Remember the Cross: Trust Jesus, Beware Unbelief

Sep 13, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Blind to the Bread, Deaf to the Provider

The disciples fretted over one loaf in the boat, forgetting how Jesus multiplied twelve loaves to feed thousands. Their temporary hunger blinded them to the eternal Provider in their midst. Jesus rebuked their hardened hearts, not for lacking faith in bread, but for missing the Bread of Life standing before them. Spiritual deafness dulls our ability to hear Christ’s faithfulness; blindness distracts us from His sufficiency. Trust flourishes when we fix our eyes on His past provision, not present scarcity. [42:34]

And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?”
(Mark 8:17-18, ESV)

Reflection: Where has your focus on temporary needs drowned out Christ’s voice? What past provision can you recall to quiet today’s anxieties?

Day 2: The Leaven of Unbelief in a Demanding Heart

The Pharisees demanded signs while ignoring the miracle-worker before them. Their unbelief spread like yeast, inflating self-reliance and shrinking trust. Testing God begins when we prioritize our conditions over His character. Jesus refused cheap tricks but pointed to the ultimate sign: His death and resurrection. Faith thrives not in spectacle but in surrender to the cross’s quiet, earth-shattering power. [27:10]

An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(Matthew 16:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “if you, God…” ultimatums have you whispered lately? How does the cross answer those demands?

Day 3: Stones of Remembrance in a Forgetful World

Twelve stones from the Jordan River stood as silent preachers of God’s faithfulness. Joshua’s memorial countered Israel’s amnesia, anchoring them to miracles when doubt threatened. Forgetting breeds fear; remembering ignites courage. Our lives accumulate stones of grace—answered prayers, unexpected provision, healed wounds—that testify to the One who parts rivers and calms storms. [53:10]

And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’”
(Joshua 4:20-22, ESV)

Reflection: What “stones” has God placed in your life story? How might sharing them strengthen someone’s faith today?

Day 4: From Dead Rocks to Living Testimonies

Gilgal’s stones were cold markers until God’s people gave them meaning. Peter reimagines believers as living stones—breathing, moving monuments to Christ’s redemption. Our transformed lives, not stacked rocks, now declare God’s glory. Every act of forgiveness, every step of obedience, every whispered prayer becomes a brick in the temple of His eternal story. [01:27:10]

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.
(1 Peter 2:4-5, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your life most vividly reflect Christ’s work? Who needs to “see” Him through your story this week?

Day 5: The Cross as Our Eternal Gilgal Moment

The empty tomb outshines Gilgal’s stones. Jesus, the greater Joshua, leads us not to a land but to Himself—the Promised One who removes shame and secures eternity. Every doubt, every failure, every cry finds its answer in His scars. The cross is our memorial: God’s faithfulness etched in blood and bone, demanding we trust His finish line more than our faltering steps. [01:28:52]

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
(Philippians 1:6, ESV)

Reflection: What unfinished struggle needs the reminder that Christ completes what He starts? How does His resurrection guarantee your hope?

Sermon Summary

Mark places Jesus’ question to the disciples between the healing of a deaf man and the healing of a blind man: “Do you still not understand?” Jesus has been answering the question from the storm, “Who is this?” He has shown himself to be God in the flesh, yet the disciples still have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Christ must open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears, and remove the spiritual veil that keeps minds and hearts from seeing the light of the gospel.

Jesus feeds four thousand people with seven loaves because he has compassion on the crowd. The Pharisees then demand a sign from heaven, not because they lack evidence, but because they want to test and trap him. Jesus refuses their demand for cheap tricks and points instead to the sign of Jonah. Christ will die, spend three days in the grave, rise again, and proclaim repentance and salvation. The cross and the empty grave are the sign that settles whether God loves, saves, and reigns.

Saving faith trusts what Jesus has done and what he has said he will do instead of demanding what God must do to please someone. The Pharisees’ demand can show up whenever a heart says, “I will trust you if you give me this.” Christ calls that heart away from trying to rule the King. The cross shows his love, and the empty tomb shows his power.

Jesus warns the disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Leaven pictures unbelief creeping in, spreading through the whole life, and turning hearts toward self-reliance, worldly pursuits, and hardened faith. The disciples miss the warning because they are worried about having one loaf of bread in the boat. Jesus reminds them of the five thousand and the four thousand. Eternity is at hand, yet they are worried about lunch.

