Berea Update for July 17, 2026
If you’ve stepped outside at all over the last day or so, you’ve probably noticed the eerie, "post-apocalyptic-like" haze hanging over our neighborhood. The Canadian wildfires are hundreds of miles away, yet their presence is inescapable. The air smells of ash, the horizon has vanished behind a gray curtain, and the midday sun looks like a dull, orange ember struggling to pierce through the heavy shroud. There is something deeply sobering about a massive fire. Even from vast distances, you don’t negotiate with it. You don’t manage it. You simply live in its atmosphere. Fire is an unyielding, elemental force that consumes everything in its path, converting solid wood and brush into smoke and ash. As I’ve been looking out at this hazy sky and preparing for this Sunday’s message, I couldn't help but think about how we tend to treat God.
This week, we are moving into Mark 3:7–19. In this passage, we see two very different groups of people interacting with Jesus. On one hand, we have the crowd—thousands of people pressing in on Him from every direction, desperate to touch Him, heal their diseases, and get their immediate needs met. On the other hand, we have the twelve—men whom Jesus calls up to a quiet mountaintop, away from the clamor, simply "to be with him" and to be sent out.
It forces us to ask a deeply uncomfortable question: Are we consumers of Jesus, or are we His disciples? A consumer views Jesus the way the crowds on the shore did. To a consumer, Jesus is a useful commodity. We come to Him to fix our marriages, adjust our anxiety, bless our finances, or validate our lifestyle. We want His benefits, but we want to remain in control. We want to consume Him to satisfy our own hunger. But Scripture describes God not as a mild commodity to be packaged and purchased, but as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).
A fire doesn’t serve you; it takes you over. When a forest fire rages, it doesn't ask to fit into a neat corner of the landscape. It demands everything. In the same way, Jesus doesn't offer to be an accessory to our already-busy lives. He doesn't want to be "consumed" by us; He wants to consume us. He calls us up the mountain, out of the frantic consumerism of the crowds, to surrender our agendas, our comforts, and our control. If we only seek Jesus for what He can do for us, we will find ourselves constantly frustrated when He leads us into difficult terrains. But if we allow His holy, loving fire to burn away our self-preservation, we will find something infinitely better than a quick fix: we will find Him. Let’s prepare our hearts to move away from the frantic shore and climb the mountain of true discipleship this week. See you Sunday morning! Keep pressing on!
Upcoming Events
1. This Sunday, we'll be continuing on in the book of Mark, looking at Mark 3:7-19 with a sermon called "Consumers or Disciples?" I am praying that you'll all be able to attend as we worship the Lord together!
2. If you are able, please plan to join us on Sunday evening at 6:00 PM for our next Summer Prayer Night! We'll be praying through the different attributes of God and various Scriptures connected with those together as a group! The plan is to meet in Resurrection Garden, but a final decision on that will be made on Sunday. If we do not meet in the garden area, we'll be in the Family Life Center. Here are the upcoming nights we'll get together to pray: July 29 (Wednesday), August 9 (Sunday), and August 19 (Wednesday).
3. Youth Group! You will be meeting this upcoming Wednesday, July 22 from 6:30-8:00 PM at the home of Wes and Michele Stephens. (2195 Green Knoll Dr. Springfield)
4. As a reminder, due to the heat and the potential for storms today and tomorrow, the outdoor work day has been cancelled. A make-up date will occur in the future, but it has not be set yet.
5. Several have expressed interest in joining Berea officially in membership. To officially join Berea, we require that each person participate in a Membership Class, which will be held this Sunday, July 19 from 2:00-5:00 PM here at the church. If you have not already let me know your intention to join Berea, it's not too late! Please just send me an email to let me know so that I can make sure to have materials ready for you!
Ways You Can Pray This Week
1. Pray for safety and clear skies. Specifically, lift up those who are vulnerable—the elderly, young children (who might be stuck indoors), and those with asthma or respiratory issues.
2. Pray for our students and teachers who will soon be starting a new school year!
3. Pray for our missionaries around the world!
***Please know that there are many individuals who need prayer this week due to health concerns and other events going on in their lives. Out of sensitivity to each individual's situation, these requests may not appear in this weekly blog. We have a "Prayer Team" at the church who receives more detailed information, and commits to praying for individuals in our church family.
