um, and so the second one is do I trust his word even before I see the outcome? Yeah, that one's tough. That's a hard one. And then am I remembering that Jesus cares personally about broken people? Like, I think I think that one for sure, because I I think as bul like followers of Jesus, we can get into this mindset of like, oh, well, he'll have to take care of something else before he gets to this. That's not true.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Well, and I I think the Lord loves broken people, and I know Concord loves broken people as well. You know, we want to see God do a big deal that that He does all things well. Now, as we're finishing, uh, I believe uh this is episode 25 of what we've done, but uh let's give everybody a little update about what's happening next.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

All right, so we're about to hit summer, and so uh this is going to be our last episode uh of kind of the spring, and so we're going into summer. We're gonna take a break. So the months of June and July, we will not be recording episodes. And so um after that, let's um we're gonna kind of revamp, re-promo, do some new cool stuff on the podcast starting in August. Uh, but just know last episode until August today. Hope you enjoyed it. And we're gonna take a break for the summer.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

And we just want to thank you guys who've been with us through this process of the fall and spring, us trying something new, us adjusting, ministry partners, all that kind of stuff. It really means a lot that you guys are wanting to go a little deeper, put a little jet fuel in your tank. And so thank you for what you've done over this fall and spring together with us and uh really excited about what lies ahead in the future. And this has been jet fuel. Yeah, thanks guys.