Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world.
So that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kerwin, North Carolina. And we're going to read nine verses beginning in verse one this morning. This is our last Sunday of 2023. And tomorrow is New Year's Day.
Reminder: there is no service tonight, but we will see you. We have service Wednesday night, right? Yeah, we will see you Wednesday night. Just want to make sure. Not a really good reason not to have service on Wednesday night.
I just wanted to make sure I was going to change that. But we will see you on Wednesday evening. And I just wanted to say this: it's been a really good Christmas holidays here at our church. There's been so much work from our family concert that we did to the children's program to our adult program. All that was done, it's just been a good season.
There's so much work. There have been really good presentations that so many people have worked hard on. And the adult Christmas play was fantastic, by the way. If you missed it, it was a miserable weather night. It couldn't have been worse as far as weather goes.
But I'm going to tell you, and I'm being honest, I kind of sat and cried through half of the adult program. It was such a wonderful thing. I felt it had a lot of thought. It was true stories. And anyway, it was a lot of work.
It was great. And I've had a great Christmas season, but I'm done with Christmas. I don't want to hear a Christmas song. I don't want to hear music. I don't, anybody else like me, that it has been fantastic.
But when Christmas Day is done, I am done. And I would probably take down the Christmas decorations after we open presents. But anyway, we haven't done that. Mark chapter 14, look at verse 1. After two days was the feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death.
But they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman. Having an alabaster box of ointment. I'm going to show you and other passages that we're talking here about Mary of Bethany. Notice this.
box of ointment of spike nard was very precious. And she broke the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and have been given to the poor, and they murmured against her. Shocking that there are those that have a negative attitude about things.
Verse 6, and Jesus said, Let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good, but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could.
She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you: wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her, and today that is ringing true once again. We're still talking about it. I want to show you in other passages about this particular passage. Matthew chapter 26, this will be on the screen for you.
Matthew chapter 26, verse 7. There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on his head, and he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what purpose is this waste? And then in John chapter 12. Verse 4, then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him.
Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor. But because he was a thief. and had the bag. and bear what was put therein.
I've preached on this passage before at different occasions, and God brought this up to me to. Kind of end the year and start the year at the same process as we move forward. Don't forget, our theme for next year is be strong. And the Lord. Our subject today is this.
I believe it's a great year. to break the box. It's a great year. To break the box, let's pray. Lord, I pray you'd bless, that you'd work.
Give us. Wisdom. And God, where would we be without your power? Lord, we need it today. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. There are three Marys that the Bible talks about. There's others, especially in the New Testament, that often get confused. There is Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Now that is obviously Luke chapter 2. There is Mary Magdalene. That is Luke chapter 8. But third, there is Mary. of Bethany.
Now, this Mary of Bethany we see on three occasions in the New Testament. And I want to kind of explain this to you so that you kind of understand. The first time is in Luke chapter 10 when Martha was working and she was busy serving. You all know the passage I preached on that. And Martha was busy working, and Mary of Bethany was sitting at the feet of Jesus.
And you remember that particular thing, Luke chapter 10. The second time we see Mary of Bethany is when Lazarus, her brother, had died in John chapter 11. The third time that we see her is right here in John chapter 12, and of course in Mark. This is literally when she broke the alabaster box. to give an offering, a sacrifice, To Jesus Christ.
What I find interesting is the first time that we see this Mary, she came for a blessing. She sat at the feet of Jesus. The second time we see this Mary, she came when Lazarus had died, she came to Jesus with her burden. Isn't it wonderful to know that you can come to Jesus and receive a blessing, but you can also go to Jesus to share your burden? But the third time we see her, she comes to Jesus with her best.
Yeah, they went. She has this alabaster box of ointment.
Now we know from the other passage that Judas said, hey, we could sell this for 300 pens.
So we know it was valuable and what had happened.
So much work, so much expense, saving of money, all these things that she had worked hard. It represented years, it represented time, it represented work, it represented effort, it represented her finances, it represented her love, her heart, her effort. It represented everything. And she brings her best to Jesus. She had been to Jesus for a blessing, and she had been to Jesus to bring her burden.
But now she had gotten to the point that she didn't come to Jesus because she wanted a blessing or because she had a burden. She came to Jesus because she wanted to give her best. Yeah? Yes, sir. Are we here this are you already in back in 2022?
What's going on here this morning? May I say that all of us ought to want to bring Jesus our best? Let me just say this: that it's a wonderful day in the Christian life when we get beyond just when we want a blessing. And we get beyond that God's just who we come to when we have a burden. But when we get to the point as a Christian that we show up at church.
