The Bemenderfers

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Messages

A collection of sermons and messages Mark has given over the years

New messages are added as they become available
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Aug 10, 2025, 10:30 AM
We’ve talked a lot about submission and obedience over the last many weeks, in particular who we’re called to submit to, why we’re required to submit to these people, and the importance of our submission to the message of the Gospel. There is one more relationship that Paul is led by the Lord to address: slaves and slave-owners. Through Paul’s teaching, God gives us the character and nature of true submission. It is instruction we desperately need in our day and age. From Ephesians 6:5-9.
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Aug 3, 2025, 10:30 AM
When Paul and Silas promised the Philippian jailer that he and all his household would be saved if he believed in the Lord Jesus, there’s more there than we’re prepared to see. Dads are key to the salvation and sanctification of their children. If you and I want our children to spend eternity with us in heaven, then we must accept and conform ourselves to God’s design for the family, including and especially today’s truth and instruction. This command isn’t just about fathers; it’s about the whole structure of the family. From Ephesians 6:4.
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Jul 27, 2025, 10:30 AM
If you haven’t already noticed, no matter who Paul is addressing, we can all learn a thing or two from the instructions given. Today is no different. Or maybe it is. Today we turn to Paul’s instruction for children. It’s pretty obvious, simple and direct. Is it really so hard to understand? Does it really require a whole Sunday message on its own? Listen and see. This command is for you and me, as surely as it is for the little ones among us. From Ephesians 6:1-3.
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Jul 20, 2025, 10:30 AM
God calls husbands to love their wives in such a way that makes her salvation and sanctification as of highest importance in his life—at least as far as it depends on him. Of course, he can only succeed if his wife submits to and follows his lead. Here, God leads Paul to return to his “body” illustration that was introduced in his command to wives to submit to their own husband as their “head.” He expands the illustration in such a way that further cements the idea that husband as “head” means leader, ruler, director. It also reinforces a husband’s responsibility to live to prepare his wife for heaven and fleshes out how he can and should do that. From Ephesians 5:28-33a.
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Jul 6, 2025, 10:30 AM
We saw last week that a husband is called to agape love his wife. We distinguished that from eros love—physical, romantic love—and phileo love, which is built on shared experiences. Those two come fairly naturally and do not need a command. But agape love, which we saw is primarily concerned with seeking the well-being of the one loved—as God defines well-being—this love must be commanded. It does not come naturally. It means the husband is first concerned for his wife’s salvation, then for her sanctification. Verses 26 and 27 make that clear and point the way to true agape love. We can all learn from this! From Ephesians 5:26-27.
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Jun 29, 2025, 10:30 AM
Husbands, now it’s our turn. I’m using another old word in my title, “husbandry.” We use the word today to describe the roles and responsibilities of those working in the agricultural sector, but the original meaning encompassed the roles and duties of a husband, and that’s my usage here. The main command to husbands in the marital relationship is to love our wives. Paul gives two illustrations, and both serve to give a clear picture of what it means to love your wife. Strangely, however, the Church today has by and large missed the point, and distorted the husband’s responsibility, turning the whole marriage relationship upside-down! As we saw with the wife, so with the husband: When we misunderstand and misapply God’s teaching here, we overthrow the picture and testimony God intended the marital relationship to be. We encourage believers and unbelievers alike to disregard God. Let’s see if we can cut through the fog and distortions, and identify what God actually expects of us husbands. From Ephesians 5:25.
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Jun 22, 2025, 10:30 AM
Last week, we looked at Paul’s main command to wives: to submit to your husbands. We saw that a wife’s submission to her husband was tied directly to her submission to Christ. She is supposed to submit to her husband as she submits to Christ, which hopefully is “right away, all the way and with a happy heart!” We also saw that that’s the same thing required of every believer in their relationship to Jesus Christ. Today we’re going to see some “whys” of her submission, and why a wife’s submission to her husband is not a temporary, cultural command, but one for all ages and peoples, at least on this side of eternity. From Ephesians 5:23-24, 33b.
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Jun 15, 2025, 10:30 AM
“Submission.” We treat it like a dirty word. It’s OK if everyone has to submit to each other. Not so great when one group has to submit to another. So we’ve decided to fix that in our modern era. We’re discarding authority, thinking we’ve found a better way. But it’s no new way. It’s one that’s been around from the beginning. We’re actually falling into the trap of the devil, who refused to admit that God was over him, but insisted on making himself equal with God (Isaiah 14:12-14)—in stark contrast to Jesus, who actually is God (Philippians 2:5-8). In distorting these last 12 verses of Ephesians 5, we’re tearing down the fabric of society as God intended it. We’re only hurting everyone we think we’re freeing. ("Wifery" refers to the role and responsibilities of a wife.) From Ephesians 5:22.
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Jun 1, 2025, 10:30 AM
Ephesians 5:15-21 is a summary and conclusion for the instructions that began at the beginning of Chapter 4. Verse 21 also acts as a springboard for what follows. There’s still more guidance to come! In the same way, there is still much for us to learn and practice. At the beginning of this chapter, we saw six behaviors that need to be removed from our lives and fellowship—and one behavior that should replace them. Next we saw how we have been made light to shine, exposing our own evil deeds, as well as those of our brothers and sisters—and of the world around us! That we all might repent and grow in the ways of Christ. For each other’s good, not condemnation. Here, Paul gives us several key summary points, both words of warning and words of clarification and instruction. From Ephesians 5:15-21.
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May 25, 2025, 10:30 AM
Last week we saw how necessary it is for salvation that we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and work with Him to conform ourselves to His likeness. We need to remove sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, obscenity, moronic talk and coarse joking from our lives and from our fellowship—because these are the exact opposite of who God is, and so what His children are to be. And He is trying to work these things in us! We don’t want to resist Him, but work with Him. Today, we see that it’s not only for our own personal sake that we need to make these changes, but for everyone around us, to the ends of the earth! From Ephesians 5:8-14.