Introduction READ MARK 13 What is Jesus talking about? We assume he’s talking about the end of the world. He talks about “the end” coming (7, 13) The Gospel must first be preached to all nations (10) “Days of distress will be unequaled” (19) Dramatic language of sun darkened, etc. (24) People will see…

Introduction READ Mark 11:27-33 Read Mark 12:1-12 The Temple leaders defended themselves based on their authority. Jesus said that their authority doesn’t matter if they refused to respond to the Gospel. The question is: The Question: What does God really WANT FROM US ? (11:27-12:12) Read Mark 12:13-15…

Introduction The Question of the Temple ( Mark 11:12-19 ) This is weird. Jesus seems to act very out of character: Fig tree Temple For the disciples, the temple cleansing was what they had waited for. But the way Jesus did it was disappointing. The fig tree is there to asnwer the question of the temple…

The Triumphal Entry Read Mark 11:1-11 This story, especially as Mark tells it, is anticlimactic: Jesus decides to make his move during Passover—the new exodus! Disciples proclaim Jesus king Crowds join in the procession The temple leaders are supposed to respond. They ignore him completely. We are not…

sddasc Read Mark 10:17-31 Jesus challenges this man with a particular version of “deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Jesus looked…

Recap Read Mark 9:14-29 Central question of the story: why can’t the disciples cast out the demon? Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to…

Now we come to the midterms. Anxiety of the pharisees. Lesson of the Loeaves—I am completely dependent on a generous God. Jesus tells them to watch out for the yeast of the pharisees. The disciples start worrying about bread. Read Mark 8:27-9:1 There is one question on the midterm: who do you say I am?…

Read Mark 7:1-23 We often get this passage backwards—we think that the Pharisees were focused on the outside—ritual and behavior—while Jesus is focused on the in keeping the inside clean. But that’s because we get confused about the point they are arguing. We think Jesus is abolishing dietary laws. “Are…

Coming out of COVID we were in a really good financial position. We found ourselves sitting on a good sized checking account. From that position, we made several decisions at various points: We increased the size of our emergency reserve fund We invested more of our money with church investment groups.…