Who are you following? Everybody is following somebody. Or something. Put another way, everyone is a disciple. The question isn’t, “Are you a disciple?” It’s, “Who or what are you a disciple of?”

We explore in this session what Jesus had in mind for discipleship (or apprenticeship), along with looking at the forces that work on the human soul that "conform [us] to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2).

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: Various

This passage is not about wealth, though Jesus had a lot to say about money; this is a story about your heart.  

What is it that is keeping you from fully taking on the yoke of Jesus and experiencing life to the fullest as he put it?  For this man, it was his money.  For us, it could be all sorts of things.   What is the thing? 

From Ben Witherington: Mark is making clear that the demands of discipleship to Jesus go beyond the demands of the Law. The ultimate test of obedience, then, is seen as the willingness to assume the yoke of discipleship to Jesus.

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Brittni Ratliff

Text: Mark 10.17-31

Typically, the "Triumphal Entry" (i .e. Palm Sunday) is depicted as a happy scene.  The gospel writers would say otherwise.  As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he weeps.  He weeps because he knows that while the people hail him as king, they want a violent overthrower, not what Jesus was offering.  They wanted a god of their own making, not God himself. They wanted the benefits of the Kingdom without the rule and wisdom of Jesus.

They wanted the kingdom without the king.

Here and now, we run the same risk of wanting Jesus to fit our mental maps of reality, morality, etc, rather than letting him speak for himself. It's his way, or our way. Which way will you choose?

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: Mark 10.46 - 11.11

In this passage, we see a debate between Jesus and the Pharisees on the topic of divorce.  Typically, this passage becomes an air-tight theology on divorce, but this is not the aim of this passage.  Instead, He uses the conversation about legal divorce in the 1st century to expose and rebuke the Pharisees for exploiting and demeaning women.   

Jesus is not giving a full discourse on divorce.    He’s trying to protect women who are being used and abused, and he is declaring that life in God’s kingdom protects the vulnerable. 

While Jesus is addressing a specific case study here, in the whole of the Scriptures, there are, however, reasons where divorce may be an option.  Divorce is never easy, and God’s will is fruitful marriages where partners yield to one another in love and service, AND also for the vulnerable to be cared for and given a voice and freedom from evil.

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: Mark 10.1-16

Mark 9.42-50 is arguably one of Jesus' tougher teachings. Where generally this passage has become a doctrine about hell,  Jesus is after something more pressing for the present.  The way we live now matters. 

We have real power in the words we say and actions we do to push people away from Jesus, or to bring them to him.  Hell is not just a future reality, but a present one too.  With our words, we have power to release hell on earth and bring cursing on people, and Jesus says it would be better if we drowned than to push people away from him (Mark 9.42).

It's a sobering teaching, but an important one for all of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus.  Are we living lives that compel people to follow Him, or push them away?  

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: mark 9.42-50

The kingdom of Jesus is an "Upside-Down Kingdom". Meaning, His kingdom does not look like the kingdoms of the world. Power is not through taking, but giving. Not by wealth, status, or influence, but through becoming a servant. Jesus refuses to play into the structures of power and influence of His day... and He still won't. Real status in His Kingdom comes by being a servant of all.

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Brittni Ratliff

Text(s): Mark 9.30-41 & 10.32-45

The Great Commission is spiritual warfare." - Michael Heiser.

In this famous, and regularly misapplied, story of the transfiguration, we see Jesus declaring turf war against the gods of darkness. And when we follow Jesus, we are called to bring that same light into dark places. But in order to do that, we must let the light break into the dark places in us. 

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: Mark 9.1-29

In Movement 02 of Mark's biography, we see the disciples wrestling with what it means for Jesus to be king. In this story, Jesus challenges their (and our) understanding of king, and gives his famous call to what it means to be his apprentice: "deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me".

Teachings Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text: Mark 8.22-38

Listen along for tips and suggestions on how to implement the prayer practice into your rule of life.

Slides

In the middle of a prayer about heaven invading earth, and cosmic war against evil, Jesus tells us to ask God to give us our daily lunch. To pray to BIG prayers, but to make sure we pray the small ones too. Because both matter to God.

Charles Spurgeon once said "asking is the rule of the Kingdom". So why do so many of us struggle to ask God for things? Does God really care about our actual lives? And how do we explain unanswered prayer and His perceived silence in our lives?

Teaching Slides

Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

Text(s): Matthew 6.9-11 & Luke 11.5-8