What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 4

                         “In that day,” declares the Lord,
                         “you will call me ‘my husband’;
                    you will no longer call me ‘my master,
                                   Hosea 2:16

     Are you going through life, as a Christian, operating on the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Congratulations; God has revealed to your heart such passages as :                

  In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:33
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  Matt.16:24
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matt. 7:22,23
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, Col.2:6
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom. 10:9

If you want more there are whole books written on Lordship salvation - one that comes to mind is The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur. I must say I am in agreement with this theology. However, there is a higher calling than Lordship! It is marriage to Christ as illustrated in this passage in Hosea. For those of you women reading this who were uncomfortable with being "sons" of God (which btw probably has to do with receiving inheritance and rights in those days) now get to watch us men squirm as the "brides" of Christ. When we are in love with Jesus our motivations for actions change. When I fell in love with Karen I didn't say, "I guess I better call her today." I willingly spent hours on the phone. I didn't say, "I better tell someone about her today." I was showing her picture to everyone that would oblige me. When we fall in love with Jesus we don't say, "I have to read my Bible today" - it's "I get to". It's not "I better tell someone about Him today" - It's "I get to witness today." Etc.

This is the thrust of our journey through Mark - falling back in love with Jesus, examining What is so awesome about Jesus? Maybe, hopefully by doing this we will see what is so winsome about Christ and becoming his passionate bride (ouch)


                                 CHAPTER 4

<sup>1. Read Mark 3:7-14 and 4:1-2
     List 4 reasons why people may have been in attendance

    A. Mark 3:10 ___________________________________

     B. John 6:30 ___________________________________

     C. Matt. 22:15 ____________________________________

      D. John 8:30,31 ____________________________________

 How do you think groups A & B would have felt about Him starting to teach?

 How would group C have felt and why?

  How would group D have felt and why?

2. Read Mark 4:3-8, 14-20. What are the 4 types of soil and what do they represent?

    E. ______________________________

    F. _____________________________

    G. _____________________________

    H. _____________________________

      Notice the 4 groups (A-D) could be placed with some accuracy among the different soils. The rocky and thorny could really be grouped together as people who believed the message but decided it was too costly and therefore didn't continue on. The last soil became disciples and I feel like the passage tells us 7 marks of good soil
      1. Read Matt.14:20-22 and 15:39. What was the typical pattern after a day of miracles and teaching?

           Read Matt. 8:18-22 which chronologically fits with Mark 4. What was required for being a disciple?

           Putting those 2 together read Mark 4:10,24-25,34-36. Who got the interpretation?

          What does that tell us about the good soil?

     2. Read Mark 4:20. Good soil produces fruit. What is fruit? (Gal. 5:22,23)


      3. Mark 4:21-23 and Matt. 10:32,33. Good soil  ______________.

      4. Mark 4:26-29. Good soil  ________________.

      5. Mark 4:30-32. Birds land on the Jesus tree. Read Matt.25:34-40. What should good soil be known for?

      6. Mark 4:37-40, Isa. 8:12. As good soil we should respond to trials differently than the world does. Why is that?

      If you are familiar with the apostle Paul in the storm, how was his response different from the disciples in Mark 4?

       If you were having difficulty answering #4, maybe this is a hint.

      7. Mark 4:41. What was the difference in response of the disciples to the storm (40) and Jesus (41). How does good soil approach God?