Because we want to bring God our best. Interesting here. I wanted to look at this passage in Mark. And I want to get just a few principles as we begin. 2024.
on this thought of it's a great year to break the box. We just read this story and So, I want you to think with me here this morning. Number one, I want you to write this down, if you could, according to verse 3 here in our passage in Mark. Number one, I want you to notice this: Mary thought that nothing was too good for Jesus. In verse 3, it says, And being in Bethany in the house of Simon, he sat at meat.
There came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spike nard, very. Precious. Mary thought that nothing was too good. for Jesus. You know, I'm afraid that sometimes after you've been saved for a while and get used to God's blessings for a while, That we no longer seem to bring God our best.
There was a day when I grew up. Listen, I'm going to be honest with you, don't take any offense to this because, hey, listen, I live in 2023. We're getting ready to live in 2024, too. And I'm not jumping on anybody because, listen, you could look at my life, my family, find fault. That's not that at all.
But I'm going to tell you something: when I was a kid and I grew up, there was a reason people dressed up to go to church. I would have loved to be able to come to church like kids can come to church now. That would have changed my life. And let's be honest. God sees the heart.
Man sees the outside.
Okay?
So we're not judging, I'm not jumping on that hobby horse, but I am saying this. When I was a kid, the principle was this: when we go to church, we give God our best. We dress our best. We act our best. We talk our best.
We give our best. But you know what? I'm afraid that maybe in 2023 we've gotten down to the point that it's so casual with God now. That the things of God is just we kind of half-hearted do this, half-hearted give here. You know, church is just another thing on the calendar.
Church isn't necessarily the priority. You know, doing things for God is just on the planning list. It isn't necessarily our passion or our priority in our life. And may I say that the first thing I notice in this is that Mary saw that nothing was too good for Jesus. Number two, I want you to see in verse four that Mary made Jesus the priority.
Look at verse 4. And there were some that had indignation within themselves. And said, why was this waste of ointment made? It could have been used for other things. We could have sold this and gotten money and done stuff for the poor.
And there's a lot of things, a lot of people we could have helped with this. Look at verse 6. For it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and it had been given to the poor, and they murmured against her. Here's the point: yes, that money could have been used for a lot of things and for a lot of people, but she determined that there's nobody better to use it on than Jesus. And the principle ought to be this way in our life: that all of your effort, the most important person that ought to get your effort is Jesus.
The most, the first and the priority of your life that ought to get your finances is Jesus. The first priority that ought to get your energy and your passion and your time is Jesus. It seems that we don't have time for church, we don't have time for Jesus. We're busy here taking the kids to dance, taking the kids to karate, going to the basketball game, going to the baseball game, going fishing here, going hunting here, going to play golf here. And if we're not careful, so many things in our life get the priority over Jesus.
I want to encourage you. Listen, I'm taking this theme to heart. We're going to be strong in 2024. Watch out.
Some of you are like, it's already started. I don't like this. Listen, just because we haven't heard it for a while doesn't mean it's not true. She made Jesus the priority. Hey, listen, we can argue through everything of how this could be used for this and this could be used for that, but can I tell you something?
What will clear things up in your life is when Jesus is the priority. Above everyone else, above everything else. I encourage you as a family, you make God's house a priority in 2024. I'm not saying you can't do things and be gone. And hey, listen, I'm saying, but when it turns into a habit, and when church is, we go to church as long as there's not something else.
I want to encourage you as a pastor. I'm not doing this because, listen, it doesn't change what I do because certain people are here or not here all the time. Listen, I'm glad every moment if you showed up once during the year, I'm glad you at least showed up once during the year. But I am telling you, as your pastor, because I love you, one of the best things you can do for your life, for your marriage, for your children, is to make Jesus the top priority of your life. Number three, I want you to see ultimately It only matters what Jesus thinks.
Look at verse 6. And Jesus said, Let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. You know what?
Can I tell you a principle way I learned from this passage? In your life, ultimately, what only matters is what Jesus thinks. You're right. Yes, sir. You hear me this morning at Curl and Baptist Church?
The fear of man bringeth a snare. What ought to matter to you more than anything is what Jesus thinks about what you do. It ought to matter way more than what your friends think. what your coworkers think. what other people in church thinks, what your Facebook friends think.
