Freedom Follows Following: Jesus is Amazing

Audio

Video

Sermon Notes

We don’t see more amazing because…

1. We Aren’t Looking: We are Too Distracted by the Moment 
2. We Aren’t Asking: We are Too Fatalistic 
3. We Aren’t Expecting: We are Too Naturalistic 
4. We Don’t Need It: We Play Life Too Safe 
5. We Aren’t Positioned – Too Much “Me First” not enough “Your Will Be Done.”

Amazing Spiritual Freedom

Mark 2 :12 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Amazing Emotional Freedom

Mark 5:18-20 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Amazing Wisdom

Mark 6:1-2 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?

Wisdom is the ability to understand what others can’t, see what others don’t and do something that others aren’t able. 

Amazing Physical Freedom

Mark 7:36-37 - 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Amazing Presence

Mark 6:47-52 47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

3 Amazing Revelations

1. Jesus Sees Our Struggle

2. Jesus Wants Us to See Him

Exodus 33:12-23
12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” 14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

3. Jesus is the Complete Amazing Package 

Amazing Kryptonite

Mark 6:3-6 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Charlie’s Convictions on Faith

• God doesn’t act in my life independently from me – He wants me engaged with Him in prayer.
• God is more than a fixer, He is a healer. I have to look in the right place if I am going to see the miracle.
• I am not the lead actor in my drama God is. My faith doesn’t manufacture miracles my faith keeps me following His lead.
• My faith is at its peak performance when I can open my prayer with the “ask” and I can end my prayer with statement, “not my will but yours be done.”
• The measure of my faith isn’t my emotion it is my movement. My ability not to curl up in a ball until the hardship passes, to not pout and complain when I don’t understand the process and to press on. It’s the faith to press on where I experience God’s amazing. 

What is the connection between amazing and freedom from these passages in Mark? 

1. Our troubles, whether physical, emotional or spiritual are no match for the Jesus’ amazing.
2. We are not separated from God in our struggle but it’s in our struggle that HE reveals His Amazing Self!