CUT IT OUT
The Gospel of Mark #31
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
September 13, 2023
(Mark 9:38–40, NLT) “John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”
1. Passionate followers of Christ are people of conviction
2. Passionate followers of Christ are people who have a transformed heart, mind, and soul
3. Passionate followers of Christ are people of living water
“If thou hast wisdom, thou shalt prove a fountain-spring and not a channel.” –Bernard of Clairvaux
4. Passionate followers of Christ are people who have been bought by the blood of the Lamb
(1 Peter 1:18–19, Message) “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.”
(Mark 9:41–50, NLT) If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded. “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ “For everyone will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”
5. Passionate followers of Christ are more concerned with the little ones than egotists
(Deuteronomy 14:1, NLT) “Since you are the people of the Lord your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead.”
6. Passionate followers of Christ take drastic action to prevent people from stumbling
(Luke 12:5, NLT) “But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.”
7. Passionate followers of Christ make their choices with eternity in mind
(1 Thessalonians 5:13, NLT) “Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.”
(1 Corinthians 3:13, NLT) “But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.”