1.14-39

Community Building
• Welcome new participants.
• Review the themes of Marking Your Mark (see website: http://make-your-mark-study.blogspot.com: Goals).
• Share your past week; any upcoming challenges?
• Pray together.

The Text: Mark 1.14-39
• Did you have a chance to live out any of what we talked about last week in Mark 1.1-13? How?
• What were the things from the sermon last Sunday that particularly impacted you?
• Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses to the group.
• There are four stories in this section. Let’s look at each one in turn and find the main point from each story:

A. Jesus calls four disciples
------His commanding authority
------Their immediate response
----------Is this an example of what it means to repent and believe?

B. Jesus preaches in the synagogue
-------What made his teaching so amazing?
----------Have you ever experienced a teacher that amazed you?
-------What are we to understand from this story of the unclean spirit?

C. Jesus at home in Peter’s house
-------What do you notice about Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law?
-------What would it have been like to be one of the people in the crowd?

D. Jesus in the wilderness
------Why does Jesus go off like this?
------What does Peter want Jesus to do? Why?
------What aspect of Jesus’ authority from these four stories do you find most comforting? Challenging?

Response
• Would anyone like to tell the story of how Jesus called you? Or does anyone have a sense that Jesus is calling them into something new right now?
• Have you ever had an experience with Jesus that amazed you, that jolted you out of spiritual lethargy and bought a new joie de vivre? Would you share that with us?
• Are any of us experiencing a sense of spiritual oppression? Let’s pray for each other.
• Can you think ways that we, like Peter, may have an agenda that is in conflict with Jesus’ plans?
• How might we impact our community, workplace, family…with Jesus’ authority this week?

Pray
• How can we pray for each other this coming week?
• Pray together.