Over the last couple months, we have been making video teachings to go with my sermons. It was my first attempt at this kind of thing, but I was pleased with the result.
All of this has been posted before in little bits and pieces, but here it is all together. Each sermon and video together along with the rationale for each one. (Just in case it isn’t obvious from the material.)
The best stuff is at the end. 🙂
Mark 8:27-33
This is the “Who do people say that I am?” passage. I talked about the fact that we often see Jesus the way we want to see Him rather than how He really is.
The Sermon
^–this is the sermon (and you will see them below too…)
For the video, we took a photograph of a pile of items. They were items that might be found at the foot of the cross. Through the video we focused on various parts showing how a narrow view is inadequate to define who the real Jesus is.
Mark 8:34-38
This is Mark 8 Discipleship. This is the pinacle of Mark’s gospel. Everything from here on out is arguably related to this one section. Discipleship is about denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus.
The video was kicked off YouTube because we borrowed (cough, stole) a video from YouTube from an old rock band singing “The Cat’s in the Cradle.” The idea was to get people’s attention with the idea our children are so important we should not discount them, but then turn the whole thing to say, “But they are not the most important.”
It worked really well. The video is hosted here on Spilled Wine. You can watch it here: Big Cats.
Mark 9:1-13
This is the Transfiguration. I called the sermon, “Glimpses of Light” and I looked at the text as an encouragement to the disciples that Jesus really was who He said He was. We all need glimpses of light from time to time.
The video took the direction of moments that lead to other moments. We took a couple stories and talked about them as the touchstones of our lives. We talked about how when we begin, we often have illusions that are not accurate, but life shakes us up and leaves us with something far greater than we had even dreamed of. I called it “Transfiguring Illusions.”
Mark 9:14-29
I called this one “Centers.” The text was about the disciples arguing about why they couldn’t cast a demon out of a boy. The sermon was simple–who is at the center? The disciples thought they belonged there. So do we.
The video was about arguing. Why do we think we have to be right? Do we even care about the people we hurt along the way? This video stirred some great discussion. 🙂
Mark 9:30-37
“Who is the Greatest?” The disciples argued about who was the greatest while they ignored the things that really mattered. I explore in both the sermon and the video what our Default Positions are. What we do when we don’t know what to do. This was my least favorite sermon and video of the series…but, hey, we all have a week like that from time to time.
Mark 9:38-42
Well, this one got a reaction! We got to all talk about whether or not we can accept other Christians as partners in the Gospel or not. We are on the same side.
This passage dealt with a disciple of Jesus who was not one of the 12. The disciples wanted to stop him from casting out demons because he was not following them. It is shameful that we do exactly the same thing. When will we learn, it is not about us.
Here is the sermon…. Sermon
Wow. If the sermon stirred some stuff, wait until you see the video. The idea was to take the teaching about unity and to teach it right in front of church signs. What we ended up doing was talking about the good things various denominations were doing and asking, “Jesus, should we stop them?”
Mark 9:42-50
This passage does a formula over and over–if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off because it is better to enter life with one hand than Hell with two.”
It comes on the heels of the passage about the man who is preaching Jesus without the disciples’ permission. I think Jesus is telling us how serious He is about NOT trying to play God. Believe me, this brought a lot of conversation.
Listen and let me know what you think.
For the video, we went to the dump. The idea was to illustrate what Hell was and to paint Hell as a place where things go that lose their purpose. It was a ton of fun. It got a lot of talk too.
Pay close attention at the end.
Mark 10:1-12
This is the Divorce and Marriage stuff in Mark. I knew when I began that this was a controversial week. I was right.
For the sermon, I talked about the passage and then I brought up a couple ladies who had gone through divorce to interview them and talk about it. It was a way for us to put skin on the whole issue. It worked very well.
The video was the controversial part of this teaching. I looked at the irony of God making a law (how to divorce) that was contrary to His will (no divorce). I tried to figure out how we juggle deeply difficult things. I was very pleased with what we came up with. It was paradigm shifting for me.
It is a little long, but I think it is worth it.