Richmond Community Church

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Sermon Audio: Incomplete Vision
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Mark 8:22-8:33
Duration: 19:39
Size: 10.7 MB

Jesus: The Ultimate Action Hero
Incomplete Vision
Mark 8:22-8:33

It’s a great bridge from the spiritually blind disciples to the physically blind man.

Though Jesus had compassion on the physical needs of people, He never lost sight of His ultimate mission – to heal souls through the cross. To Seek and Save the lost.

Peter declares Jesus is the Messiah – but when we look at him later, after the resurrection, he doesn’t seem to get it.

We are always interested in what gets us what we want now – but Jesus knew the real mission was much bigger than that.

Anything that keeps Jesus from the suffering cross would keep mankind forever in bondage.

So let Him touch the eyes of your heart and give you clear sight into the gift He offers – all you have to lose is your life – and all there is to gain is life eternal!

“Who do you say that I am?”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Sermon Audio: What Is Faith?
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Mark 7:24-8:21
Duration: 21:06
Size: 11.8 MB

Jesus: The Ultimate Action Hero
What Is Faith?
Mark 7:24-8:21

Jesus and His men went, presumably, to a Jewish home in order to get some time to rest away from crowds. But alas, such was not the case.

Jesus came first to the Jews but always intended for the gospel to go out from there to the entire world.

The deaf-mute could not ask Jesus for healing so his friends brought him and begged the Lord to touch him.

Often deaf people can speak, but because they don’t hear the sound their speech is not clear.

It’s possible that this miracle took place very near where Jesus freed the man with the demons, on the southeastern shore of the lake.

Mark calls their demand for a “sign” a test – such as where Satan tempted Jesus to perform at his will – so too the Pharisees want to control Jesus.

His point is that introducing self-righteousness or political expediency is dangerous when it comes to relating to God.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Sermon Audio: Battling the Broken Mind
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Mark 6:53-7:23
Duration: 21:07
Size: 11.7 MB

Jesus: The Ultimate Action Hero
Battling the Broken Mind
Mark 6:53-7:23

Such was the case for the Pharisees. In their zeal to serve God they ended up serving themselves because they lacked an objective source of truth.

It is the act of reaching out in trust and reliance on Jesus that heals not some piece of cloth or ritual.

Over the years after the Babylonian captivity, the religious leaders had added hundreds of oral traditions that they considered as binding as the Law.

They are not attacking Jesus personally, but by accusing His disciples it is like they are saying “If you were really a holy man and a rabbi, wouldn’t you have taught your disciples to obey the traditions?”

The problem the Pharisees had was they had replaced God’s Word with their own words as the authority over their lives and conduct.

It was not the diet that goes in, but the character that already lives in a person and comes out that matters.

The moment we place our own mind on the same or greater plain as God’s over what is good–we begin to layer over the top of God’s character like varnish on a piece of wood.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Sermon Audio: The Compassion and Provision of Jesus
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Mark 6:30-52
Duration: 24:37
Size: 13.1 MB

Jesus: The Ultimate Action Hero
The Compassion and Provision of Jesus
Mark 6:30-52

I think the portion of Mark 6 we are going to look at today will be a comfort and a challenge to you as we see the Lord’s compassion with our plight and His provision for everything we need to serve Him.

The trip itself had been exhausting but now there were so many people crowding around they couldn’t even eat.

It was actually more important for them to listen to the life-giving words of God than in getting food for their bellies.

He will take what they have and multiply it, just as Jesus takes what we offer and infuses it with Holy Spirit reality to multiply it beyond our wildest dreams.

Even as Jesus desires for us to rejuvenate and not burn out from service, He also cares about our physical needs.

It is also good to pray after success, to set the mind to Who actually did the work and what it was for.

Sometimes God does things in our lives that frighten or trouble us – urging us to move deeper in our relationship or trust Him with an impossible circumstance.

Don’t be afraid of anything in this age because Jesus has conquered it. And don’t be afraid of the next age, though you don’t really understand the Lord you follow.