Sermon Audio

Sermons Preached at First Baptist Mulvane, KS - Jason Velotta

  1. 1H AGO

    Mark 14:53-72 Refusing The King’s Testimony

    This Sunday, we will try to cover all of Mark 14:53-72 and finish the chapter. Mark presents two scenes side by side to once again highlight the contrast between Jesus’ faithfulness and His disciples’ fearfulness. In the middle of the night, Jesus stands trial before the Sanhedrin, while Peter faces his own moment of testing in the courtyard. Jesus remains faithful to the Father’s will even as He is falsely accused, mocked, beaten, and condemned, while Peter, who had boldly promised never to deny His Lord, falters under pressure and denies Jesus three times. Jesus was right in what He told Peter, and now Peter recognizes it. The common thread throughout the passage is the theme of testimony. The word testimony (also testify, witness) appear seven times in verses 53-65, as the religious leaders seek testimony against Jesus, and false witnesses lie about Him. However, Jesus boldly testifies to who He is, while Peter fails to testify at all in verses 66-72. The passage concludes with Peter weeping after hearing the rooster crow and realizing Jesus had been right about His prediction of Peter’s denial. Because Jesus remained faithful even when Peter faltered and was fearful, even struggling disciples like us can be redeemed and restored. Peter’s story does not end with tears of conviction; it begins there. After His resurrection, Jesus restores Peter and commissions him to feed His sheep. Then, at Pentecost, this weeping weak-willed disciple is transformed into one of the boldest voices for Christ the world has ever known. In the same way, Jesus still redeems and empowers sinners for the glory of His name. I. Beware Of Those Who Seek Testimony Against Jesus (v. 55-59) II. Beware of Rejecting Jesus’ Testimony About Himself (v. 60-65) III. Beware Of Failing To Testify About Jesus (v. 66-72)

  2. MAR 1

    Mark 14:27-42 Watch & Pray

    This Sunday, as we continue in Mark 14:27–42, we explore Jesus and His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. After the Last Supper, where Jesus established the New Covenant meal and predicted His betrayal, they travel to the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus openly states that all His disciples will fall away when He, the Good Shepherd, is struck—fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy—but He quickly promises that after His resurrection, He will go ahead of them to Galilee. Their weakness and failure cannot prevent the coming Kingdom. Still, Peter and the other disciples deny Jesus’ words. First Peter, then all the disciples, insist they will never abandon Him, though Jesus knows their weakness better than they do. In the garden, Jesus is deeply distressed, facing the cup of divine wrath for sin that no one else could bear. Meanwhile, the disciples repeatedly fall asleep, unable to watch and pray for even an hour. Jesus returns to them three times, gently revealing their weakness and urging them to watch and pray to avoid temptation. Jesus teaches a vital gospel truth often forgotten: our complete dependence on Christ for salvation is also essential for living the Christian life. We are not strong enough to obey, resist temptation, or grow in holiness on our own. Jesus alone obeyed perfectly through dependent submission to the Father, drinking the cup we deserved, so we can daily rely on Him with cries of “Not my will, but Yours be done.” The growing Christian life is not the one with the greatest resolve or determination; it is the one that is most dependent. His command to watch and pray acknowledges that, although our spirit may be willing, our flesh is weak. I. Jesus Knows Our Weakness Better Than We (27-31) II. Jesus Suffered In Dependent Obedience in Our Place (32-36) III. Jesus Commands Dependence In Our Weakness (37-41)

  3. FEB 22

    Mark 14:12-26 Is It I?

    This Sunday, we continue our study of the final days before Jesus’ crucifixion. In Mark 14:12-26, Jesus and the disciples prepare to share the last Passover meal in Jerusalem. This is truly the final Passover meal because, during the feast, Jesus transforms its meaning to symbolize His sacrificial death and establish the New Covenant. As opposition grows from all sides, Judas seeks an opportunity to betray Him, and although Jesus knows the disciples will abandon Him before sunrise, He proceeds with calm authority as He reveals the New Covenant to these men. In this passage, Jesus sovereignly orchestrates every detail of the meal. No detail is too small, including the room where they will observe the Passover. Jesus then announces a traitor at the table, prompting all the disciples to examine themselves and ask, "Is it I?" Their self-examination seems to be the main point, since Jesus does not reveal the betrayer to them. He leaves them uncertain about which one of them it will be. Jesus knows the betrayer’s sin, but He also understands the weakness of all the disciples. (He will foretell that all of them will abandon Him in v. 27-31.) Yet, knowing their sin and frailty, Jesus still breaks the New Covenant bread with them and promises to eat again with them in the Kingdom of God. He permanently transforms the Passover into the Lord’s Supper, declaring the bread as His body and the cup as the blood of the new covenant, poured out for many. Jesus is fully aware of the depth of our sin and faithlessness, yet He still sits at the table with us, offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice, and invites unworthy sinners to the meal of redemption as our Savior. I. Jesus Is Sovereign Over Every Detail (v. 12-16) II. Jesus Knows The Depths Of Our Sin (v. 17-21) III. Jesus Is The New Covenant Sacrifice For Sinners (v. 22-25)

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Sermons Preached at First Baptist Mulvane, KS - Jason Velotta

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