What ought to matter to you more is not what they say, what they think, how they view it, what their opinion is. What ought to matter to you most is what Jesus thinks. Let me get right off that. This seems to be kind of going downhill here. Number four.
May I say this, according to this passage, there will always be complainers. There will always be complainers. You know what? You think that if you sell out, give your best to Jesus. Sacrifice to everything you can for Jesus, you think people would be thrilled about that, but they won't be.
Can I tell you something? You start changing things at the house. And Jesus becomes the priority. Not everybody's going to like that. Notice in verse 4, and there were some that had indignation within themselves.
and said, why was this waste? Of ointment made.
Now we know Judas spoke up, but the Bible makes it clear why he spoke up. It wasn't that he cared for the poor, it's because he wanted the money. But you'll find that all through Scripture, whenever anything is done for Christ, somebody always had a problem with it. There will always be complainers. May I challenge you this year to make some changes in your life, to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
But may I say this, that there are always going to be complaining. Chef. You say, Preacher, what are you trying to say?
Well, the first thing I'm saying is this: don't be discouraged by them. The second thing is this: don't let yourself become one of them. Number five. According to verse 4 and verse 6. Can I give you this principle this morning?
Nothing done for Christ. is a waste. Nothing you do for Christ is a waste.
Now look at the verse 4. Why was this waste of ointment made? Look at verse 6. And Jesus said, Let her alone. She hath wrought a good work on me.
Look at verse 8. She hath done what she could. She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, This shall be spoken of. May I say something?
Anything you do for Christ is not a waste. And don't let people don't let people teach you or or or How would I say it? Try to dupe you into something different. I've had people say, you know what, I serve God for years. Let's say a bus ministry.
Well, I gave a bus minister, and people said, Well, you wasted all that time. You should have been doing this. You should have been doing it. Can I tell you something? What you do for Christ is not a waste.
Yes, sir. You're right. Well, I tell you what, I helped up at that church for years and I worked hard and I gave my time and somebody came up to me and they said, you wouldn't believe how they hurt me. They said this about me and they, whatever, and now that you don't do anything and now I don't want to get our feelings hurt and now we've just distanced ourselves and now we just kind of sit and now we do nothing. And dear friend, may I say something?
I want to remind you, nothing that you do for Jesus is a waste. Yeah. Number six. You say this is moving fast.
Well, I only have 32 of them.
So number six. We don't have church tonight, so hey.
Some of you are like, let's not start this for 2024. Number six, the principle is this. According to verse 8, all Jesus wants is what you have. Verse eight, he says, She hath done what she could. Let me say this.
Mary had saved money and. given a lot of effort. for this alabaster box of ointment. And when she poured this on Jesus, a sign of preparing him. To die.
Listen to me, not everybody can afford an alabaster box of ointment. But she could. May I say this? There might have been stuff that Mary couldn't have afforded that others could have. But this is what she could do.
It was her best. And she did it for him. May I say this? Can I ask you a question this morning earnestly? Can you do?
What could you do?
Well, I do more than so-and-so over here.
Well, maybe you have more than they have. Maybe you've got more resources. Maybe you've got more training. Maybe you've got more education. Maybe you've got more this or more that.
Just because you do the same as someone else, or maybe you do more than someone else, it doesn't mean that you're doing what you could. You see, it wasn't so much what the box was worth, and it wasn't so much how much the ointment was worth. What meant the most is that it took everything she had to get it, and she gave it to him. Amen. What could you do?
What could I do? What am I not giving? What am I not doing for Jesus? That I could be. It's a good question for all of us to ask as we enter 2024.
Now, some of you are sitting here and you say this, preacher. I cannot do one more thing than I'm doing. I am probably doing more. than I should. And trust me if I haven't thought that of myself quite a bit.
Especially lately. How could I add something else? How could I do something more? I can't even, preacher, I can't even do what I'm doing now. Really?
Is that really the truth?
Now, for some it might be, but may I say this? Maybe it's a lack of prioritization in our life. Maybe there's a lot of things there that don't need to be there. And because they're there, we don't have time. to do for God what we could do.
You see, I'm going to be honest with you there. I think through COVID and through seasons, whatever, it's gotten to the point we just praise people for every little thing they do for the Lord. Hey, at least you're doing this. At least you show up here. At least you haven't just quit church altogether.
At least you haven't one ever. And listen, hey, have at it, that's fine. But we're in 2024 now, and we're past that now. And we've got to be strong in the Lord now. And may I say something?
We need to get our big boy breeches on.
