Welcome to the Jesus Image Podcast.

Why don't you open your Bibles, if you would,

to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 11.

It'll take me a couple minutes to get there,

because I want to try to set the stage.

There are several things that I'm aiming for

this morning that are really primary targets of my heart, primary targets of my life. Number one

is the value of co-laboring with the Lord. I'm not sure that it's ever dawned upon us

how significant it is that he chose us to labor with him.

How many understand?

He doesn't need us.

I hear people say, God created us because, no, he doesn't need anything.

He's self-sufficient, self-contained, father, son, holy spirit, get along very well.

They created us for their delight, for their pleasure, and the

design was for us to co-labor with him. He can preach better than we can. He does miracles

way better than we can. I mean, he can speak worlds into being, so our preaching always falls

a little bit short in that sense. I mean, he just does everything better,

and yet he's designed us to co-labor with him. Why, for example, why would he need to send Gabriel

to Mary to announce to her that she would give birth to the Christ child? Why didn't God show up and do it?

I mean, you'd think something that significant, God himself would show up and say, I've chosen you

to give birth to the Christchall.

But now he said, Gabriel, why?

...