Summary

       The word seed appears 12 times in this passage. The sower sowed seed. What is that seed? The gospel / the Word of God. Who is the good news (gospel)? Jesus. Who is the Word? Jesus. Jesus is the seed that was sown into the world and although started very small, now fills the world. The fact is though, if you wanted to get to Jesus you had to come into His presence face to face. He was limited in time and space when He came to Earth. Picture this; Jesus comes to your church this Sunday. How exciting! After he preaches you rush up to meet Him, talk to Him, have Him bless your kids, etc. Unfortunately 100 people beat you in line. By 5:00 the word is out to all the other churches and people are all cutting in line to see Him. You get the picture ... frustrating. That's why Jesus says in John 12:24, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds." When Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven, He sent to Earth the Holy Spirit. Suddenly that seed that you had to wait in line to see is available to all believers from the USA to outer Mongolia on a 24/7/365 basis. No waiting - instant access.
      This leads me to the word for the week - WITH. Jesus picked 12 to be with Him. The degree to which the crowd wanted to be with Him was the degree to which His truths were revealed and who He is was revealed. He was with them in the boat and everyone with Him in the boat or other boats got a bigger view of who He is. The ones who said "I want to sleep at home" or "what about my family" didn't get the interpretation of what He said. The degree to which we leave behind everything either actually or mentally to follow Jesus is the degree to which we get Him and the degree to which that Seed grows in our lives. I believe it determines if you are going to produce 30, 60, or 100 fold. In other words if you give a tenth of your income vs. 70%, which one is going to bear more fruit. If you give an hour of your Saturday vs. 8 hours to serve the needy, who do you think is going to bear more fruit or for that measure get a bigger view of Jesus? The disciples were afraid of the storm but they became terrified of Jesus. That is called developing a fear of God and forming proper worship in our lives.
      If I could upgrade the word a little I would change it to WITH - IN. The disciples had to be with Him as He was a single seed. Now that He has sent the Holy Spirit He is in us. The Seed has sent multiple Seed into the world to be planted in all believers who then produce fruit which is technically the manifestation of Christ in us. We start becoming Jesus to unbelievers to the degree we abide in the vine.
     So what is so awesome about Jesus? How about that the one who could stop not only a hurricane but all the ripple effect of the water just by saying, "Be Quiet!", is with you and in you. He has come into your boat and He isn't going to leave. Do you feel special? You should. Do you feel unworthy? You ought to. Do you love Him for it? That is what we are aiming for. I certainly hope so.
     Lord I love You for being here with me. As I was praying for help with an endeavor I almost felt like You were saying, "Oh, now you are coming to me. I've been here all week and you just come to Me when you need something." Forgive me for taking your presence so lightly and not passionately talking to You all day long. Why You came to be inside me is beyond me but I am eternally grateful!</sup>

      
     

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 3

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."  Rev. 2:1-5

      Are you doing Christianity without a passionate love for Jesus? It's tough; it's a whole lot of work. Besides that - it isn't pleasing to you or God. What if you came home from work one day and said to your spouse, "I've lost my love for you but I will still do all the marriage things and life will go on as usual." Now imagine saying that to Jesus. Do you think your spouse or Jesus would be pleased? Also, how long do you think you would commit to that marriage before you start looking for a passionate alternative. In this study on Mark we are looking for characteristics of Jesus that make Him winsome. What is it that you fell in love with initially that you need to be reminded of. We looked at His meekness in chapter 1 and in chapter 2 we were reminded that He is our rescuer. He dove in to the Human Race to rescue us from then fruitless efforts of religion. I mentioned that in the movie clip Jimmy Stewart dove in to rescue Clarence but unlike Jesus, he didn't give his life. Check out this clip where Tom Hanks gives his life to save Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan.

                     
This is a beautiful clip except for one huge problem if you are relating it to Christianity. Let's look at Chapter 3 and hopefully see the problem and what true rescuing is...


                                   MARK 3
Credit to Tim Keller for a lot of the thoughts below

1. Read Mark 3:20-30. (We will go back next week and catch the verses we missed). Read the following C.S.Lewis quote from Mere Christianity commonly called "the trilemma"


 "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be GOD.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of GOD: or else a madman or something worse."
C. S. Lewis adds: "You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him LORD and GOD. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

       What are the 3 "L's" as seen in the trilemma and Mark 3?

     1. ______________     (Mark 3:20,21)

     2. ______________     (Mark 3:22,30 and John 8:44)

     3. ______________     (Mark 2:28, 3:27)

 Some people add a 4th "L" to the trilemma (which I guess would make it a quadlemma) which is Legend. In other words Jesus never made these claims, they sprung up much later as people turned Him into a legend. There are several problems with this;
     A. The passages are brutally honest. If you were trying to create a legend would you include that His family thought He was nuts and others thought He was possessed? Would they include all the blundering of the disciples?
     B. The passages were written in the lifetime of the eyewitnesses - if they weren't true they would have never even gotten an audience. If I wrote a book on how Elvis isn't really dead it might garner a following 100 years from now when the coroner, family, pall bearers, etc. are all dead but not now while the eyewitnesses are still alive.
     C. The details - Look ahead at chapter 4:36-38. Not only do we once again see the non-heroic disciples but we see details that suggest reporting rather than fiction. We see he was in the stern, on a cushion, accompanied by other boats, and He came as He was. (I guess He didn't change clothes). Once again C.S. Lewis states

     " I have been reading poems, romances, vision literature, legends, and myths all my life.  I know what they are like.  I know none of them are like this.  Of this text, there are only two possible views.  either this is reportage...or else, someone unknown writer...without known predecessors or successors, suddenly anticipated the whole technique of modern novelistic, realistic narrative...The reader who doesn't see this has simply not learned how to read."