Some of you are like, what happened to you?
Well when I was praying here last night, this is what God said to do and I'm doing it. It's time for us to get our big boy breeches on, quit being offended by every little thing somebody says, quit getting bent out of shape because something doesn't happen. Like, if we get mad if it's too cold, mad if it's too hot, or whatever the case might be. May I say something? In 2024, we've got to get to the point that we're going to do more.
for Christ and it's not about us And it's not about others, but it's about him. Number seven. Look at verse 10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them. Look at me.
I want you to get this principle. Mary's will always be needed. because there will always be Judases. Marys are always going to be needed. People that'll give everything to God.
Because there's always going to be some Judases around. Judas, who lived and ate and breathed with Jesus, not long after Mary did this, Judas delivered Jesus to be crucified. Everybody looks at look what Mary did. That's extravagant. She shouldn't have done all that for Jesus.
She shouldn't, let me tell you why you ought to give everything you have to Jesus. Because there's plenty of people who won't. Amen preacher. Let me tell you why you ought to do more for Jesus because there's plenty of people that aren't going to do anything. Let me tell you why you ought to give more.
Because there's a whole lot of people that are going to give less. Marys are needed. Because Judases are always around. Number eight. How you treat others.
Excuse me, how you treat Jesus. influences others. How you treat Jesus. influences others. Let me prove it to you.
Look at verse 9. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, Jesus says, throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for memorial of her. Jesus says, What she did for me, will influence you. You need to know what she did for me because that ought to motivate you and teach you. how you should treat me.
May I say something that when All of a sudden you start making Jesus a priority. All of a sudden, when your life starts centering around Jesus, can I tell you something? It's going to influence the people you're around. It's going to influence the people in your house, and it's going to influence the people around your house. Things will be different.
Last principle. And this is the one I'm trying to get to. Principle number nine. Mary broke her box. She broke her box.
That box represented a lot of money, a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of work. A lot of everything. But she decided that Jesus was great enough. and important enough and good enough and deserving enough. that she broke that box.
everything that she had put into it. She broke it. for him. She gave it all. She sacrificed it.
Here's my point. What a great year. for you to break the box. You see, this alabaster box in our life represents everything we trust in, everything we love, everything we cherish, everything that's important to us, all of our effort, all of our time, all of our priority. all of our affection.
That box was everything. It represented everything she had. It represented everything she had done. She put all of her savings, everything she had, into this one box and then poured it out. out to him.
God, I wonder what is still in your box. What is still in my box? Maybe you and I ought to get to the point, it's not enough, maybe just to show up at church. Maybe we ought to start breaking open our boxes. Let me say it again.
Maybe we ought to start breaking open our boxes. I wonder in 2024, could you? Get to the point that maybe you're just willing to Pour it out to them. It's all yours. I think you're important enough, Jesus.
I think you're great enough, Jesus. I think you deserve this, Jesus. You've done all this for me, Jesus. I want to worship you. I want to do this for you.
What a great year. to break open our box. Listen to me. Wouldn't it be a shame for Jesus to return? And your alabaster box still full.
Wouldn't it be a shame listen? I believe Jesus is coming again. And I believe he's coming soon. But wouldn't it be a shame to have all this reserve? of your life.
that you never poured out to him. How horrible would it be that he comes back? And all was there that we could have given, we could have done. What a great year. To break the box.
Can I ask you something, teenagers? Does he have everything? Does he just have a little bit? I mean, is it the kind of thing that our relationship with Christ represents if we open up the box to give him one or two things? Does he have all of you?
Where are you at spiritually right now compared to where you used to be? Cashy something adults? This church where you come and open up your box that he gave you, by the way, that he provided, by the way. I'm going to give him this, I'm going to give him that, give him a little bit of this. Hey, it's Christmas offering.
Hey, I'll give a little bit of this. Can I tell you something? The Christian life is way more than the money you give. It's about giving them the whole box. The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ.
It is our desire for you to know him personally. Would you take a moment to hear this today? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans three twenty three says For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we try, we're not good enough to obtain God's glory.
or to get to heaven. Because of that, sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The wages of our sin, or the payment of our sin, only equals death and separation from God. But it's only through God's gift salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept him as our Saviour. Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, but God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ.
by faith as your Saviour. Romans ten nine says That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way. and calling upon his name.
Bible says whosoever that's anyone can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your Savior? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at Kerwin Baptist Church.
Dot com. or visits that person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you. Mm-hmm.