This Week's Devotions
Day 1: The Noise of the Shore
Mark 3:7–10 (ESV) — "Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him."
The crowds surrounding Jesus were massive, energetic, and utterly desperate. But notice their motivation: they came because of "all that he was doing." They were driven by physical pain, immediate needs, and a desire for relief. While Jesus had deep compassion for their suffering, the atmosphere was chaotic—so much so that He needed a boat to keep from being crushed. It is easy to mistake this kind of desperation for devotion. We, too, can flock to Jesus only when our lives are messy, our health is failing, or our anxieties peak. There is no shame in bringing our pain to Him, but if our relationship with Him is strictly transactional—seeking Him only for His utility—we remain part of the crowd. We are merely consuming His miracles while missing His lordship.
Reflection Question: When you look at your prayer life over the last month, has your communication with God been primarily a shopping list of crises you want Him to fix, or have you sought Him simply for who He is?
Day 2: Called Up the Mountain
Mark 3:13–14 (ESV) — "And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach..."
To establish His church, Jesus didn't recruit from the loudest voices in the crowd on the shore. He walked up a mountain—a place historically associated with encountering the raw presence of God—and hand-selected a small group. He called them first and foremost "so that they might be with him." Before they were given a platform, a mission, or a title, they were given intimacy. A consumer wants the product without the relationship; they want the "sending out" without the "being with." True discipleship requires us to leave the clamor of the crowd, climb the steep terrain of personal surrender, and sit in quiet fellowship with Christ. Our activity for God must always flow out of our intimacy with Him.
Reflection Question: What "crowds" of noise, distraction, or digital busyness do you need to walk away from this week to spend uninterrupted, agenda-free time in the presence of Jesus?
Day 3: A Jealous, Consuming Fire
Deuteronomy 4:24 (ESV) — "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
Moses gave this warning to Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, reminding them that Yahweh will not share His throne with cheap, local idols. To call God a "jealous" consuming fire isn't to say He is insecure; it means His love is fiercely protective and completely exclusive. A fire doesn't compromise with the fuel it burns; it takes ownership of it entirely. When we try to relegate God to a weekly Sunday morning routine, we treat Him like a household pet or a useful appliance. But He is a wildfire. He demands our full allegiance, our primary identity, and our deepest affections. His jealousy is actually our safety, because it means He loves us too much to let us destroy ourselves on things that cannot save us.
Reflection Question: Is there an area of your life—a relationship, a habit, or a career goal—where you have told God, "You can have everything else, but don't touch this"? What would it look like to surrender that to His fire today?
Day 4: The Refiner’s Fire
Malachi 3:2–3 (ESV) — "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present offerings to the LORD in righteousness."
A refiner’s fire is vastly different from a forest fire. A forest fire destroys, but a refiner’s fire purifies. The goldsmith places the precious metal into the extreme heat not to ruin it, but to force the hidden dross and impurities to rise to the surface so they can be skimmed away, leaving only pure, reflective gold. When God begins to heat up our lives through trials, conflicts, or seasons of waiting, our initial consumer instinct is to complain and demand an exit. But the Disciple understands that the heat is purposeful. God is melting away our pride, our self-reliance, and our hidden hypocrisies so that His own image can be clearly reflected in our character.
Reflection Question: Think about a current trial or frustration you are facing. Instead of asking God, "Why are you doing this to me?" try asking, "What dross are you trying to purify in me through this heat?"
Day 5: The Altar of Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1 (ESV) — "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was killed and placed on the altar, where fire from heaven would consume it. Under the New Covenant, the call is strangely different: we are called to be living sacrifices. The difficulty with a living sacrifice, as many pastors have noted, is that it keeps trying to crawl off the altar when the heat gets turned up. To live "consumed" by God means we daily lay our bodies, our time, our money, and our plans on His altar. We don't negotiate terms with Him. We say, "My life is yours to spend." A consumer asks, "How much do I have to give to keep God happy?" A disciple asks, "How much of myself can I lay down so that He is glorified?"
