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We all want to be great. Whether we admit it or not, there’s something in us that wants to rise above, to be seen, to matter. In Mark 9, the disciples finally say it out loud: “Who is the greatest?” Instead of shutting the question down, Jesus redefines it. In this message, we’ll see how our pursuit of greatness gets hijacked, why it ultimately leaves us empty, and how Jesus reveals a better way: not through climbing higher, but through descending in love, service, and ultimately the cross. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

“I just don’t believe hard enough!” or “Oh, how I wish I had more faith!” These are common things that followers of Christ stuggle with. This week’s passage deals with this issue head on, and frees us up from always focusing on our lack of faith to something else, that isn’t changing at all. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

The cross was designed to degrade, humiliate, and declare a person unfit for human company. Yet this is where the Son of God chose to go. Why? It was ugly. It was irreligious. It was the place of slaves, rebels, and criminals. Yet Jesus takes upon himself our shame, degradation, and sin. What if the ugliness of the cross is God’s evidence to show his love and salvation? Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

We are not as clear on God as we think we are. In Mark 8, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ and then immediately pushes back on the very mission that defines him. This passage exposes how we misunderstand God, avoid suffering, and try to secure our own lives, and invites us to find life instead in the One who gave his life for us. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

How can it be that the most obvious things in life we seem to overlook or forget about? The disciples of Jesus were no exception to this. This week, we look at the transformation of Jesus’ most closest friends who went from clueless to confessing Jesus as the Christ! Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare beckons women to “sigh no more” over deceitful men but instead to give themselves over to blithe and bonny (i.e. Happiness and Cheer). Amidst the countless sighs of our lives, is that what Jesus calls us to—sigh no more, just be happier? In this message we look at two specific sighs of Jesus and how they point us to a deeper, stronger, more enduring, and more satisfying brand of blithe and bonny than Shakespeare offers! Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

A mother crosses every barrier to fall at Jesus’ feet, believing that even a crumb of his power can rescue her helpless child. How profound that it was not through the religious leaders or even his own disciples but through an “outsider” that Jesus is correctly identified as the deliverer! This is good news for us: deliverance comes to the helpless through faith in another, namely Jesus Christ. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Why does it feel so good to point out what’s wrong? In Mark 7, the Pharisees find fault while standing in front of a miracle. Jesus responds with unsettling clarity. The real problem is not out there but in here. Beneath our criticism lies a craving to be right, and beneath that, a heart that cannot fix itself. This week we will see why self-improvement cannot save us and how only the cross can wake us up and set us free from the exhausting cycle of accusation. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

What do you do when you’re certain you can handle it on your own—only to have that certainty upended? The disciples were in such a spot. Then Jesus showed up and said, “Do not be afraid, I will carry you through.” When overwhelmed by life’s storms, are you prone toward self-reliance like the disciples? If so, this message will point you back to Jesus who is faithful to carry you through. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

It’s easy to glaze over the feeding of the five thousand. But in Mark 6, Jesus is showing us what his kingdom is like. He meets real need, confronts our instinct to control, and invites us to keep coming back with empty hands to the only one who can truly satisfy. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Here in our city, these are some of the most trying times in the last 50 years. Does Jesus have a word for us as we are so burdened by all that is going on? This week we look at how a very hard day in the ministry of Jesus can actually minister to us as well. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Jesus returns home but doesn’t experience the type of homecoming one might expect. It could be said the townspeople are out of joint. Those we’d expect to greet him with adulation instead take offense at him. But it’s not just them who is out of joint—so are we and so is our city. Oh, how we need the Lord to draw near us in this time. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

In Mark 5, everything people are afraid of actually happens... and Jesus is still there. He slows the story down, treats death like something temporary, and refuses to let fear have the final word. What if the good news isn’t that fear goes away, but that it no longer gets to be in charge? Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Mark chapter 5 has been named “The St. Jude chapter” as he is the patron saints of lost causes. In Mark 5 we meet 3 people who are at the very end of their rope. In this week’s message, we’ll take a dive into how Jesus bring amazing order out of utter chaos. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

The mission of Hope Downtown is “Unburdening ordinary people by pointing each other to an extraordinary Savior.” That’s what we’re all about! But where did that phrase come from and why does it matter for our community? That’s what this message will explain. Series: Vision 2026 Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.