    In other words ancient fiction doesn't include details like this. this form of writing didn't come into being for another thousand years.


2. Read Mark 3:31-35.  We talked about the fact that Christianity is about a relationship rather than a religion. What kind of relationship is it?

      Read Eph. 1:5. What is the legal process by which we become His children?

      Read John 1:12. How do we obtain this?

      Read Romans 8:14-17.(2Cor. 1:22) What do we receive as down payment that we are children of God?

        What emotion should be absent?

        What kind of access do we have to God?

         What is our future?(Gal.4:7 , 1John 3:2  Rev.21:7)

      Read Hebrews 1:14 and John 15:15 What 2 things aren't our future?

      Read Phil. 2:15. How should children behave and why? (1John 2:28, 3:10, 5:2)

      Read Heb. 12:7. How will God "help" you act this way?

     Read 1John 3:1. What kind of treatment should children expect from the world?



Summary.

       Even though it wasn't that pertinent to the character trait - or What's so awesome about Jesus?, I would be remiss to pass up the quadlemma as it is seen here clearer than any other place in scripture. These are not Legends and Jesus is either a Lunatic, a Liar, or Lord but don't call him a prophet or good teacher as we saw religions do in last week's study.
      The word for this week is Brother. As adopted children of God, Christ becomes our brother in all aspects except DNA (we don't become "gods") But we do share in His inheritance and status. We no longer need to be afraid of God anymore than we should be afraid of a perfect earthly father. We can come boldly into His presence just as the only person that could interrupt a CEO in an important business meeting would be their child. Can you imagine the joy of the Father when His Son entered Heaven after accomplishing redemption through His sinless death and resurrection. Believe it or not, our Father in Heaven is going to be that excited on our arrival!
        Picture a construction crew working on a house and you are observing the action knowing that one member of the team is the owner's son who will someday inherit the business. What would distinguish him? Well, the obvious first thing is he probably looks like his dad. Do you think he is a slacker? Probably not. He may work harder and longer because he has ownership and wants his dad to be proud of him if he comes by. How would he take criticism? Probably better than the hired help - they would probably point to others and offer excuses for fear they might not get a raise or even worse lose their job. The son (I'm being chauvinistic with this example - sorry) would want to learn what he is doing wrong because his name will soon be associated with these houses and he wants more jobs. What about attitude? The workers are working for a paycheck and out of fear of the boss. The son is not going to be fired and is working with joy knowing his future is secure and he is loved by the father.
       This is what is wrong with the Saving Private Ryan clip. Private Ryan has been saved but the Captain's last words to him are "earn this". Salvation without acceptance. Salvation without sonship. This leads to a life of striving to earn worth which as seen in the aged private made him depressed unhappy and feeling inadequate and unworthy with constant need for reassurance. This was the problem with the Galatians. They lost the joy of sonship and acceptance. I fear so many Christians are working to be accepted by God rather than remembering they are accepted and working in the joy and freedom of that knowledge.
       God could have saved us to go to Heaven and serve Him and the Angels. That would have been gracious and readily accepted by myself - but He didn't
       God could have saved us to go to Heaven and become Angels. How glorious! But He didn't
       God couldn't have saved us to be His children - but He did!!!!
       UNFATHOMABLE!!

   Lord I am blown away by the fact that I am a coheir with You and I've become your brother. What is this man that You would be mindful of me? What mercy. What grace. Help me to represent you well and to start showing your likeness to a world of spiritual orphans as I offer them a home and family which just happens to belong to the King of the Universe.
    

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 2

I talked with someone at the gym this week about working out. I told him I just swam a mile and was exhausted because I was shooting for a time to beat and fortunately I barely did. He shared with me that he likes to jog and he found that when he was running to beat a time he would finish totally spent. He found that if he would just jog for the shear pleasure of it, he would get much less tired and usually get a good time. This is the focus of our "jog" through Mark. Is your Christian life burdensome, tiresome, exhausting? Maybe what you need to do is refocus on your love for Christ and let the walk take care of itself. What is so lovely about Jesus? What is so awesome about Christ? Lets look through Mark 2 as Jesus takes on the Pharisees i.e. religion.

