The Good News: Preparations

Introduction: We are starting a new series... in the Gospel of Mark... called “The Good News.”

So I wanted to start this out with a little bit of a poll today… think about the way you primarily receive your news (like world events, local happenings, etc.):

How many of you get your news primarily from a newspaper?

How many of you get your news from a local TV news station?

From a Network Cable News station?

From a radio network?

How many of you were so fed up with media bias that you turned to a YouTube news outlet?

How about an email-based delivery service?

How many of you don’t watch or listen to any news and just hear what other people talk about or read the headlines people shared in your social media feed?

OK, I think this is becoming clear: There are a TON of ways we can receive news… and there is a TON of news out there.

There is no shortage of stories to be told… no shortage of information to communicate...

But no matter how you get your news, SOMEONE… or a group of people…

Sorted through all the possible news stories…

Decided what was most important to share…

Put it into a communicable form…

And delivered it to you.

Not only that… we (as the recipients)… have to...

Prepare ourselves to go to that news source...

Decide to pay close attention to or not...

Weigh out the truth of what is being told to us...

And then determine what we are going to do in light of that news.

Maybe change the way we go to work because of a traffic jam…

Or decide to vote because of a report we heard about something going on in politics.

NEW INFORMATION… when it has any weightiness to it at all… will affect TRANSFORMATION in the way we think… the way we feel… and what we DO.

And ALL of this is true when we encounter the GOOD NEWS of Jesus… particularly as it is conveyed in the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These four Gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, sorted through all of the countless true stories about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus...

They decided what was most important to share...

They put it into a communicable form...

And they delivered it to us.

It’s like watching four different, reliable newscasts on the same event.

And WE (as the recipients)… MUST respond to that news accordingly.

We must prepare ourselves to go to the source of Good News… in our case the Gospel according to Mark...

We must decide to pay close attention to what he has to say...

Or do the spiritual equivalent of scrolling our phones while the news is on the TV.

We must weigh out the truth being told to us...

And then we must determine what we are going to think, feel, and do in light of that news.

And it’s our prayer… throughout this next year… that our response to Mark’s gospel (as a whole church) will be to decisively say (along with Mark himself):

Series Vision: NOW is the time to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

That is our vision for the whole series… that we would be SO convinced… and SO captivated by this Jesus that Mark presents to us… that we would waste no time in telling others… EVERYONE… the good news about him.

It is God’s design that every HEARER of this good news would also become a BROADCASTER of the good news.

That’s how Jesus said his news gets published far and wide.

It’s carried on the lips of every disciple who knows and loves him.

The news watcher becomes the newscaster.

But just like every newscaster… that means we must be PREPARED.

We must become familiar with the top news stories of Jesus’ life...

We must gear up to go into hostile places to spread the message of his victory with those who might not like it.

We must have this news on the tip of our tongue and as the overflow of our heart.

So as we introduce this series today, here’s our big idea:

Big Idea: Prepare yourself to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Your Bibles are open to Mark 1...

Verses 1:1-15 serve as Mark’s introduction to Jesus and his ministry...

It’s his “preparation” for his communication of the gospel (if you will).

And today, as we get acclimated to this book, we are going to see four ways WE must prepare ourselves to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[Read Mark 1:1-15]

This section is a great example of the way Mark has written his account of the Gospel: kind of punchy… to the point… doesn’t waste words… and yet includes some VERY interesting details that others do not in order to capture our attention and cause us to think.

Mark is giving us EXACTLY what we need to engage with this gospel and come to terms with the good news of Jesus Christ.

So today we want to look at Four Preparations we must make as we get into this study, and the first is this:

1) Prepare to love Jesus for who he is. (1:1)

The wording of our series vision… and our big idea for today… comes from chapter 1:1...

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

There is so much packed into that little verse, but the bottom line is that Mark is telling us what we are about to read and experience.

He says, “The Beginning”...

or “the origin… the source… the cause… the INITIATION...”

Of the gospel...

The word “gospel” simply means “good news.”

