A Chance to dig deeper...Sign me Up!!!

Hey guys! So my church is starting a new series for Wednesday night service that will take us through the summer. I'm uber excited about it because we will be going through the Gospels and Acts. We have a group of disciples within our fellowship that have devoted themselves to teaching on various subjects...basically doing the heavy lifting on a myriad of subjects and presenting their findings to the fellowship. Honestly, I think this is a fabulous thing because 1) They are not the evangelists or elders of the church--they actually are a source for the leadership; 2) Let's face it...though people want to know the truth, everyone is not built to go digging for the truth. These folks actually enjoy it and gladly take on the task to not only research it but teach it; 3) From my understanding, the goal here is to help the fellowship develop a sense of digging deeper and gaining a deeper understanding of God's word. All and all....SIGN ME UP!

 So we started the series this past Wednesday and we started with Mark. Off top, there were background points that intrigued me. I also liked that the presenter, Mike, didn't come in explaining every line of Mark...he actually hit the high points, the more prominent points and then challenged us to do our own personal study ourselves (which I was going to do anyway lol!). As I started my time in Mark, 2 points have piqued my interest. Now mind you I haven't completed the study...it's kinda my study style to take it slow and look up certain details, terms, etc. but so far, this is what I got:

 BACKGROUND: Mark was the first gospel written and the author was John Mark who was not an apostle but was cousin to Barnasbas, a ministry companion of Peter. John Mark was also a companion of Peter and served as his interpreter due to him being bilingual. There was a falling out with him and Peter because he deserted them on their travels but long story short that was resolved and they reunited on the mission field. John Mark wrote the gospel to the audience of the Gentile Roman church and it is thought it was around or after the time Peter was killed by Nero.

 OBSERVATIONS: 1) Mark 1:22--Jesus speaking with authority was different for the people in the synagogue because they were use to the scribes or religious leaders of the law just reading scriptures from the scrolls or reciting what was told to them by other scribes...like regurgitating info. For Jesus, in essence a 'nobody,' to get up and start preaching was amazing for them. He spoke as if he had the inside info (technically he did since he was the word of God made flesh). This was definitely appealing to the crowd. It made me think...this is how we should be. We should speak with authority about God, not like the religious leader regurgitating info and scripture but because we have a personal relationship with God just like Jesus did. We have the same Spirit that our elder brother Jesus has.....ISN'T THAT AMAZING???!!!! WOW!!! 

2) Mark 2:27--I always heard growing up how we must keep the Sabbath holy and it's for rest. I also know a number of people that don't do anything on the Sabbath. This verse is amazing because Jesus challenges that and actually seems to explain the meaning behind it. My take away from this (and I read it in a few different translations) is the Sabbath was created for the people, to meet the need of the people not the other way around. We are not meeting the need of the Sabbath. We can get so caught up in the tradition and miss the purpose of it to begin. And that's all...for now! Feel free to dig in with me and let me know what you think. I'll also leave the link to the Wednesday midweek service so you can take a listen!

 Peace,
Kim

The WAY Series--Mark