Reflection Questions

1. According to Mark 4:21-34, what does it mean and look like to bear fruit? What are ways you can bear more fruit in your own life? 
2. BONUS: What does Jesus teach his disciples about Man’s responsibility in salvation from the parable of the soils in Mark 4:1-20? 
3. BONUS: Why is Mark 4:24-25 incredibly gracious and frightening all at the same time? 
4. BONUS: Mark 4:26-29 is only mentioned in Mark. Why do you think Mark chose to add this passage to chapter 4? How does it help us to understand the theme of Mark 4, bearing good fruit?
5. BONUS: Have you found that there were seasons in your life when you were actively responding to God’s Word? Were these seasons times when you were growing the most? What made those seasons so productive? How does that tie back into these parables in Mark 4?

Reflection Question

1. What is Mark trying to teach us with this sandwich story in Mark 3:20-35? What’s the application to our lives?
2. BONUS: How does Mark 7-19 help us to understand Mark 3:20-35 fully?
3. BONUS: What does this passage teach us about being a disciple of Christ?
4. BONUS: What does this passage teach us about sin?
5. BONUS: How does the weightiness of sin, of disobeying God, tie back into discipleship and the Will of God? Put another way, what does a wasted life look like?

Reflection Questions

1. What is Mark teaching the early church about legalism? How are the parables in Mark 2:18-22 helpful for personal application?
2. BONUS: What are some ways we are just like the Pharisees and raise traditions to the level of scripture?
3. BONUS: Mark is showing us why the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus, but he continues to teach us more about Jesus, the suffering servant. What do these five stories in MArk 2:1-3:6 teach you about Jesus?
4. BONUS: Looking to Jesus’ example in Mark 3:5 and keeping Mark 2:1-3:6 in context, what does this verse and the entire passage teach us about how we should view sin? Sinner? Being on mission?

Reflection Questions

1. Compare and contrast the paralytic man and Levi. What do they have in common? What do they not have in common? 
2. How do these two stories help us understand the themes of Mark: Discipleship and Faith? 
3. BONUS: What about how Jesus handles this situation and interacts with this man sticks out to you? How is it encouraging and challenging to you in terms of your daily interactions with people? 
4. BONUS: How can we interact more like Jesus with sinners? What principles does Jesus model in 2:13-17?

Reflection Questions

1. What stuck out to you from all the scenes depicted in Mark 1:21-45? Why? 
2. After looking through Mark 1:21-45 how would you define real-life ministry? How would you define a wasted life? 
3. In terms of your day-to-day life, how does having a better understanding of who Jesus is and what being a disciple looks like change how you approach your devotional time? Church? Home? Interacting with others?

Reflection Questions

1. How does Mark’s use of John the Baptist in Mark 1:1-28 help us to understand the two central themes of this book… Who is Jesus? What does it mean to be a Disciple? 
2. What stuck out to you about today’s passage? Why? What’s the application for your own life? 
3. (BONUS) How is the imagery of fishing helpful in understanding the task of evangelism? 
4. (BONUS) Why do you think Mark mentions Andrew, Peter, James, and John by name? What is he trying to teach us?
5. (BONUS) Mark notes the crowd's reaction to Jesus’ teaching in 1:21-28 from the Old Testament. In the context of 1:2-3, what does this passage teach us regarding the Bible? How should this change the way we approach our devotions?

Reflection Questions

1. Which of the 5 ways that Mark introduces Jesus stood out to you? Why? 
2. What does Mark say the main theme of this book is about? 
3. Why do you think Mark spends 5 verses talking about John the Baptist when this is a book of Jesus? What can we learn from John the Baptist?
4. (BONUS) How does John the Baptist perfectly embody, through his message and lifestyle,  what it means to have answered the question, “Who is Jesus?”
5. (BONUS) What is significant about hearing God speak in Mark 1:11, and the fact that God is quoting the Bible? What impact should that have on our own devotional lives? 
6. (BONUS) What does this passage teach us about baptism and what it symbolizes? What does John mean when he says that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit?