SCRIPTURE READING MARK 8: Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

MARK 8: Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? 1. Jesus seems distant.

ACTS 17: Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? 2. Jesus seems disconnected.

MARK 4:38 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

HEBREWS 4:15 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

HEBREWS 13:5 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? 3. Jesus seems dead.

PSALMS 44:23 23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

HEBREWS 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

JOHN 13:2-5 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

JOHN 13:6-8 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: 1. Jesus wants to serve you.

JOHN 13:12 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: 2. Jesus wants to encourage you.

JOHN 14:1 1.“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: 3. Jesus wants to help you.

JOHN 15:5 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: 4. Jesus wants to protect you.

JOHN 16:1 1. “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.

JOHN 16:33 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: 5. Jesus wants to pray for you.

JOHN 17:1 1. After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

HEBREWS 7:25 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.