Mark wants to share with us some good news… in fact, the source of ALL good news…

What we are about to experience is not the typical doom and gloom when you turn on the 5 O’Clock Local news… mostly BAD news with some nice cute special interest pieces mixed in so you don’t get TOO depressed...

No, this is GOOD NEWS.

Now this word for “gospel” could be good news about anything… but most commonly, it was good news of a military victory, or the coming of a King...

And that fits this well… because this is...

The beginning (the initiation) of the gospel (or good news) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The gospel (both small “g” in terms of the message we proclaim and big “G” in terms of the type of book this is…)

The gospel is primarily the biography of Jesus…

It’s the biography of the Son of God… which makes it a theological biography… and we must then decide how to respond to that...

The consistent response that God calls for throughout the Bible is repentance… which results in faith, hope, and love.

The gospel is the biography… the true story… the NEWS of Jesus… and the news is GOOD because of WHO Jesus is.

Mark describes him in two succinct ways:

Jesus is the Christ...

He is the Promised Anointed Savior King.

(remember that’s what should come into our minds every time we hear the word “Christ”… say it with me: Promised. Anointed. Savior. King.)

He is the one who fulfills all of God’s promises to rescue his people.

He is the one anointed by God the Father with the Holy Spirit (as we will see in his baptism in just a few moments)...

He is the Savior who came to rescue his people from the bondage of Satan, sin and death by dying for his people, storming the gates of hell, and defeating the enemy in his resurrection…

And he is the King… the one to whom all power and authority belongs in every part of heaven and earth...

And Jesus can BE that Christ because he is THE SON OF GOD.

This term (Son of God) is rich with Old Testament meaning...

Often it refers specifically to the King who sits on David’s throne...

But in Jesus, it takes on even more meaning… because Jesus is the eternal, only begotten Son of God…

He is the Second person of the Trinity… one with God from eternity past…

And now God has initiated a new phase of his plan as the Son of God has taken on human flesh and a full, perfect human nature.

We see this unique part of Jesus’ identity as Son of God in his baptism in just a few verses.

But what I want us to see now is that Mark desires to present Jesus as he truly is… in all of his glory and fulfillment of God’s plan.

And he wants us to hear this as GOOD NEWS.

I am convinced that Mark not only wants us to KNOW Jesus… but he wants us also to LOVE Jesus…

and love him for who he is… not for who we want him to be.

One of the major turning points in the Gospel comes in Mark 8…

Jesus asks his disciples...

“Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27–30, ESV)

There are so many things that people THINK Jesus said or did that aren’t really the whole truth…

Their concept of Jesus is really more about who they WANT Jesus to be instead of who he truly is.

We live in a pretty religious area of the country… most people around here are FAMILIAR with Jesus by name… they might even say they BELIEVE in him...

But when you get to the bottom of who they THINK Jesus is… or what they believe ABOUT him… it becomes clear that they don’t really know him or love him.

They think of him as a good teacher or healer...

They think of him as a good luck charm or a good force in this world who is there to keep them safe or help them accomplish their dreams.

But Jesus is the CHRIST… the Son of God...

We must get that clear in our own hearts and minds…

and then learn to clarify that whenever we encounter someone who SAYS they believe in Jesus, but their lives aren’t CONFORMED to that truth.

The true person and work of Jesus is GOOD NEWS… and it demands our response.

I believe the natural response… as you read these true stories of Jesus’ life in Mark’s Gospel… is to love him.

For some reason.... maybe it’s because of my own relationship with Jesus and what he’s done in my life… for some reason, when I read Mark 1:1… I’m overwhelmed with a sense of love already...

The song that comes to mind is that one from Bill and Gloria Gaither:

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… there’s just something about that name.

Master, Savior, Jesus.. like the fragrance after the rain.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name.

I pray that’s your response as you we explore the truth of what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God...

Under our broader series vision, our first stated goal is this: that you would grow to know and love JESUS more closely.

You can’t… you won’t… tell others the good news of Jesus if you don’t know and love him yourself.

As you read and study his mighty works and his powerful teaching, allow your heart to be overtaken by love for him.

That’s one of the benefits of God revealing this to us in biography, story form… we get to KNOW Jesus, and love him as a result.

