If you missed Sunday Oct 3 2016’s message, you can listen to it by clicking here.
Read Mark 6:1-6a together as a group.
- What jumped out to you as you read this passage? Why?
- In verse 2, we see that “many who heard him were amazed.” What do you think the difference is between being impressed with (or amazed by) Jesus and actually accepting Jesus for who he truly is? In what ways do we have a tendency to do this today (to settle for being ‘impressed with Jesus’ as opposed to actually ‘accepting Jesus’ for who he is)?
- In verse 3, we see people scoffing at Jesus in order to invalidate & discredit his teaching. In what ways do we (or others) today sometimes try to ‘sanitize Jesus’ words’ and/or dumb-down his teachings in order to make it more palatable? Can you think of any specific examples (teachings of Jesus’) that we sometimes do this with?
- At the end of verse 3 we read that the people were “deeply offended” by Jesus and that they “refused to believe in him.” Jesus was offensive to people in his day and remains offensive to many people today. Why is that? Why do you think people are so easily offended by Jesus today?
- Jeff offered two reasons why, 1) Because Jesus confronts our theology (our beliefs and ideas about God) and his exclusive claims of divinity are offensive to people, and 2) Because Jesus confronts the sin and the idols of our hearts, which is offensive to people. We don’t like to think about the fact the we are broken and sinful people!
- Of the two reasons people are often offended by Jesus, which one do you find you have the most difficult time with? Why?
- Jeff offered two reasons why, 1) Because Jesus confronts our theology (our beliefs and ideas about God) and his exclusive claims of divinity are offensive to people, and 2) Because Jesus confronts the sin and the idols of our hearts, which is offensive to people. We don’t like to think about the fact the we are broken and sinful people!
- In verse 4, Jesus talked about how “A prophet is honoured everywhere except his hometown…” What do you think he meant by that
- Read Matthew 7:21-23. How does “familiarity” with Jesus (i.e. Bible knowledge, good theology, going to church, doing good things etc…) sometimes prevent us from actually knowing Jesus?
- In verse 5, we see that Jesus couldn’t do any miracles (except for just a few) due to their unbelief. How does our lack of faith prevent Jesus from showing up in our lives in powerful ways?
- In verse 6, we see Jesus being “amazed at their unbelief” (one of two times in all the Gospels he was ‘amazed’ by someone, the other time being because of their belief). What does this show us about Jesus’ values? What kind of faith is Jesus calling us to have? What does it look like in practical terms?
- What is your next step coming out of this teaching/discussion? What is God calling you to do in response?
