Mark 3:3 ASV, Mark 3:3-4 ASV, Mark 3:4-5 ASV, Mark 3:5-6 ASV, Mark 3:6-7 ASV, Mark 3:7-8 ASV, Mark 3:8-9 ASV, Mark 3:9-10 ASV, Mark 3:10-11 ASV, Mark 3:11 ASV, Mark 3:11-12 ASV, Mark 3:12-13 ASV, Mark 3:13-14 ASV, Mark 3:14-15 ASV, Mark 3:15-16 ASV, Mark 3:16-17 ASV, Mark 3:17-18 ASV, Mark 3:18-19 ASV, Mark 3:19-20 ASV, Mark 3:20-21 ASV, Mark 3:21-31 ASV and Mark 3:31-35 ASV

Crawford Loritts, at http://www.fbconline.org/VisitorCenter/sermon_series.asp, opens with announcing a recent special event. His youngest son, Brendon, was graduating from Graduate school. Crawford and his wife were weeping at graduation because there was some history here. At a young age, when Brendon's parents had gone to a counselor/doctor, they were told Brendon was probably going to need to be medicated. His mom and dad disagreed. They also said he would probably not be "college material". But yet their son was graduated this day with highest honors. They believed in him and Crawford wanted to share this with the congregation. Getting to the text, Jesus' brothers didn't become followers until after his death. In Mark, the tension is there because of a family issue, again, that wasn't resolved until his death. Crawford talks about his conflict with his Pop when he was between 17 and 19. His dad was from New Jersey and played baseball in some leagues. His dad never told him to play baseball, but it was almost implied. As it turned out, Crawford fell in love with the Lord at 17 and wanted to go to a college that coincidently had no baseball team. Also, Crawford had an afro while his dad was always very conservative. One weekend back from college, Crawford needed a ride back to the train station and his dad said, "not with hair like that..." Crawford stops to tell dads in the audience never to underestimate a son's desire to please their dads even when the exterior shows rebellion. Anyway, there was a time when it was tense for a while, but one day not too far down the road, his dad commissioned Crawford by saying, "Boy, you can be anything you want to be". 1) As a parent, be careful of over orchestrating our children's lives. 2) As a parent, pay attention to how God is working in the lives of your kids. 3) As parents, we need to have a vibrant walk with God so that we can model to our kids what really matters. In the passage in Mark, Jesus had been away from home for a considerable amount of time. His mom, dad and half brother and sisters are there. Jesus' parents have been out of touch and say that Jesus was out of control. Remember, that this is after Jesus has been preaching and performing miracles. But his family only has a snapshot of his life. They didn't fully know who he is, nor do they understand the implications. This was understandable, though, because they were living quiet life and, when Jesus shows up, there are hundreds of people gathered, there are good and bad things being said about Him, some of those things are how offensive He has been to the Jews. This is not uncommon to the major figures of the bible. Herod Agrippa said to Paul, "too much reading hath made thee mad". Crawford talks about a friend of his who was sharing with a person his desires to serve Christ and his friend is called a "fool", but his friend said, "I am a fool for Christ." Jesus family approaches him to save him from his own fanatacism. The crowd tells Jesus his family is outside for him. If you look at the text, there is an implication that the family was embarassed and that He wasn't measuring up to what they were expecting. Jesus' response is one where he draws a line in the sand. Now, the implication to parents here is that we, as parents, need to be careful that we don't take our children to the point where they have to draw a line between us. We need to be careful that we don't let our own good intentions interfere with what God is trying to do in their lives. Jesus implies that he is departing from the norm and expanding his family. He is NOT abandoning his family, but expanding it. Our kids will become closer to those who understand their heart and their passion. Jesus gives the most important direct answer in verse 35 "For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is by brother, and my sister, and mother. The most important thing in life is not getting people to like us, not becoming successful, not caring what our reputation is but DOING THE WILL OF GOD. Crawford's definition of "the will of God" is obediently following Jesus Christ. Crawford says here that he will never forget when his wife told him that he had no idea how much his son, Brian, valued him and wanted his respect. 1) Raise your children with a sense of Mission. 2) Encourage them to make choices and decisions based on God's Will. Don't always give them our opinion, but ask if they've prayed about it, away from what other people think. 3) This is a biggie. Let them know that you would rather they be in a dangerous place, in God's Will, than in a safe place in disobedience to God. 4) Let them know that you are an instrument of God, but NOT God. 5) Give them the gift of showing obedience and the rewards of obedience. 6) Give them the legacies of God in your life, the stories of Truth and Faith in real life as we launch them. 7) Teach them that they can never ever believe God too much.