
He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. —Mark 6:1-3
Mark is the shortest and the first Gospel written in roughly 70 A.D. following the destruction of Jerusalem.
The
Into this world Mark writes “The beginning of the
“The end” is the establishment of the
In the middle, there is
“For ancient Israel, salvation did not mean an eternal blessed afterlife. It meant salvation from this-worldly dangers: slavery, illness, war, famine, or drought. Salvation was palpable…the message of salvation, the good news, must be more than a postmortem fate. Salvation also occurs in the here-and-now.” —Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
A Beginner’s Guide to Following Jesus
It won’t be
The first rule Jesus gives you is to travel with a
A companion makes you less vulnerable to
A companion can help with
A companion eases the loneliness, can encourage, creates accountability, and can serve as a
“Repent” means restoring broken relationships, changing your thinking and way of life to restore
“I can imagine young adults telling their parents with whom they worked, ‘I’m going with Peter and Andrew to go fish for people.’ I can imagine the parents having some choice words for Peter and Andrew.” —Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
Followers of Jesus voluntarily make themselves vulnerable and
To follow Jesus is to find ourselves face to face with the
“If we have not met the devil face to face, we may be walking in the same direction.” —Rev. Dr. Zan Holmes Jr.
Like the disciples, we half-understand or misunderstand or
Notice the rhythm of ministry action, debrief, and
“The line between miracle and martyrdom, discipleship and death, is very thin.” —Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ request surprised and
Jesus
“A follower of Jesus is one who seeks to actualize the will of God in concrete actions.” —Ben Johnson
The way of Jesus every day is 1.
Prayer is
Action is
Reflection is where
To follow Jesus is to be
The Test (Mark 6:45-46)
Jesus sends the disciples away to the other side while he stays back to pray and
“A faith that has not been tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.” —Rev. Dr. Zan Holmes Jr.
The disciples
“The Christian life is never spoken of in the Bible as a bed of roses. It is uphill, because society is coming one way and the Christian is going the opposite way. But Jesus said that in the midst of your problems, in the midst of your difficulties, he will be there to give you grace and peace.” —Billy Graham
If we don’t
“It is never too late; it is always the right time to repent; we live as if what we do matters. And it does.” —Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
The good news is that Jesus keeps on
Action Steps:
Step 1: What does
Step 2: What did I do in
Step 3: What did I learn from the action to inform my
“My additional notes: