Community Building
· Make sure everyone knows one another. Be as creative as you like: pictures, games….
· State your enthusiasm, hopes and dreams for the group, using the themes of Marking Your Mark (see website: http://make-your-mark-study.blogspot.com/)
· Agree on any group guidelines: discussion, not lecture; when, where, and duration of weekly gatherings; childcare; external focus activity….
·Pray for your group in the coming weeks
The Text: Mark 1.1-13
· What were the things from the sermon last Sunday that particularly interested you?
· Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses to the group.
· Discuss all the things you can learn about Jesus from these verses:
---Mark says he is God’s son
---He is linked to the good news: it is about him
---He is prepared for: in Isaiah, by John
---He is baptized
---He hears God speak
---He is responsive to the Spirit’s direction
---He was tempted directly by Satan
---Other observations…..
· What is the most important thing you think Mark wants us to understand about Jesus?
· John preaches a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”.
---If you were using only this text, and forgetting all your theological/church knowledge: how would you define ‘repentance’ from this text alone?
---From what you know of Old Testament law and the temple sacrificial system, how is John’s message about ‘forgiveness of sin’ different from Jewish understanding of how sin was forgiven?
· How does John fulfill the Isaiah prophecy? How is repentance and baptism a preparation for ‘he who is mightier than I’?
· Why is Jesus baptized?
· Why does the Spirit drive Jesus into the wilderness?
Response
· Do you think our group discussion of Mark these coming weeks can help you in your spiritual life? How?
· What is your own experience of baptism and repentance, of confessing your sins? Have you been baptized? What was that experience like?
· How might be practice public repentance in the coming weeks?
Pray
· How can we pray for each other this coming week?
· Pray together.
