But because Mark’s is one of the four Gospels, this is one of the ways we should think about Jesus’s beginning. He had a royal herald smooth the way before him and let everyone know of his greatness (Mark 1:7). Jesus was anointed for his kingly mission with water and the Spirit, and he was declared the beloved Son of God, the king (Mark 1:11). He was victorious over the devil in the wilderness and ministered to by the angels (Mark 1:13).

As the calendar flips to December, many Christian churches turn to the birth story of Jesus in their teaching and preaching. And though there are four Gospels, one is far underrepresented from the pulpit during this season.
Matthew and Luke both contain the narratives about Jesus’s birth, so the early chapters of these Gospels are in heavy rotation for sermons. We hear from the opening verses of John as well, as the lyrical description of Jesus as the Word made flesh practically jumps off the page. All the while, Mark’s Gospel seems to stay closed.
Beginnings Matter
Beginnings matter, particularly the beginnings of books of the Bible. There the author has the chance to frame their work and set up their argument.
For the sake of this article, let’s refer to “Act 1” of each gospel as all that precedes the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry. What does Act 1 of each gospel look like?
In Matthew, Act 1 stretches through Matt 4:11, a total of 76 verses. There, we read Jesus’s genealogy (Matt 1:1–17), his birth (Matt 1:18–25), the visit of the magi (Matt 2:1–12), the flight to Egypt to avoid Herod’s murderous decree (Matt 2:13–23), John preparing the way for Jesus (Matt 3:1–12), Jesus’s baptism (Matt 3:13–17), and Jesus’s temptation by Satan (Matt 4:1-11). Along the way, a careful reader will notice just how much Matthew’s narrative is driven by fulfilling Old Testament prophecies.
Act 1 of Luke is the longest of all, lasting until Luke 4:13, a total of 183 verses. After his dedication (Luke 1:1–4), Luke writes about the predictions of John’s (Luke 1:5–25) and Jesus’s (Luke 1:26–38) births, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and song of praise (Luke 1:39–56), John’s birth and his father’s prophecy (Luke 1:67–80), Jesus’s birth and the immediate reaction (Luke 2:1–21), Jesus’s presentation at the temple (Luke 2:22–40), his twelve-year-old venture to the temple (Luke 2:41–52), John preparing the way for Jesus (Luke 3:1–22), Jesus’s genealogy (Luke 3:23–38), and Jesus’s temptation by Satan (Luke 4:1–13).
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The Eucharist is a true participation in Christ’s body and blood (1 Cor. 10:16). So to fake communion with Christ while having no saving interest in him is sacrilegious. We must examine and judge ourselves, respecting church leaders who either invite us to the Supper or insisting that, for now, we abstain (1 Cor. 11:28, 29, 31). Scripture requires us to heed warnings about the Lord’s Supper. But we mustn’t only focus on the negative. There are several things we must do to receive what Christ wants to give us in this meal.

After three years of walking with Jesus the disciples were about to face their greatest trial. God would strike the Shepherd and scatter his sheep (Matt. 26:31). Spiritual darkness would place the disciples under extreme pressure. They would not completely fail. But they would falter.
Knowing all this, how did Jesus prepare them for this dark hour? He instituted a special meal meant to remind them of who they were in him. This meal, called the Lord’s Supper, is also for us. The apostle Paul received from the Lord and delivered unto the church, the same institution that the first disciples received from Jesus shortly before his death (1 Cor. 11:23). Until he comes Jesus intends this meal to preserve our bodies and souls unto everlasting life.
What Is the Lord’s Supper?