Joshua’s stones at Gilgal give God’s people a physical reminder that he kept his promise through generations of waiting, slavery, wilderness, battles, and impossible rivers. The cross and empty tomb now stand as the greater memorial. Christ is the greater Joshua, the one who removes shame, brings his people into the promised land, and remains faithful to finish the good work he began. Living stones testify through changed lives that Jesus is always faithful.

Key Takeaways

1. Saving faith refuses to test God. Saving faith does not place Jesus under an ultimatum. The cross has already answered the deepest question of whether God loves sinners, and the empty grave has answered whether Christ has power to save. Faith trusts his wisdom even when his providence does not follow a preferred script. [34:02]
2. Unbelief starts small but spreads. Leaven is dangerous because it does not usually announce itself loudly. A little self-reliance, comparison, worldly ambition, or refusal to receive correction can slowly shape an entire heart. Christ’s warning calls for honesty about the beliefs and pursuits being allowed into daily life. [38:32]
3. Remember what Jesus has already done. The disciples had seen bread multiplied for thousands, yet one loaf made them anxious. Fear often narrows the mind until the present problem feels larger than every past mercy. Faith remembers Christ’s compassion, provision, promises, cross, and resurrection before trying to solve tomorrow. [47:05]
4. The cross is the greater memorial. Gilgal’s stones reminded Israel that God brought them through the Jordan on dry ground. The cross and empty tomb declare something even greater: Christ has removed shame, defeated sin and death, and brought his people into a living hope. The promised land is not merely a place but a resurrected Savior. [87:45]
5. Living stones testify to Christ’s faithfulness. Changed lives become visible reminders that Jesus still saves, restores, and keeps his promises. The church does not exist to build a name through numbers, comfort, or comparison, but to show the world the faithful One in the boat. Christ completes the work he begins in his people.

## [89:28]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[16:18] - Amazing Grace and Spiritual Blindness
[22:11] - Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
[24:22] - Pharisees Demand a Sign
[27:31] - The Sign of Jonah
[30:37] - Trusting God or Testing God
[36:12] - Beware the Leaven of Unbelief
[42:00] - One Loaf and Forgotten Miracles
[47:05] - Saving Faith Remembers Jesus
[48:21] - Joshua’s Stones at Gilgal
[56:19] - Fifteen Years of God’s Faithfulness
[60:05] - Stories of Changed Lives
[73:44] - Disciples Who Share the Gospel
[85:17] - Living Stones Built on Christ
[87:45] - Jesus the Greater Joshua
[89:48] - Remember the Cross

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 8:11-21
“The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’”
[24:22] [27:31] [30:37] [36:12] [42:00] [47:05]

Joshua 4:1-24
“When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, “Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.”’ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.’ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.’ So Joshua commanded the priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan.’ And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, “What do these stones mean?” then you shall let your children know, “Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.” For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.’”
[48:21] [01:27:45]

Matthew 12:38-40
“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’”
[27:31]

2 Corinthians 4:3-4
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
[20:24]

Observation questions

What details in Mark 8 show that the Pharisees were not simply asking Jesus for honest evidence, but were seeking to test him?
What does Jesus ask the disciples to remember, and what numbers does he have them repeat back to him? [42:21]
In Mark 8, what warning does Jesus give, and what problem are the disciples focused on instead? [41:38]
According to Joshua 4, why were the twelve stones set up at Gilgal, and who was meant to ask about their meaning in the future? [53:28]

Interpretation questions

Why is demanding a sign from Jesus different from bringing a real need or honest question to him in prayer? What does the demand, “I will trust you if you do this,” reveal about the heart? [34:08]
Jesus calls unbelief “leaven.” In what ways can a small habit of self-reliance, comparison, or love for the world slowly shape a believer’s whole life? [38:28]
Why does Jesus respond to the disciples’ fear over one loaf of bread by reminding them about the feedings of the five thousand and the four thousand? What does their anxiety show they had forgotten? [43:41]
Joshua’s stones remembered God bringing Israel through the Jordan, while the cross and empty tomb remember an even greater rescue. How does Christ’s death and resurrection remove guilt and give believers lasting hope? [01:28:05]

