January 11, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK TWO: IN CAPERNAUM Mark 1:14-2:17 Matt Robbins SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save. Join us for this fourteen-week series as we discover how Jesus demonstrates and calls us to a defiant faith. STUDY QUESTIONS WEEK 2: MARK 1:14-2:17 1. Read Mark 1:14-34 In what different ways does Jesus exercise His authority in this passage? What kinds of questions did such actions make people ask? On what things do the people repeatedly focus attention? 2. How were these Galilean fishermen to become those who “fish for people?” What were the conditions and cost of the realization of such a surprising suggestion? Is there any reason why a similar change could not happen in my life? 3. Read Mark 1:35-2:17 After the astonishing events of the previous day, Jesus had to consider what to do next. How did He arrive at a decision, and to what decision did He come? In what way did the healed leper’s disobedience hinder Jesus’ work? What bearing does this have on (a)our prayer life, and (b)the church’s missionary work? [Cross reference John 20:21 and Mark 16:15] 4. What evidences do you find in the story from chapter two of Jesus’ power of discernment? What did Jesus ‘see’? When He confirmed a verbal claim (which men questioned) by a miraculous work (which none could deny) to what truths was He bearing decisive witness? January 18, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK THREE IN THE SYNAGOGUE Mark 2:18-3:6 Sumit Sen SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save. Join us for this fourteen-week series as we discover how Jesus demonstrates and calls us to a defiant faith. STUDY QUESTIONS Mark 2:13-17 (Hint: Table fellowship meant acceptance and friendship) 1. What is the issue in this text? 2. How does Jesus embody God’s heart? Read Ezekiel 33:11. 3. Did Jesus just accept sinners without demand? 4. Reflect on what this means: Grace Precedes Transformation. (Read Romans 5:8-11) Mark 2:18-21 (Hint: The new thing God is doing through Jesus cannot be contained in the old way of doing things (Lev. 16:29). 1. What is the issue here? Is fasting itself the issue? (Remember Jesus Himself fasted (Matt. 4:2). 2. What does this text say about religious rituals? (Read Rom. 14:17). Mark 2:23-3:6 (Hint: Sabbath is meant to give rest to people. When Jesus was healing, He was bringing out the full meaning of Sabbath. A man suffering from a disease did not enjoy God’s rest). 1. What is the issue here? How did religious leaders view Sabbath? 2. How did Jesus view Sabbath? January 25, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK FOUR BY THE SEA Mark 3:19-4:33 Matt Robbins SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save. Join us for this fourteen-week series as we discover how Jesus demonstrates and calls us to a defiant faith. STUDY QUESTIONS Mark 3:20-29 (Religious lawyers, scribes refuse to accept that God is working through Jesus. How could one who breaks God’s Sabbath law be blessed by God? There has to be a another explanation for his miraculous powers) 1. How does Jesus defend his authority? 2. What is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit means? How is jealousy responsible? (Possibly this refers to the stubborn refusal to acknowledge God’s work and attributing it to the devil) Mark 3:31-35 (Family was, and is, the closest of all social bonds) 1. What is Jesus saying? 2. How does this inform our view of the Church? Mark: 4:1-20 (Word is the proclamation about the Kingdom of God) 1. What are the different life situations that can prevent someone from responding to the gospel? 2. What does this teach us about evangelism? Is it about number? 3. How is the word taking root in your life? February 1, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK FIVE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA Mark 5 Susan Cosio SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save. Join us for this fourteen-week series as we discover how Jesus demonstrates and calls us to a defiant faith. STUDY QUESTIONS Mark 5 1. What is the significance of Jesus’ healing miracles? (Hint: They point to God’s Kingdom break- ing in. Read Isaiah 35:1-5; 61:1-2) 2. How does might justice ministry exemplify this coming Kingdom of God? 3. The first miracle in Mark 5:1-20 is done in a non-Jewish (Gentile) area. (Hint: Jews considered pigs unclean) What does this miracle tell us about God’s mission to the world? 4. What does the response of the people of that town teach us? Read: Mark 5:21-42 1. The woman with a bleeding problem was considered religiously unclean (Read Lev 15:25-30). She had a miserable life. She could not be married. She was an outcast. The leader of the Synagogue belonged to the upper class. 2. What do these two stories teach us about Jesus being for all people? 3. What does Jesus’ addressing the woman as daughter in verse 34 teach us about Jesus? (Other religious leaders would have been angry, because by touching the woman it would have made Jesus ritually unclean as well. But her healing shows that Jesus made her clean instead). February 8, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK SIX IN THE VILLAGE Mark 6:7-13;30-44 Kyle Thomsen SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save. Join us for this fourteen-week series as we discover how Jesus demonstrates and calls us to a defiant faith. STUDY QUESTIONS Mark 6:7-13 (Notes: Read Isaiah 49:1-6; John 17:18. Israel was called to be God’s light to the nations, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Israel failed. Jesus as the Messiah of Israel came to be that light. Now He calls His disciples to be that light. He sends His disciples to do what Jesus did by proclaiming the coming kingdom of God through word and deed.) 1. What do you think is significant about the number 12? 2. The Greek word “apostello” means “sent out” as in verse 7. We get the word “apostolic” from this same Greek word. What do you think being an “apostolic church” means? 3. What do verses 8-9 teach us about trusting God? 4. What do verses 12-13 teach us about Christian mission in our locality? Are we to choose between doing justice or doing evangelism? Mark 6:30-44 (Note: Read Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:2, 11, 23; John 10:11; 2 Kings 4:42-44. Sheep without a shepherd points to people who are helplessly lost and are in great danger with- out proper leadership. God can use our gifts no matter how insignificant we think they are, to do great things for the kingdom.) 1. What does this passage teach us about Jesus’ emphasis on rest? 2. Why did Jesus have compassion on these people? Who are the sheep without a shepherd in our community? 3. What does this text teach us about missions? 4. How can we bring what we have to be used by Jesus? February 15, 2015 STUDY AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS Questions for Individual and Small Group Study WEEK SEVEN THE WINDING ROUTE Mark 8:27-38 Josh Anway SERMON SERIES - FOLLOW ME: A STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK Jesus is our serving Savior who comes as THE King on a mission to extend His kingdom. Mark is the “New York Gospel.” It’s fast-paced, blunt, and totally honest. Mark shows King Jesus taking back what is His as He comes to seek, serve, and save.