Reflection Question: In what practical area of your daily routine (your tongue, your screen time, your finances) do you struggle most to stay on the altar? How can you actively surrender that specific area to Him today?
Day 6: Hearts Ablaze
Luke 24:32 (ESV) — "They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?'"
After the crucifixion, two discouraged disciples were walking to Emmaus when the resurrected Jesus joined them incognito. As He explained how all of Scripture pointed to His suffering and glory, their despair was replaced by an intense, internal warmth. Their hearts were set ablaze by the truth of God’s Word. Many of us suffer from spiritual hypothermia. Our faith feels cold, clinical, and mechanical. We read the Bible like a manual and attend church like a civic duty. But when we truly encounter the living Christ through His Word, it ignites a fire in our bones. Discipleship is not just an intellectual exercise; it is an emotional and spiritual consuming of our hearts by the beauty of the gospel.
Reflection Question: When was the last time your heart genuinely burned with awe, gratitude, or joy while reading Scripture or meditating on the work of Jesus? Ask Him to rekindle that fire in you today.
Day 7: An Unshakable Kingdom
Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV) — "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
The author of Hebrews contrasts the shaking of Mount Sinai with the eternal, unshakable kingdom we receive in Christ. When everything in this world—our health, our economies, our political structures, and even our very air—can be disrupted and shaken, we belong to a kingdom that stands forever. And because of this, our worship cannot be casual or cheap. It must be marked by "reverence and awe." We do not worship a safe, predictable deity. We worship a consuming fire. When we realize that this holy, terrifying, infinite Fire took on flesh to be consumed by the judgment we deserved on the cross, our only logical response is total, awe-filled surrender. We stop trying to use Him, and we let Him use us.
Reflection Question: As you prepare for corporate worship this Sunday, how can you shift your mindset from that of a "critic" or "spectator" to a disciple offering "acceptable worship with reverence and awe"?
Kids (and Kids at Heart) Korner
Have you ever been sitting around a campfire when the wind suddenly changes direction, and a big puff of smoke blows right into your face? What do you do? You cough, you squeeze your eyes shut, and you run away to the other side of the fire! Smoke makes it really hard to see what’s right in front of you. Today, if you look outside, the whole sky has looked super hazy and smoky because of fires far away.
This Sunday, we are going to look at Mark chapter 3, where a giant crowd of thousands of people are all crowding around Jesus on the beach. But there were two totally different types of people in that crowd. Some people were just there like "Consumers." That’s a big word, but it just means they wanted Jesus to do something for them: heal them, or give them stuff—and then they wanted to run away. They couldn't see who Jesus really was because their own selfish wishes were blocking their view, kind of like thick smoke! But Jesus called a small group of twelve friends to go up a mountain with Him. He wanted them to be "Disciples." Disciples don't just want Jesus' gifts; they want to be close to Jesus Himself. They want His love to warm them up and change them from the inside out, like a good campfire!
The "Campfire Choice" Family Game
This week, play a quick game at the dinner table or in the living room called Smoke or Spark! How to play: Parents will read a scenario from the list below. If the scenario sounds like a "Consumer" (someone who just wants their own way or wants to use people), everyone has to pretend to cough and fan away the smoke: "Cough, cough! Too smoky!" If the scenario sounds like a "Disciple" (someone who wants to be close to Jesus and serve others), everyone has to point their hands up like a glowing campfire spark and say: "Spark!"
The Scenarios:
1. You only clean your room because you want your parents to buy you a new toy. (Smoke! You're just using good behavior to get a prize.)
2. You see a kid sitting alone at recess or at church, so you sit with them just to be a good friend, even though your other friends are playing somewhere else. (Spark!)
3. You only pray or say thank you to God when you really want to win your soccer game or get an A on a test. (Smoke! Treating God like a vending machine.)
4. You read a Bible story before bed because you love learning about Jesus and want to know how to follow Him. (Spark!)
The Big Idea: Don't let your own selfish wishes smoke out your view of Jesus. Be a spark that stays close to Him!
Have a great weekend! See you Sunday!
Mark