Prepare to love who Jesus is this year… not just who you want him to be.

Now this identity of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, sets him apart as a holy and unique figure.

He is the fulfillment of all of God’s plan for his people...

And he must not be taken lightly.

That’s why we must make this second preparation if we are to tell others the good news of Jesus...

2) Prepare to turn to his straight paths. (1:2-11)

Look at verse 2 - “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

Isaiah foretold that a messenger was to come before the coming of the Lord… a messenger who called God’s people to “prepare the way...”

This was a call for repentance… a call to stop turning to the right and to the left…

To the crooked paths… and to return to the straight paths of the Lord.

And that’s just what John the Baptist did… all four Gospel writers include his ministry as the beginning of the good news of Jesus…

And that’s because he was THE ONE called to prepare God’s people for the Son’s arrival.

He came as a figure of Elijah… the greatest prophet…

(that’s why Mark tells us what he was wearing… it’s because that was what Elijah wore.)

And just like Elijah, John called God’s people to repent for the forgiveness of their sins.

When you think of John, you should think of him as the bridge between the Old Testament and Jesus.

He is calling Israel back to faithfulness to God’s covenant with them so that they would not miss the coming of the Christ that the covenant was all about.

And many were responding… people from the hill country of Judea… and from all Jerusalem were turning to the Lord.

They were going out to the wilderness... away from the synagogues led by the hard-hearted, power-hungry Pharisees…

They were recognizing their own depravity and desolation… They were confessing their sins… they were getting baptized...

The pump was primed for revival.

And all the while John was saying, “I’m not the source of revival, Jesus is. This isn’t all there is people!… There is someone coming whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

“I’m just baptizing you with water… HE will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

(hold onto that for later)

Because before Jesus would baptize his people with the Holy Spirit, he first had to be baptized by John and be anointed with the Holy Spirit by God teh Father.

Look at verse 9 - “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.””

Remember - John is the bridge from the Old Testament to Jesus…

And baptism is the way that Jesus identified himself with John’s ministry... but then was set apart as the fulfillment of John’s message.

This is the moment where Jesus is first announced to be the Christ (the promised, anointed, Savior King), the Son of God...

As he describes the scene, Mark uses this word “immediately” in v. 10 - it’s the exact same word as “straight” in v. 3… it’s one of Marks favorite words.

It’s less about the TIMING of things and more about the CONNECTION of thing… the straight line of thought between them.

So John baptizes Jesus with water… and IMMEDIATELY (or as the King James says, “straightaway”)... God the Father sends God the Spirit to anoint Jesus… and he quotes Psalm 2, “You are my beloved Son.”

We have all three persons of the Trinity clearly portrayed here.

But even more than that, you have to understand that Psalm 2 that God the Father quoted was a hymn used to anoint the King of Israel, and it was seen as anticipating the final Messiah.

And so the Gospel writers are connecting this baptism with their whole purpose: to present Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

John is the bridge from the Old Testament to Jesus.

But Mark also starts another straight path here that will continue throughout his book: a straight path from Galilee to Jerusalem.

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee....”

Now we know from other gospel writers that Jesus’ ministry took him back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem a few times...

But Mark organizes the stories of his Gospel in such a way that it looks like a straight path from the beginnings of his ministry in Galilee where the response to Jesus is mostly favorable… to Jerusalem where the response to Jesus is hostile and he faces crucifixion, but ultimately, resurrection.

In organizing his Gospel in this way, Mark gives us a sense of Jesus’ laser focus on going to the cross.

The straight paths of Jesus led him directly to the cross.

Which MEANS that to turn TO the straight paths of Jesus, we are going to have to turn FROM the crooked paths of our own self-preservation and vain glory.

You can’t read about this baptism and believe it and not think that this Jesus guy deserves a little more than your casual acknowledgement of who he is...

I mean, the heavens don’t open up and God doesn’t audibly speak and the Spirit doesn’t visibly appear for just anyone.

This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And we must prepare our hearts to turn to his straight paths.

You cannot follow Jesus… you cannot tell others the good news about him… and still walk in the old crooked paths of your selfish desire.

