Mark’s
Good News about Jesus – Conflict, Service and Worship
Conflict, Service and
Worship
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
What will the desert and the parched land see that will
cause them to “rejoice greatly and shout for joy” (verses 1 and 2)?
Who are we to
tell those with fearful hearts is coming (verse 4)?
What will
happen to the ears of the deaf (verse 5)?
Who will “shout
for joy” (verse 6)?
Who will walk
on the highway called “the Way of Holiness” (verses 8 and 9)?
What will
overtake “those the Lord has rescued” (verse 10)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 7:31-37 - New
International Version (NIV)
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down
to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There
some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they
begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his
fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He
looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means
“Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his
tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so,
the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed
with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the
deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Where did
Jesus go (verse 31)?
Who did the
people beg Jesus to place His hand on (verse 32)?
What did Jesus
do (verse 33)?
In your
opinion, why did Jesus sigh deeply (verse 34)?
What happened
after “Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears” then “spit and
touched the man’s tongue” (verses 34 and 35)?
How did they
respond to Jesus’s command not to tell anyone (verse 36)?
What happened
to the people (verse 37)?
In your opinion, what is the difference between
the way the people who witnessed the healing in Mark 7:31-31 responded and the
response to the of those who are redeemed in Isaiah 35:1-10? In your opinion, why is there as difference?
24 Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was
Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ
Jesus. 25 As Paul talked about righteousness,
self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and
said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will
send for you.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul
would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.
27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius
Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he
left Paul in prison.
How was Felix related to the Israelite people (verse
24)?
What did Paul speak to
Felix about (verse 24)?
When did Felix become afraid (verse 25)?
When was Felix going to send for Paul again (verse 25)?
What was Felix hoping for from Paul (verse 26)?
Why did Felix leave Paul in prison (verse 27)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the difference between the lame who
leap like a deer and the mute tongue that shouts for joy in Isaiah 35:1-10 and
Felix who “was afraid” when he listened to Paul in Acts 6:1-7?
In your opinion, why is the reaction of those who hear the
deaf mute talking about Jesus healing him in Mark 7:31-37 amazement and the
reaction of Felix to hearing Paul talk about “righteousness, self-control
and the judgment to come” in Acts 6:1-7 is fear?
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is
burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a
trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged
that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could
not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must
be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses
said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in
joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names
are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits
of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a
new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the
blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not
escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if
we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time
his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not
only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more”
indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that
what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for
our “God is a consuming fire.”
In your opinion, what is Paul referring to when
he says “a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire” (verse 18)?
What was to
happen to an animal that touched the mountain (verse 20)?
Why did Moses
say “I am trembling with fear” (verse 21)?
Where have
Christians come (verse 22)?
In your
opinion, what is significant about coming to “the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven” (verse 23)?
What does the “sprinkled
blood” speak a better word than (verse 24)?
What is the
promise (verse 26)?
What will be
removed (verse 27)?
What will
remain (verse 27)?
How should
those who “are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” respond (verse
28)?
What is our
God (verse 29)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are the amazement of the people in Mark
7:31-37 and the “reverence and awe” that is commanded in Hebrews
12:18-29 different?
In your
opinion, how does the fear that Felix had when Paul spoke about “righteousness,
self-control and the judgment to come” in Acts 24:24-27 help us understand
the reason that people might “refuse him who speaks” in Hebrews 12:18-29?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Mark, Acts and Hebrews teach us
about the conflict between the between the unclean world and the “Way of
Holiness”?
In your
opinion, how should those whose spirits, minds and hearts have been opened to
Jesus react to God today; with other people and with God?
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