What Matters Most? My Family

BALTEAGH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH MISSION

TUESDAY 14 OCTOBER 2025 - MR KENNY HANNA

MARK 3 VERSES 31 TO 35

We are thinking about what matters most - tonight it is about my family. We all love our families. We would do anything for our families. We would make any sacrifice for our families. We would go without ourselves for our families. What matters most is our family. Many of us would put our families at the top of our list of priorities. What I love most about Mark's gospel is that Mark cuts out a lot of background detail so he can get us straight to Jesus. All he wants is to get you and I to Jesus. That is what I want from these meetings. By God's grace, as God is at work, we want to see Jesus, to come to him. Let's begin at the beginning.

The danger of false hopes. There is a sober warning - verses 21, 31 to 32 and chapter 1 verses 19 to 20

For thousands of years there have been people who thought they were members of God's family when in fact they were actually not members at all. The danger of false hopes continues to be a real live issue today. It certainly was the case when Jesus lived thousands of years ago. His mother and brothers travelled a days journey from Nazareth to Capernaum. They thought he was not looking after himself, that he was out of his mind. They came to check on Jesus. Here is what Mark wants us to notice. Twice we are told Jesus' mother and his brothers are on the "outside" while Jesus and the others were on the inside. He states this twice so that we might not miss it. Surely we would expect them to be on the inside. It is strictly true that at Jesus' conception Mary expresses her trust in the Lord as Saviour - Luke 1 verse 47 "in God my Saviour". She was trusting in God to save her, to be her Saviour. We read in John 7 that Jesus' human brothers did not believe in him. Here are Jesus' family on the outside. The human relationship they had to Jesus leads to complacency on their part. They had a human connection to Jesus, growing up with Jesus in the same home but now they are on the outside calling to Jesus. What is wrong with calling Jesus? Simply this - Jesus is the one who calls. Back in chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 Jesus does the calling. The same thing is brought out in Mark 2 verse 17 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners." Jesus is the one who does the calling - verse 32 "A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” This phrase is used 10 times in Mark's gospel in the sense of to control. Here are Jesus' human family trying to control him. Jesus' human family, his brothers at this point had a human connection and this gives them some kind of hold on him but they are on the outside when they thought they were on the inside. They thought they could control Jesus. They were on the outside not on the inside at all. Here is the warning to us - if we think we are on the inside with Jesus, we are actually on the outside. The danger of false hopes. We are used to hearing warning signs on the road. They scream 'get out of the way I am coming.' We see warning lights that alert us. In the distance you see police lights warning of an accident. They warn us of the danger ahead. There are warning lights here in our scripture. If we think we are on the inside, in Jesus' family heed the warning lights. If you are complacent and think you are on the inside of Jesus' family but in reality you are on the outside. Amazes me and saddens me at the same time that people will tell me "my mum and dad followed Jesus so I must be in Jesus' family too." Many will point to their baptism or the taking of the Lord's Supper as some guarantee to be on the inside. Very often people think it is being good to their family or neighbours that somehow they will gain favour with Jesus. Are you a Christian? Many will list the things they do. That is really a bad sign - because it shows they would rather rely on those things than on what Jesus has done for them. People think that a casual connection to Jesus brings us into the family of God.  What a disaster if Jesus comes back or we die and we face Jesus as our judge. We will discover that we have in fact never been on the inside. What an eternal disaster that would be. Is there a warning light for you tonight? If so, please heed it. It is so important to be inside Jesus' family. It is not about who we are or what we have done, it is all about Jesus and what he has done. Please heed the warning.

Jesus makes outsiders insiders, members of his family - verse 33 to 35

We have seen Jesus brothers who are on the outside. They are family humanly speaking. How do we get inside Jesus' family? Jesus looks around, closely observing the people and declares "here are my mother and brothers. Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and my mother." Those who live for Jesus and learn from Jesus are God's family. Romans 3 verse 23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." God is God and we are ordinary fallen sinful people. We cannot measure up to God's perfect standard. That means if he is going to make us insiders it will by his grace and love. We will only get in to his family by his grace and undeserved love for us. Grace is the opposite of how we live our lives. We are used to earning things. Young people study hard at school. They don't get the grades handed to them, they have got to do the work. They study. In a job whether it is on the farm or in business you have to work hard at it. Our lives are all about working to achieve things. What good news for us. God's kingdom does not work like that. Grace and love we don't deserve are given to us. I don't want a Saviour that is pulling me down every time I mess up. I don't want a Saviour like that. I want a loving, patient, kind Saviour who brings me into his family even though I don't deserve it. It is not about my performance. If it where I wouldn't be a Christian for 5 minutes. It is all about Jesus. Grace we don't deserve. Anyone of us can be part of God's family if we recognise ourselves as sinners. Anyone can become a member of God's family. How do we do it?

Jesus became an outsider to make us insiders - verses 34 and 35, chapter 15 verse 34

 Jesus became an outsider to brign us inside his family. He did it by his death on the cross. When he hung on the cross he was outside his Father's will. He was taking our sin and punishment. He cried in Mark 15 verse 34 "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Jesus died outside the city wall of Jerusalem. Outside of the closeness to his Father so we can be loved by our God. To be inside his family. A whole new family is created by Jesus. Looking around him he said "here are my mother and brother and sister." Jesus is busy in this world, busy making new family like you and I. We deserve to be outside with our sin but he was willing to bring us into his family. He put us on the outside so we could be drawn inside. We don't like putting ourselves on the outside even if it is for 5 minutes. Imagine you were in a large building with lots of different floor levels. There is a lift that takes you to each level but every time you try to get in the lift it is full. Finally it comes to the point where it is empty and you can get in but as you do so you notice a little old lade standing outside the lift. She looks lost and alone. So you step outside the lift and give her a hand to get onto the lift. You sacrifice your place on the lift. When Jesus died on the cross he put himself on the outside of his Father's love and care so that he could bring you and I inside his Father's love and care. The implications of this - there are only 2 places we can be in in life and death and eternity. We can be inside Jesus or outside. Where are you tonight? Are you inside or outside Jesus' family? If you were to die tonight where would you go? Inside or outside Jesus' family? If you were to die inside Jesus' family you would have a home in heaven but if you die outside you would be in hell itself. Jesus was outside his Father's love as he died on the cross. That is how much he loves you. That changes our view of family in this way. Rather than putting our family on a pedestal, making them more of an idol than Jesus is. When he brings us from the outside to the inside our priority is to come into Jesus; family. If you are on the inside tonight by his death on the cross you will pray for your family to come to Jesus. We can encourage them to come to places where they will hear the good news of Jesus. We can ask God to help us to live for Jesus so that our family might come to Jesus themselves. Our number one priority for our family is for our family to come inside Jesus' family. You need to start by giving your life to Jesus. If you want the best for your family it starts by giving our hearts fully to Jesus. If you want your family to be brought into Jesus' family you need to live your life as a witness to Christ. It is easier for someone to come to Christ if they look at you and see you following Jesus. That is what matters most. For our families are part of Jesus' family - that is what matters most. How is it possible? Because Jesus on the cross put himself on the outside to bring our families inside. How do we begin? By coming to Christ ourselves then by bringing our families to gospel meetings. Are you leading the way for your family to see Jesus in you and wanting it for themselves?