Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Friday: Mark 1, 2, 3People sometimes call Mark “the Gospel of action.” As you read these opening chapters, consider why this phrase seems appropriate.
Any sharing of the Gospel requires action. One must hear, receive, accept, believe, and live the "Good News." To live the good news means a complete life change and a move from inaction to action as was evidenced by the folks in Mark's gospel.
Mark shares how John the Baptist comes with a message of action. He calls people to repent of their sins, to come forward and admit that, and be baptized publicly so that they could live lives that showed they belonged to God. As he proclaims the coming of Christ he tells of what Christ was to do. Then Mark introduces Jesus and He comes with a call for people to follow Him! Once they follow, they are taught and sent to do good works for the sake of God's kingdom.
To sit in a pew Sunday after Sunday for one hour is NOT discipleship. Sure it counts if you truly worship and glorify God and ask God to bless you and cleanse you of your sins, but to leave the church and do nothing that even resembles your being a disciple is NOT discipleship. To serve on a committee to vote and make decisions is NOT discipleship either. One has to go beyond voting and deciding, to doing something that blesses the kingdom of God. One must share the good news and invite others to come and learn about God through Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, fill our churches with the desire to do what your gospel asks. Make us uncomfortable beyond that which we can stand so that we will at last do something that helps rescue the perishing. I ask this for myself, my church, my family, and others in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
Here is our study guide for today:
Friday: Mark 1, 2, 3People sometimes call Mark “the Gospel of action.” As you read these opening chapters, consider why this phrase seems appropriate.
Any sharing of the Gospel requires action. One must hear, receive, accept, believe, and live the "Good News." To live the good news means a complete life change and a move from inaction to action as was evidenced by the folks in Mark's gospel.
Mark shares how John the Baptist comes with a message of action. He calls people to repent of their sins, to come forward and admit that, and be baptized publicly so that they could live lives that showed they belonged to God. As he proclaims the coming of Christ he tells of what Christ was to do. Then Mark introduces Jesus and He comes with a call for people to follow Him! Once they follow, they are taught and sent to do good works for the sake of God's kingdom.
To sit in a pew Sunday after Sunday for one hour is NOT discipleship. Sure it counts if you truly worship and glorify God and ask God to bless you and cleanse you of your sins, but to leave the church and do nothing that even resembles your being a disciple is NOT discipleship. To serve on a committee to vote and make decisions is NOT discipleship either. One has to go beyond voting and deciding, to doing something that blesses the kingdom of God. One must share the good news and invite others to come and learn about God through Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, fill our churches with the desire to do what your gospel asks. Make us uncomfortable beyond that which we can stand so that we will at last do something that helps rescue the perishing. I ask this for myself, my church, my family, and others in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