You simply can’t do it.

You can’t try to keep doing your own thing and squeeze a little Jesus in on the side.

The WHOLE plan of God centers on HIM.

Our stories are about HIS story, NOT the other way around.

In our sin nature, our paths and his paths are wildly divergent.

If you think that “believing in Jesus” means that your life gets to look mostly the sameexcept that we go to church on Sundays and pray before we eat, then you have a SERIOUSLY skewed vision of what it means to follow Jesus.

The reason some professing Christians are not growing as disciples who make disciples is because they are too busy walking their own crooked paths.

Sure, we use excuses like not having the time… or not knowing what to say… or not being around any unbelievers...

But if we were walking the paths of Jesus…

We would see ALL of our time as belonging to him...

We would devour his word and understand his story...

We would constantly put ourselves around unbelievers… and learn to SEE the unbelievers around us as those needing a physician to heal their soul.

To believe the gospel… to follow Jesus... is to radically reorient our lives to his paths.

We will see this again and again in the book of Mark.

There is no being a Christian without repentance… without turning to the straight paths of Jesus.

To believe the gospel is to walk so closely in his way that there is no other possible explanation for our lives, and therefore we HAVE to tell others about Jesus to give a reason for our hope.

Now the bad news is that the temptations to go astray on crooked paths don’t stop coming when we follow Jesus...

But good news is: we don’t have to do that in our own power.

We have a champion who has gone before us and resisted Satan’s temptations… and we have the same Spirit who anointed him and led him in that victory over Satan.

Look at verse 12 - “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”

Prepare to love Jesus for who he is… prepare to turn to his straight paths… now this...

3) Prepare to trust his victory over Satan. (1:12-13)

Is that at all disconcerting to you… that the Spirit of God DROVE him out into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan?

But that is exactly what the text says.

The same spirit who JUST descended upon him is the one who takes him to the wilderness.

So WHY? Why is the HOLY Spirit PUTTING Jesus in a place of temptation?

Because we need to see that Jesus resisted ALL temptation and gained victory over Satan… he was COMPLETELY sinless.

Led by the Spirit, he walked in the wilderness places - the places we dare not go - he faced the things we don’t want to face.

Don’t you find it interesting that Mark doesn’t include barely any details about HOW Satan tempted Jesus like Matthew and Luke do...

But he DOES include this little fact - “and he was with the wild animals”???

That’s very typical of Mark… exclude seemingly Big things that we want to know, and INCLUDE other seemingly SMALL things in order to make a point.

Mark is pointing us to the fact that Jesus did not just resist temptation… he faced our SHAME (going into the wilderness), our GUILT (the temptation itself), and and our FEARS (dwelling the wild animals).

All of this foreshadows the cross… where Jesus sacrificed his sinless life on our behalf...

He took on the shame of the cross… driven out of the city and hung on an instrument of torture...

He took on the guilt of our sin… God’s punishment was placed upon him.

He took on the fear of death… the fear that stands behind all other fears.

And in his resurrection, he won the victory.

I want you to understand: Jesus did not avoid the bad news to bring us the good news...

During the height of the 2020 pandemic, with all the bad news coming across the mainstream media outlets, John Krashinski (of The Office fame) started a making videos that he called SGN, “Some Good News.”

He modeled a room in his home after a news desk… and made himself the anchor to devote an entire newscast to “good news.”

His goal: highlight feel-good messages to make us feel better about all the bad news that is out there.

And maybe the show was fun for him and some of his viewers… but the truth is … we can’t just make news “good” simply by AVOIDING the bad news.

Jesus did not avoid the bad news to bring us the good news...

He FACED and CONQUERED the bad news… he entered into it... that’s why HE IS the good news.

Jesus succeeded where Adam did not, and where we do not.

The good news is NOT primarily, “Learn how to fight sin like Jesus did.”

The good news IS “Jesus conquered Satan, sin and death on your behalf… he defeated shame, guilt, and fear… trust Jesus in order to overcome sin in his power!”

Do you see the difference?

One says Jesus is your example for victory… the other says Jesus IS your victory.

