On Sunday we came to the continental divide in the book of Mark.  In Mark 1:1 he began his gospel saying, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Mark has been portraying Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) for 8 chapters.  And for the first time on truly human lips, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ!  Of course this climax and profound confession comes in the context of spiritual blindness.  The Pharisees were blind, the disciples still couldn’t see, and now there is a man that was actually physically blind.  All of this led us to the truth that only Jesus can heal us of our blindness so that we can see Him for who He is.  The story of the healing of the blind man was an illustration of how Jesus heals and saves us all.  You can listen to or download the message here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  We began with the kindness of our Savior toward this man.  What are your thoughts about how Jesus healed this man?  What does this show you about the heart of Jesus?

2.  How does this healing point to something greater?   What is the spiritual significance of this healing?

3.  What were the circumstances surrounding the moment Jesus opened your eyes to see Him and believe the gospel?

4.  What is the significance of the progressive (two-stage) healing?  After the first touch, this man was no longer blind, but he still couldn’t see clearly.  How does this relate to our spiritual life?  In what areas of your life are you still not seeing everything clearly?  When will this change?  How does this reality inform how you relate to other Christians?

5.  How would you describe your faith for Jesus to continue to heal people?  Do you pray for healing?  What would change or growth look like?

6.  How would you describe the personal love and care of Jesus toward you?  Do you believe He is near, attentive, and personally caring for you?  Or do you feel He is distant, cold or uncaring?  Why or why not?

One day we will see everything clearly!  We will see our Savior face to face!  Faith will no longer be needed, but instead we will dwell in the light of the glory of God forever!  And Christ has made this possible for us through His death and resurrection.

I pray you will have a grace-filled week,

Eric

Spiritual blindness is the theme of Mark 8:11-20.  First, we saw the blindness of the Pharisees that led to a final hardening.  Then we saw the blindness of the disciples as they were still confused about Jesus and all He had done.  All of the signs in the previous 8 chapters were all meant to point to Jesus as the Messiah.  The Pharisees, who knew the Scriptures should have seen and understood them.  And the disciples who were with Him everyday should have seen and understood them.  But they didn’t.  There is a power and danger to spiritual blindness and only Jesus can lead us out of the dark into the light.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions serve you as you apply this to your life.

1)  What is spiritual blindness?  Who does it affect?  How do we see that on display in this text?

2)  Why is spiritual blindness so dangerous?  The things that God does around us and in us are meant to lead us to faith.  How does seeing and faith go together?

3) Do you remember the moment God saved you and gave you sight?  Describe what you could then see vs. what you never saw before.

4)  As Christians we believe that God has opened our eyes to see our need for a Savior and to see Jesus as our only Savior.  But, we can still be blind to what God is doing all around us or in us.  Why is that so?  Are there ways that you are currently blind to things God is doing all around you?  What do you believe the danger is, even for Christians, in not seeing His activity?

5)  How do you think the Lord wants to help you to grow to be more aware, to see more clearly, and to respond in faith?

Grace to you this week,

Eric

This past Sunday we studied Mark 8:1-10 and the story of the feeding of the 4000 in the region of the Decapolis.  Instead of this being a double (similar to the feeding of the 5000 in Mark 6), we found it was the crowd that made all the difference.  This was a feeding of a predominantly Gentile crowd.  Instead of avoiding or being repulsed by unclean and wicked people, we found that out of the abundance of His grace, Jesus provides for wicked people.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1.  Why is the make up of the crowd such an important piece of this miracle story?

2.  Do you tend to have hard thoughts about God?  What are they?  The compassion of Jesus was stirred by the most simple need – hunger.  How does this text help you to deal with hard thoughts about God (does He care, will He provide)?  How does the compassion and care of Jesus revealed to us here confront your hard thoughts about God?

3.  We can often feel our sin disqualifies us from the care, blessing and grace of God.  How does the grace of Christ on display in this text confront those thoughts?

4.  Why is it so difficult for us to understand and receive the grace of God?  Why is it so difficult to believe that if He provided such a great salvation for us that how can He not also provide all that we need?  Why do we often live like beggars or slaves instead of sons and daughters?

5.  How do you believe the Lord wants you to fight when you are tempted with hard thoughts toward God?  What truths will you use to battle the lies?  What Scriptures will you use to fight the lies?

How good it is to see the love, compassion, care, provision and grace of God on full display in His Son!  I pray that we will all believe and live in the good of the grace He has freely provided to sinners like us.  Oh the patience, mercy, kindness and grace of our God!

