Unmasking Authorities

This weekend at Eastbrook Church, we continued our series “Remade,” which is the third part of our Gospel of Mark series (see also “The Real Jesus” and “King Coming“).

Will Branch began the series last weekend with a look at Jesus cleansing the temple (listen to Will’s message, “Reject Religion”, here), and this week I looked at Jesus’ confrontation with the religious authorities. The main point of my message is that while many times in our world authority – even religious authority – is used to control and imprison people, that is not the goal of Jesus. He came to set people free.

You can listen to my message, entitled “Unmasking Authorities,” at the Eastbrook web-site here. You can also follow the RSS feed for Eastbrook sermons or follower Eastbrook Church on Twitter or Facebook.

The outline for the message is included below:

Jesus and His Authority (Mark 11:27-33)

• The chief priests, teachers of the law and the elders question the source of Jesus’ authority
• Jesus reveals the human tendency to use authority to control

Jesus and His Politics (Mark 12:13-17)

• The Pharisees and Herodians question Jesus’ approach to government
• Jesus reveals the human tendency to use authority as a way to trap people

Jesus and His Theology (Mark 12:18-27)

• The Sadducees question Jesus’ understanding of heaven and the resurrection
• Jesus reveals the human tendency to use authority as a competition about who is right

Jesus the Loved and Sent Son (Mark 12:1-12)

• The Vineyard
• The Owner
• The Tenants
• The Servants
• The Son