The power that Jesus gives to his followers is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit… the SAME Spirit who led him in the wilderness.

Remember what John said: “One is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

And that is EXACTLY what Jesus has done.

Remember, Mark is writing this Gospel FOR CHURCHES after Jesus has ascended… after the Holy Spirit has come upon his people...

And so when they read John’s prophecy that Jesus WOULD baptize with the Spirit… and that the Spirit DID lead Jesus into the wilderness… they would have recognized, just like us, that THEY have the same Holy Spirit indwelling them.

The Spirit IS still leading us through the wilderness of this world.

We still face the shame and guilt and fear that we always faced...

But we are led in the power and victory of Jesus THROUGH his ever-present Holy Spirit.

Do you trust Christ’s victory over Satan's schemes in your life?

This takes us right back to what we studied two weeks ago in Ephesians 6… we stand firm in the armor of God.

We believe and apply the truth of Christ like a belt that holds everything together…

We guard our hearts with in his righteousness...

And wear his salvation like a helmet about our head.

We believe his power and so extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one.

We stand in his readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace and we wield the word of God like a skillful swordsman in the power of the Spirit.

We fight from a position of victory, not defeat, because Christ has already won the battle.

Jesus engaged in our spiritual warfare… he fought Satan and his angels ministered to him… and he came out on top so that we could be led by his Holy Spirit - trust him.

Trust that his way is better than the enemy’s.

Trust that your enemy is stronger than you, but he is NOT stronger than him.

Trust him that even though you walk through the wilderness, he is WITH you… he went there before you and prepared the way.

Trust him that his perfect righteousness and spotless sacrifice is SUFFICIENT for your salvation.

Trust him… that he is the Christ, the Son of God.

[Pause] This introduction to who Jesus is… this trailblazing of straight paths by John the baptist… this initial victory of Jesus over Satan: all of this was the necessary preparation for Jesus… and for us… to truly understand his ministry, which Mark summarizes next:

Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Here’s our final preparation we need to make today in order to tell others the good news of Jesus:

4) Prepare to participate in his message of the Kingdom.

The good news is not just something we hear about or believe from afar… it’s something we PARTICIPATE IN.

The good news is about a King and a Kingdom that is at hand.

While Jesus did a lot of things during his earthly ministry: he healed people, he made disciples, he cast out demons, he confronted religious rulers...

He did a LOT of things… but all of those things served this one thing: he ushered in a new Kingdom through his preaching of the gospel.

To repent and believe the gospel is to understand the time is fulfilled… the time is NOW.

Jesus has come as the fulfillment of ALL of God’s redemptive plan.

And because the time is fulfilled and God’s anointed King has come… the Kingdom is AT HAND.

That means you can reach out and grab it.

As close as the chair in front of you… in fact, as close as your hand itself… the Kingdom is HERE.

Now that DOESN’T mean that the Kingdom is COMPLETELY here...

We are still waiting for Israel to be fully restored, for Jesus to return and rule with a rod of iron and bring absolute justice, righteousness and peace to the earth, to sit in his final judgement, and to then usher in his eternal reign.

But the Kingdom can still be grasped by each one of us by repenting and believing the gospel.

We get to live in the “already” of the kingdom even as we wait for the “not yet” of the kingdom.

We get to see the church storm the gates of hell with the gospel news breaking down every stronghold and lofty opinion...

We get to see new outposts for the kingdom established as more local churches are planted in every nation...

We get to see the dominion of Satan crumble...

And we get to wait for our king.

This is the message of Jesus… and this is the message of the book of Mark...

And I want you to know what to expect: You must decide what to do with this Jesus.

You are either for him, which means participating in his Kingdom,

or you are against him.

Repent and believe the good news.

We already set out the fist goal of this series…

1) That you would grow to know and love Jesus more closely.

And as that happens, you will begin to participate in Christ’s kingdom in these next two ways

2) That you would be able to clearly communicate the person and work of Christ to others.

That part is easy once you grow to know and love him...

It’s not hard to talk about someone you love… I could talk to you about my wife Katy or my close friend Jeff all day long...

