Sermon title: “Something old, something new””
(Mark 2:18-22)
Pastor: Brian Moore

Something Old, Something New explores Jesus’ response in Mark 2:18–22 to a familiar religious conflict: why His disciples do not follow established spiritual routines. Jesus exposes a deeper issue beneath debates about fasting and tradition. The real question is not discipline or devotion, but the standard by which faith is measured. He challenges the assumption that adding rules produces righteousness and redirects attention to what God actually requires.

The sermon explains the background of the Pharisees and their well intentioned but misguided additions to God’s law. Practices like frequent fasting, originally meant to express repentance, became markers of spiritual superiority. Through vivid images of weddings, patches, and wineskins, Jesus makes clear that these man made additions damage what God intended. The problem is not prayer or fasting, but using them to secure status, control others, or gain advantage before God.

The message then turns toward today. The same temptations remain: relying on routines, enforcing uniformity, blending personal preferences with the gospel, or using faith for personal benefit. Jesus calls His hearers back to the old promise now fulfilled in Him. He is the Bridegroom who restores the relationship, not through added effort, but through repentance and trust. The invitation is simple and demanding: return to Christ, abandon self made religion, and live from grace rather than trying to earn it.