USING THE NOTES

Timings – a rough guide is the Welcome is 10 mins, Worship 10-15 mins, the Word 30-40 mins plus 10-20 mins to Pray for one another Witness 15 mins

Witness Section – this tends to be left out –can I challenge your group to do it for the whole term & see what God does with your willingness.

Leading – please don’t feel you have to stick to the suggestions for the Welcome/Worship. If you have something more appropriate for your group then go for it! Likewise you don’t have to answer every question!

BACKGROUND

Mark was written probably in the midAD 60’s.

The theme of this book is Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

Church tradition is strong that the author of this Gospel was Mark, also known as John Mark. Mark was close to Peter, who referred to him as “my son Mark” (1 Peter 5:13). Some have suggested that Mark was Peter’s secretary and that his Gospel reflects Peter’s view of the events. Mark was also connected closely with Paul. Along with his cousin Barnabas, Mark accompanied the great apostle on the first missionary journey. Mark, for an unknown reason, left the party at Perga when they turned inland to go to Asia. Because of this, Paul refused to allow him to go on the second missionary journey, and for years we hear nothing about him. Tradition says that he founded the church at Alexandria, Egypt. Eventually Paul and Mark were reconciled, and he was Paul’s companion during his imprisonment in a Roman jail.

The book of Mark is the shortest of the Gospels, and Mark moves the reader quickly through the life of Jesus. He connects the stories together one after another. Despite the quick accounts of these stories, Mark gives us the richest and most vivid eyewitness detail of the life of Jesus.

This is a narrative of the life of Jesus with a theological intention. Mark does not mention the formative years of Jesus’ life. From this account we find no material about his childhood, teen years, or what shaped him. Instead, Mark dives straight into the adult life of Jesus, dealing with the last three years of his life. Even though this account has a narrow focus on the earthly ministry of Jesus, he hones this focus further by primarily looking at the death of Jesus. The story of Jesus’ final week occupies over one-third of the story.

SERMON DATES

Summer 2006