                                                      MARK 2

1. Read Mark 2:1-12. What were the 2 criticisms against Jesus by the Pharisees in this passage?

        1. _____________________________

        2. _____________________________

     Read 1 John 5:10-13. John is writing against false teachers/religions in this book. If you were struggling to answer the above (or having difficulty seeing where I was going with this which is more likely) see if this passage in 1 John helps.


2. Read Mark 2:13-17. What problem do the Pharisees have with Jesus in this passage?

        What does Jesus say that the criteria is for coming into His presence?

        What attitude can religion lead to?


3. Read Mark 2:18-22. What problem do the Pharisees have with Jesus now?

   Read Matt. 6:16-18. What had the Pharisees already violated?

        Contrast the facial expressions listed in the Matthew passage with the facial expressions of the wedding illustration attendees.

       What does that tell you about another difference between religion (man's efforts to reach God) and a relationship with Jesus (Christianity)? See also Matt. 11:28-30.


4. Read Mark 2:23- 3:6. In Mark 2 we see Jesus coming to abolish religion. He is not trying to abolish the Law though. Read Matt 5:17-20. What was Jesus going to do with the law?

       According to verse 20, what is the fatal flaw with religion?


       Read this blog on the Sabbath.  http://www.thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-is-christian-to-do-with-4th.html

   List some ways that Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath.




Summary
        All religions have this in common - there is us and there is god and we are separated from it, us, him. Now who that god is and what separates us from it is completely different. All religions deal with what mankind must do to come in contact with that deity even if that deity is within us. Christianity is different in that instead of us trying to reach God, God came down and reached us. He sent His son Jesus to live a perfect life without sin and die the death we should have died ("the wages of sin is death" - Rom. 6:23) and all we have to do is by faith, without works (Eph.2:8,9) receive (John 1:12) this free gift. (John 3:16)
    The problem that religions have with this was seen in the first 12 verses. Religions don't believe Jesus is God for one thing. They believe he was a prophet, a good teacher, a god like us, Michael the Archangel in pre-existent state, Lucifer's brother, etc. And secondly, they don't believe He can bring us to God. We must do the 3 fold way of works, knowledge, and devotion. We must follow the 8 fold path of enlightenment. We must follow the 5 or 6 Pillars of faith. We must get baptized, go on missions, etc.
    Not only did the Pharisees deny that Jesus was God and could bridge the gap between man and God, but they believed only the good people get in not tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said that the first criteria for getting to Heaven is that we are bad. This eradicates judgmentalism, elitism, racism, nationalism, which taken to extremes led to religious wars which we see around us today. No wonder people hate religion. Jesus hated it too!
    The religious life is a life of burdensome work. The Pharisees were starving, grimacing, wearing uncomfortable outfits while Jesus' disciples were living a life of joy, celebration, hope, excitement because they weren't working to find God - they already found Him. Are we living in light of the fact that God is already pleased with us if by faith we have received Him. Are we celebrating the fact that He is in Heaven preparing a place for us and the worst thing that could happen to us on Earth is we could die and go to be with the King of Kings forever? We work because we are accepted not to be accepted which is a huge difference!
      Watch the following video

                            
The word for this week is RESCUER . Jesus, like George Bailey, saw us drowning in our sins. We were struggling in religion to save ourselves but like Matthew says, even the scribes and Pharisees who were professional law keepers couldn't save themselves - what hope did we have? Jesus "dove in" to this planet and saved us. He didn't throw in a manual on how to swim - He swam for us. But unlike George - He died saving us! Does that not make you love Him???

    Lord, thank You for saving me from a hopeless, wasted life of trying to reach You. Thank You for reaching down to me and saving me at the cost of Your son Jesus. Unbelievable!!!
   

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 1

   Genesis 29:20 - "So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her."

     This is going to be a narrowed or zoomed-in study of the Gospel of Mark focusing on the attributes of Christ seen in Mark. The hope is that when we are done, like Jacob, we would fall in love with the beauty of Jesus and our Christian life would not be tedious but rapturous.
     Why Mark? Mainly because Mark is a book of action written for a Roman audience who basically said, "Don't tell me what he said, tell me what he did? Each chapter I will come up with a character trait of Christ that in my mind summarizes the chapter. Obviously, you may come up with a totally different word and theme which is one of the supernatural qualities of the Bible - how it is alive and speaks to us all differently. So if you are ready, here we go. I will give some questions to answer and then give a summary at the end.