But then we don’t just want to be able to communicate Jesus in THEORY… we actually want to DO IT.

And that leads to this third goal:

3) That you would help at least one unbeliever encounter Jesus this year, potentially inviting them to read the Gospel of Mark and discuss it with you.

You see, you aren’t a fully formed disciple until you are making disciples.

Until you are participating in the Kingdom of God by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to others.

[show pathway] This is what we try to visualize in our discipleship pathway that we use here at Oak Hill…

The first phase is the proclaiming phase…

That’s when you are learning about Jesus and getting to know and love him.

And at some point you repent and believe that he is who he says he is…

He IS the Christ, the Son of God…

The Kingdom IS at hand.

And you are baptized into his Kingdom community, the Church.

And when that happens, you enter…

·The Equipping Phase… that’s the second phase…

You are getting to know and love Jesus even more.

You are learning to abide and endure and grow in him…

And you are learning to clearly communicate him to others.

You are discussing and practicing these things with in the safety of a Gospel Community.

But you haven’t become a fully formed disciple who makes disciples just by KNOWING about or TALKING about making disciples…

You actually have to tell others about him.

That’s the Sending Phase… when you are sent out as a witness to help unbelievers encounter Jesus.

If you are a believer of Jesus Christ, then you are SENT as a witness to his good news.

This series is all about proclaiming Jesus… equipping you… and then SENDING you.

That’s our mission… that’s the pathway… that’s what we are going after together!

To help us with that, we’ve put a number of resources on our website including the study guide that goes along with this series… but I want to point out another resource that’s there for you…

[Show Slide] It’s called the Mark Challenge and it’s put out by Christianity explored

It’s a one page document that breaks down the gospel of Mark into small chunks each day.

This is a different resource than our Mark reading plan we are doing here… much more basic.

Here’s how this might look…

You are having a conversation with someone and you tell someone about how Jesus changed your life in some way.

And the other person is like, ‘Oh yeah, Jesus… I mean… I believe in Jesus”

OR they say, “Jesus, whose that…

Either way, you ask, “Have you ever taken time getting to KNOW Jesus?”

And they’re like, “No, that sounds weird.”

And you’re like, “I know… but would you want to if you could?”

And they’re like, “Sure, I guess.”

And then you say, “Would you be willing to read the Gospel of Mark and discuss it with me?”

And they’re like, “Yes, I would like that.”

And you’re like, “Great. Here’s this reading plan that will help you read just a little bit every day.

Read and ask questions. And I want you to write down three things as you read each day: who is Jesus, what has he done, and what difference does that make?

And then you set up a time for two weeks from now to discuss what they are reading.

And then when you get together with them, you let them set the agenda for what you will discuss.

You ask what they have been seeing about those three questions...

And you use what you learned in these sermons to point them to explain the good news from every part of Mark’s gospel.

I’m telling you… if you listen not just for yourself, but to pass this on to someone else, you will get SO MUCH MORE out of this.

Now maybe you are thinking, “No way. No way anyone is going to want to read the Bible and talk about Jesus with me. No way.

I’m telling you, I’ve used this Mark Challenge a few times, and I haven’t had anyone turn me down yet.

And what’s the worst they can say, “No!?”

Then you just know that the Lord isn’t drawing them… and you say… OK, well if you ever want to, let me know.

That’s it. Nothing really to worry about.

And if they say “Yes,” then you can trust that God will lead you and give you the words and his word will not return void.

So many people in our society THINK they know who Jesus is, but they’ve never really explored his gospel for themselves.

They need to be confronted with the reality of who he is so that they can get to know and love him too.

They need Jesus proclaimed to them so they can come to proclaim him to others.

Use God’s word in the book of Mark to do that work.

Are you prepared? Are you ready for this study?

Let’s pray that we would be right now.

Adore:

Jesus, I love you because you are _________.

Align:

I confess that I have walked on my own paths by _____, I'm turning to your paths today.

Ask:

Help me to stand when I face _______ (temptation).

Acknowledge:

Give me opportunities to tell _________ the good news of Jesus this week.