09/01/2024
Come join us today! Service begins at 10:30 a.m.
A Note from Jonathan
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus ministry for the first eight chapters is him traveling from the Jewish side of the sea of Galilee to the other side, which is the Gentile side. When Jesus is on the Jewish side and performing miracles, we have this “messianic secret”, meaning that Jesus never wants people to let others know what happened to them. They are commanded by Jesus to just simply go to the temple and give thanks to the LORD. The first time Jesus goes to the other side we have the infamous story of the man possessed by Legion, the multitude of demons. Once the man is healed he asked to follow Jesus, and Jesus tells him to actually go back to the Decapolis and tell everyone what happened. Jesus does this as the entire group of Gentiles are demanding that he leave immediately because they are not happy he cast out the demons.
The next time Jesus visits the Gentile side, they bring him all of their sick, they gather by the thousands to hear him teach, they want Jesus there. So what happened? The only thing that changed, the only logical explanation is that this man who was possessed actually did what Jesus told him to do, he went back and started sharing his story. His story changed everyone’s opinion about who Jesus is/was. There is power in personal story, sometimes. For some people it is more powerful than a Bible verse or a debate regarding apologetics.
Each of us have a Jesus story, whether it is that we have been faithful since childhood and seen the blessings God has given us or a Paul-like conversion where we were far away from God only to be called back and to be called one of God’s own.
I encourage you and me to share our stories with our friends, family, and the people that we meet. You never know who will hear your story and needed to hear it in that exact moment. There is someone in your life right now who needs to hear your story, so share
it with everyone until you find that person.
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Jonathan Hyde