The Lord’s Supper is “the sacrament of his body and blood.” “Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace” (WCF 27.1). This sacrament reminds believers of Jesus’ shed blood, and assures them that they possess all the benefits which his sacrifice secures. The Supper takes the place of the Passover which confirmed to believing Israelites that God had graciously spared them from the angel of death (Ex. 12:7–13). Since we, like the disciples, often suffer from many doubts and weak faith, the Lord’s Supper must be a regular part of congregational life. John Calvin thought the Supper so important, much like ordinary eating, that it should be celebrated “very often, at least once a week.” He thought that “no meeting of the church should take place without” it. [i] His conviction is worth our consideration. But however frequently we celebrate the Supper in terms of the its role in the Christian life we should think of it less like a birthday celebration and more like a family meal.
Scripture teaches us how to observe this meal. First, the church must hear Jesus’ words of institution. About the bread and wine we hear, “This is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me. …This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:23, 25).
Second, the minister follows Jesus’ example and prays for the Lord to “bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use.”
Third, the bread is broken and the wine poured, and both are distributed to the professing members of Christ’s church. The result is a congregational celebration of the real, gracious presence of Christ among his beloved people. The Supper is not a mark of our obedience or personal worthiness but a testimony to the inherited riches that believers have in Christ.
Because this meal is so sacred we must approach it with care. 
How Might I Misuse the Supper?
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 11 to correct the church’s table manners.
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Written by Robert A. J. Gagnon |
Thursday, April 13, 2023
In early 2020, Saddleback pastor Chris Clark and his wife, Elisa, co-founded a Saddleback chapter of Embracing the Journey, a ministry for parents of LGBTQ children, with long-time Saddleback members, Doug and Shauna Habel. By the end of 2021, an ETJ newsletter revealed that Saddleback was hosting four ongoing ETJ support groups and one small group.

“Embracing the Journey: A Christian Parents’ Blueprint to Loving Your LGBTQ Child” by Greg and Lynn McDonald
Megan Carl Basham has done some fine work exposing the movement in Saddleback Church toward embracing homosexual practice and transgenderism. It’s not just Andy Stanley’s church that is going under. Here Megan speaks about the impact of the stealth homosexual front organization (my phrase), “Embracing the Journey,” the group that is putting on a conference for Stanley’s church in September, making inroads at Saddleback as well (all that follows is a verbatim quotation from Megan’s article:
‘In his podcast interview with Russell Moore, [Rick] Warren insisted that concerns of leftward drift in the SBC generally and Saddleback specifically are unfounded. “This is not a battle between liberals and conservatives,” he said. “All the liberals left a long time ago.” Yet there is significant evidence that his church is already sliding toward liberalism when it comes to homosexuality and gender identity.
In early 2020, Saddleback pastor Chris Clark and his wife, Elisa, co-founded a Saddleback chapter of Embracing the Journey, a ministry for parents of LGBTQ children, with long-time Saddleback members, Doug and Shauna Habel. By the end of 2021, an ETJ newsletter revealed that Saddleback was hosting four ongoing ETJ support groups and one small group.
While ETJ does not specify whether it affirms LGBTQ lifestyles and identities, its founder, Greg McDonald, sits on the board of Renovus, another faith-based non-profit that does assert that homosexuality and transgenderism are compatible with Christianity. The two organizations are closely linked.
Billing itself as a religious nonprofit that exists to “[reclaim] faith for LGBTQ+ Christians,” Renovus says its vision is “a world where no one has to choose between their faith and sexual orientation or gender identity.” While McDonald does not offer his views on homosexuality or transgenderism in his ETJ bio, in his Renovus bio, he shares, “It simply breaks my heart when people are told they can’t be a Christian and LGBTQ.”
Along with recommending ETJ, Renovus endorses groups like The Reformation Project, GayChurch.org and Q Christian Fellowship. All are dedicated, in the words of The Reformation Project, to “advancing LGBTQ Inclusion in the Church,” and all claim that “church teachings that condemn same-sex relationships and transgender people cause serious harm in the lives of LGBTQ Christians.” One more commonality: all three activist groups endorse ETJ.
And the connections continue.