                                             MARK 1

1. Read Mark 1:1-8, John 15:26, John 16:7. What was the difference between John's baptism and Jesus' baptism?

       In a sense, according to these verses, what does Jesus have authority over?

2. Read Mark 1:9-11, Matt. 3:13-15, Mark 1:44. What were 2 things that Jesus willingly put his authority under their authority?     _________________________
               
                              _________________________

3. Read Mark 1:12. Who did Jesus submit to?

4. Read Mark 1:13 and Matt. 4:10,11. Name 2 things in these passages that Jesus had authority over?

                            ________________________

                           _________________________

5. Read Mark 1:16-20. Read Luke 5 1-11. What may have precipitated the complete following of Peter, James, and John?

     What does Jesus have authority over in these passages?

6. Read Mark 1:21,22. It's been said that Jesus never gave an opinion. Why not?

     What does that show He has authority over?

7. Read Mark 1:23-28 What does Jesus have authority over?

8. Read Mark 1:29-34, 40-41. What does Jesus have authority over?

9. Read Mark 1:35-38, Phil. 2:5,6. Who did Jesus willingly submit His authority to?

10. Read Mark 1:43-45, Num.5:2. Where was a leper to live?                             Why?

      Where was Jesus now forced to live?                                   Why?

     In effect who did Jesus put Himself under?


Summary

     The word for this week is meekness. What is meekness? Meekness is yieldedness, it is power under control. It differs from weakness in that a weak person has to submit- they have no choice; they have no say or power. It differs from humility in that humility is considering others better than oneself. Can God consider us better than Himself? I'm not convinced. Jesus certainly considered the Father and the Spirit better then Himself but us???? I'm not convinced. I will have to study that one. Be that as it may, in Mark 1 we see the meekness of Jesus. He has authority over the sending of the Holy Spirit yet submits to Him. He has authority over the Law yet submits to it. He has authority over disease yet exchanges places with the leper. I find this, personally, a beautiful quality of Christ. We all have certain realms of authority probably more as we age. To be a servant leader and place others over us is a near impossible thing to do with this sin nature inside of us. And then to submit to others and still demand and command the respect Christ did is a testimony to His greatness and makes Him a winsome character to be admired, respected and loved.
     Lord, fill me with your Spirit that I might become meek like You!

My Favorite Christian Albums of 2013

 Okay, here we go. Just remember, music is like pizza - everyone likes a different style. In descending order...

10. Nice comeback by the "Kings of the Comeback". KMax at vocals just doesn't do it for me

9. Very good album by Phil Wickham. Would have ranked higher except his voice always sounds whiny to me. Very good song writer. Contemporary sound

             

 

8. I Like the husband and wife pair's sound and song writing is great. Very balanced. At least 7 songs I liked which normally would have ranked higher except when I compiled my list of top songs of the year I realized that I couldn't pick any of their's because they all were the same

 

 

7. Thank goodness Plumb has left the lullaby genre! What a comeback! Would have ranked higher if it were more "Christian" and had a better album cover - OUCH

 

 

6.  This album is probably the best of the year by The Almost except on deeper listening, it just isn't all that Christian. Great crossover potential though and technically one that Christian music can be proud of

 

 

5. Dare I put a Christmas album in the top 10? YES, if it is Falling Up. Just goes to show how great they could be if they would quit doing their theme albums about books we have never heard of because they wrote the unpublished book.

 

 

4. Very good worship album with a number of songs most churches will be singing if they aren't already. Matt may have passed up Chris Tomlin on this one

 

 

 

 

3. Music TobyMac would be proud of and he even helps on one of their songs. Great sound and very Christian. Youth should embrace them given a chance...

 

 

2. Every year I have to pick an obscure album but I love their sound. Best rendition of 10,000 Reasons that I have heard. Some of their songs remind me a little of the Eagles.

 

 

1. I wavered on this one between 1 and 2, but so as not to incur my children's mockery, I made them #1. They are David Crowder's band sans David Crowder and have made a very good debut album. This probably wouldn't be #1 most years but it was a weak year regrettably for Christian music.