Application questions

Is there an area of life where your heart has been saying, “I will trust God if he gives me this”—such as healing, work, money, a relationship, direction, or relief from a burden? How can the cross and empty tomb help you bring that desire to God without making it an ultimatum? [31:02]
What “leaven” may be quietly influencing your thinking right now—self-reliance, comparison, comfort, worldly ambition, bitterness, or resistance to correction? What would it look like to bring that into the light with honesty? [38:32]
When present worries feel overwhelming, what past mercies of God are easiest for you to forget? Share one specific way Jesus has shown compassion, provision, forgiveness, or faithfulness in your life. [47:05]
The disciples were worried about lunch while eternity was at hand. What temporary concern has been taking up too much space in your mind lately? How might remembering Christ help put that concern in its proper place? [43:41]
Joshua’s stones gave families a way to tell the next generation what God had done. What are some simple “memorial stones” your household or small group could use to remember God’s faithfulness—answered prayers, written testimonies, Scripture, dates, or shared stories? [54:16]
Believers are living stones built on Christ, and changed lives point others to his faithfulness. Where has God changed you in a way that could encourage someone else this week? Is there a person with whom you could share that story and the hope of the gospel? [01:26:35]
Jesus is faithful to complete the good work he begins. Where do you feel unfinished, discouraged, or weak right now? What would it look like this week to trust Christ’s commitment to finish his work in you? [01:29:28]

Sermon Clips

40s

#PromisedLandIsJesus

“The stones at Gilgal represented entry into the promised land, but the cross and the empty tomb is a symbol of our entry into the promised land because our promised land is not a place, it is a person. It is a resurrected, living, hope filled, promise keeping, always faithful savior. Jesus came, he died in our place. Jesus on the third day rose again so that anyone who would put their faith and trust in him would have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.”

40s

#SavingFaithTrustsJesus

“Because there is a significant difference. If you're taking notes, you can write this down. Saving faith is trusting in what Jesus has done and what he said he will do instead of demanding what must be done in order to please you. Saving faith is trusting what God has done and trusting what he said he will do instead of demanding what God has to do for you.”

71s

#BewareComparison

“But then I hear the words of the text that our passage actually just came to this week, and I hear the words, beware. Beware of the comparison game, my friend. Beware of trying to be or do something that I've not called you to be and do. Watch out. Don't believe for a second I'm not enough, God says, to sustain you. Don't believe for a second that Christ is not faithful enough to fulfill his promise. I hear God speaking to me as I'm speaking to you right now. What good is it if you gain the whole world and you miss out on the one who's in the boat with you? The only one who can save you is Jesus, and he's always faithful.”

48s

#RememberWhatJesusDid

“Okay. Listen to me. I need you to get this. Saving faith remembers what Jesus has done. No matter what you're facing, saving faith remembers what Jesus has done. And so listen, if you're personally struggling this morning, emotionally, physically, spiritually, right now, I want you to just pause and remember who Jesus is, and remember what Jesus has done, and remember what Jesus has promised to do.”

54s

#DontLoseYourSoul

“Don't let the evil pursuits of the world creep in, contaminate your thoughts, contaminate your pursuit of life. Watch out. It doesn't matter if you gain the whole world. If you can't see me, if you can't hear me, if you can't trust me, treasure me, follow me, you'll lose your soul. And it's like they're in danger of completely forgetting the fact that over the last two chapters, he fed 9,000 people with 12 loaves, and they had 19 baskets left over. He said, Don't you remember? You don't think I can take one piece of bread and feed the whole boat? He says, don't you remember? And it's like they had totally forgotten.”

32s

#ShameRemovedInChrist

“So we don't just remember God leading the people into the promised land, we remember Jesus and what he's done. It says, at Gilgal, the stones were a a moment where where God removed the reproach from the people. Gilgal was the place where their shame and their past was removed from them. But on the cross of Christ is the place where our shame and our guilt is removed from us.”

36s

#JesusIsFaithful

“Remember Jesus. Remember all the ways Jesus has been good. Remember all the ways that Jesus has been compassionate. Remember all the ways Jesus has been faithful. How Christ has shown himself again and again in the midst of our ignorance and our lack of understanding, in the midst of our blindness and our deafness, what Jesus has done for us once and for all time. Let us remember that Jesus is always trustworthy, and Jesus is always faithful.”

33s

#StonesOfRemembrance

“And then he says, are you are you blind? Are you deaf about who I am? Do you not understand the importance of trusting and treasuring me? He says, watch out for that. Don't let that unbelief start to get into your life. Beware of the leavened Jesus. He he sees a lack of faith. Maybe even as small as a mustard seed get in to the boat, and he says, beware.”

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