Mark, A New Man

Perhaps you can recall what it was like to meet someone you had not seen for many years. Memories from earlier times were of one who was immature and unreliable. Yet you are quite surprised at the change you discerned upon meeting him again. You perceived a very different person that the one you remembered. He had grown up and conveyed a striking maturity and competence. That kind of reaction can be experienced by someone who tracks the life of Mark as he is revealed in the New Testament. The memories of the younger man as he is presented in Acts are poor. But when you meet him again (some fifteen years later) in Colossians 4:10-11, he is plainly a changed man. Mark's recovery from his failed past and his very good ending remind us of the power of the restorative grace of God. His history offers hope to those who have had a bad beginning. This message tracks his good ending and seeks to draw lessons from it. The primary lesson is that God is the gracious God of a second chance.