On its events page, Renovus lists an upcoming ETJ conference in Atlanta. The lineup of speakers includes Saddleback Pastor Chris Clark, Renovus board member Debbie Causey, as well as a number of authors like Matthew Vines, David Gushee, and Justin Lee, who are well known for rejecting biblical orthodoxy on homosexuality and transgenderism in favor of full LGBTQ inclusion in the church.
But even if ETJ were not so deeply intertwined with openly affirming organizations and influencers, its recommendations and activities should still call Saddleback’s discernment in deciding to partner with the organization into serious question.
Nowhere in its online materials does ETJ characterize LGBTQ identities or behaviors as sinful. Indeed, the vast majority of its recommended resources are explicitly affirming (again, from Gushee, Vines, and Lee, as well as John Pavolitz, Brian McLaren, Colby Martin, and more).
To return again to those who launched ETJ at Saddleback — a close examination of Shauna Habel and Chris Clark’s activism suggests that fears about the connection between churches who shift stances on ordaining women and those who shift on LGBTQ issues are well-founded.
In a Facebook fundraising video for the documentary 1946, which argues that the traditional Christian condemnation of homosexuality traces back to a modern translation error, Habel (who sometimes goes by Habel-Morgan) explains how she came to share this belief.
Describing her attendance at a 2016 Reformation Project conference with her daughter, Habel says, “I saw gay Christians worshipping God. I saw the Holy Spirit. And I knew that God was in that place.”
Habel has been clear on Twitter that part of her mission is persuading churches to abandon biblical orthodoxy with respect to sexuality and gender. In response to trans-identifying actress Ellen Page’s criticism of non-affirming churches she posted, “Churches like Hillsong that mandate queer celibacy should try a year of solitary themselves…God’s end game is love.”
When a journalist posted a story about the gay marriage of Department of Transportation head Pete Buttigieg, Habel replied that she “works with conservative parents to help them become affirming.” And she replied to author Beth Moore’s explanation for why she removed a passage condemning homosexuality from an older book, “I believe the sin the Bible spoke about in regard to homoerotic behavior was the abusive rape or lust of others and not love.”
Habel is also at work on her own affirming materials, assisting LGBTQ activist Kathy Baldock on a forthcoming book titled, How The Bible Became Anti-Gay: Forging a Sacred Weapon.
Chris Clark has little online presence either as a Saddleback pastor or as an activist with ETJ, but he, Habel, and McDonald were all speakers at The Reformation Project’s 2020 conference, “Reconcile and Reform.” Again, The Reformation Project was founded by gay activist Matthew Vines to “equip and empower Christians to advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in their faith communities.”
It’s worth emphasizing that according to ETJ’s newsletter, the Clarks and Habels introduced ETJ to Saddleback two-and-a-half years before Warren retired in September 2022. It’s also clear the church is well aware of its activities as the ministry is listed on Saddleback’s website under “care and support” events.
Though Clark’s LinkedIn page no longer appears to be available, it previously revealed that he has been affiliated with Saddleback in some professional capacity since 1989. It also showed that he has been a Saddleback care pastor at the Lake Forest campus for four-and-a-half years.
His ETJ bio provides the further detail that he leads Saddleback’s counseling training—a role that would presumably include teaching lay counselors how to respond to congregants dealing with homosexuality or transgenderism. Further, both The Reformation Project and ETJ cite Clark as a “Saddleback pastor” in his speaker bios, suggesting the church endorses his activities in this arena.
Finally, the couple Warren selected to lead Saddleback don’t seem entirely clear on the Bible’s stance on homosexuality either. When asked whether a gay “married” couple should carry on with their sinful relationship after coming to Christ, Andy and Stacie Wood answered, “I don’t know. That’s really hard.”
They went on to say “there is no black-and-white answer” and they’d have to ask the couple how they “feel the Holy Spirit is leading them.” The Woods did not cite any Scripture in their response.
I reached out to Saddleback about their decision to partner with ETJ and about the involvement of one of their pastors and two of their ministry leaders with The Reformation Project and did not receive a reply.’
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