Mark in a Month Pt.2

—The Kingdom of God

  • Andrew Fountain – Sept 17, 2017

 
 
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Purpose

To engage you with the message of Mark

so that as you read it

the message will engage you in return.

Mark in a Month Pt.2

  1. Who wrote Mark and why?
  2. The Shape of Mark—how it fits together
  3. “The Kingdom of God”—what it means and how it challenges us

1. Who wrote Mark and why?

  • Who: John Mark wrote it on behalf of Peter
  • Widespread external evidence in early church writings
  • Good internal evidence that it is Peter’s eyewitness account
  • Why: Written in Rome for Gentiles
  • Doesn’t assume you know the O.T.
  • Shortest, fast paced
  • Just the “beginning of the good news” (1:1)

Message:
Call to discipleship

  • Following a person, not simply a code of conduct
  • Fellowship with Jesus is at the heart
  • Trusting him
  • Confessing him to others
  • Taking note of his conduct
  • Following his teaching
  • Being shaped by a relationship with him
  • Being prepared to face rejection (ESVSB)

2. The Shape of Mark
—how it fits together

  1. Starts with a bang
  2. Expands to another level
  3. Seeing the real Jesus
  4. The Kingdom extends beyond Israel and Jesus replaces the Temple
  5. Truly, this man is the Son of God

Mark 4:21-34

Mark 4:21–34

  1. (Title) Kingdom Parables
  2. (Summary points)
  • Lamps should be put on a lampstand
  • Those who “hear” will get more
  • The Kingdom is like mysteriously growing seed
  • The Kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed growing to a large tree
  • Only those who followed got a full explanation of parables

Notes

  1. Context: The parable of the sower
  2. Message: We can only really understand Jesus’s teaching if we are actually his disciples
  3. Me: I want this! How can I be following him better right now?

A. No more Lukewarm

  • “You were made to live with something to die for” (Edwards)
  • We are living in an age that is screaming out for something real.
  • Buried in the human heart is a desire to devote ourselves totally to something that we believe in
  • Paradoxicaly we live in a comfort culture, dedicated to insulating us from the slightest discomfort
  • The words of Jesus are a culture-shock to us:

Matthew 10:32-40

The Kingdom

  1. No more Lukewarm
  2. What does “the Kingdom of God” actually mean?
  3. How do we express a passion for the Kingdom?

Mark 8:34–38

  1. Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
  2. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.
  3. For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?
  4. What can a person give in exchange for his life?
  5. For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

B. What does “the Kingdom of God” actually mean?

  • not = Church
  • It primarily means God’s rule
  • What does the Kingdom look like right now?
    • a POWER and a PEOPLE

C. How do we express a passion for the Kingdom?

  • No compartments in our lives
  • God is involved in everything and prayer pervades everything
  • But most of all it has to do with what our priorities are
  • Edwards says: “Write eternity on our hearts that we would live by the age to come.”

Kingdom means warfare

  • Most spiritual warfare is not very glamorous
  • saying no to temptation
  • saying no to the flesh
  • fighting against what Paul calls “the old man”
    • actually habits, reaction, old ways of behaving
  • saying no to fear and unbelief
  • believing we can trust Jesus, and acting on it

Mark 8:34–38

  1. Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
  2. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.
  3. For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?
  4. What can a person give in exchange for his life?
  5. For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”