Have a great week

Eric

Yesterday morning our guest, Chris Deloglos, preached to us from Mark 2:13-17.  Jesus picked a most unlikely sinner to follow Him and join His closest group of disciples.  Levi followed and threw a party, which included many tax collectors and sinners, Jesus and His disciples and the scribes and Pharisees.  When Jesus was questioned about eating with sinners, He made the announcement that He didn’t come for the well but for the sick.  Chris showed us from the text how the heart of Christ was on full display.  Jesus is not repelled by sinners, but came to call and save sinners.  It’s His mercy that leads undeserving sinners to faith and repentance.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  We hope these questions will serve you as you apply it to your life.

1).  Why was Jesus’ treatment of Levi, the tax collector, so astounding?

2).  How would you evaluate your interaction with unbelievers:  Comfortable / Uncomfortable; Regularly engaging / Rarely engaging?  Why was Jesus so comfortable at a party with sinners?  How does His example provoke you?

3).  How does the mercy Jesus extended to you encourage you to believe that He can have mercy on anyone?  Is there anyone you believe to be outside the reach of the mercy of Christ?

4).  In what ways do you think the Lord is calling you to change as a result of this text?  Is it a change regarding your attitude toward unbelievers?  Or, a change regarding your attitude toward believers who are different from you?

5).  In what ways do you think we can grow as a church at loving all kinds of people who come to us?

We hope God continues to make us more like His Son.  He desires to use us to reach out to and minister His mercy and grace to those around us.  I hope each of us has opportunity this week to put this into practice!

Have a grace-filled week!

Eric

Last Sunday we looked at the second part of Mark’s account of Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and scribes in chapter 7.  In this second part, Jesus explains to the disciples what really defiles a person.  It’s not what comes from without and goes within.  It’s what comes from within – from the heart.  In this brief teaching, Jesus locates the true source of defilement before God as the sin that exists in and comes from every man and woman’s heart.  While the Pharisees thought they were “clean” according to the traditions of the elders, Jesus shows that no one is clean!  We learned that the only way to be clean before God is to trust in Jesus who came to make us clean.  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions help you apply God’s word to your life.

1)  What did God speak to you through this text?

2)  Why is it important that we understand that our biggest problem is the sin in our hearts?  Why are we so tempted to blame everything else?

3)  We talked about the fact that Jesus knew that He would make us clean because He was going to die in our place, because He lived a perfect life in our place and because He was going to send the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and empower us to live for Him.  Which of these three stood out to you on Sunday and spoke to you where you are at right now?  How does each give you hope and joy?

4)  If Jesus alone can make us clean, what are some of the other things we do that we think keep us clean?  Why is there a danger in thinking our works or obedience or righteousness can keep us clean before God?

5)  What is the role of the Holy Spirit  in our hearts and  lives now?  How often do you think about and remember that the Spirit has changed your heart and is in you giving you power to love God, live for Him and overcome temptation and sin?

6)  This good news isn’t meant to be kept to ourselves!  Is there anyone in your life that needs to hear that their heart can be changed; that their sins can be forgiven?  Are you willing to share with them or pray that God gives you opportunity to share?

How wonderful it is to have hearts transformed by Jesus!  I hope you have a great week trusting and resting in all He has done for us.

Eric

On Sunday we studied another interaction between Jesus and the scribes and  Pharisees.  On this occasion, they accuse Jesus of dishonoring God by ignoring the traditions of the elders because His disciples fail to wash their hands before eating.  Jesus proceeds to expose, confront and condemn them as hypocrites because of the kind of religion they practiced, which was ultimately worthless (honoring God with their lips when their hearts were far from Him and obeying the commandment of man – applications of the law -instead of the commandment of God.)  You can listen to or download the sermon here.  I hope these questions will help us all apply God’s word to our lives.  We aren’t changed by hearing only, we are changed by hearing and doing by the grace He gives us!

1.  What is the difference between the law of God and the traditions of the elders (or the oral law)?

2.  Why is hypocrisy so condemned by Jesus here and by the Scriptures in general?  Was there every a time in your life when you were “faking it” or “two-faced” saying one thing but living something different?  Why did you do that?

3.  The Pharisees and scribes made the mistake of basing their righteousness and obedience ultimately on something man-made (the commandments of men instead of the commandments of God).  What are modern versions of the “traditions of the elders”?  What are examples of standards set by men that haven’t been set necessarily by God? Why can these things which seem good be so dangerous?

4.  What is the difference between capital “L” Legalism versus lower-case “l” legalism?  Why does “l”egailsm always tend to produce either despair or arrogance and self-righteousness in Christians?

5.  How would you describe what true holiness is and how true holiness is to be developed in our lives? What is the role of the heart in true holiness?  What is the role of the Holy Spirit?

6.  How does Jesus and His finished work for us make all the difference in this discussion?

I hope we will all experience the freedom Christ has given us through His to honor Him, please Him, thank Him and glorify Him with our lives because we love Him and can’t wait to see Him one day!

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours!

Eric