April 25, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Holding on to What We Have

Holding on to What We Have

Jeremiah 7:1-11a - New International Version (NIV)

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. ³ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” ⁵ If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, ⁶ if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, ⁷ then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. ⁸ But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

⁹ “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? ¹¹ Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?

What word came to Jeremiah (verse 1)?

Where is Jeremiah to stand to proclaim “this message” (verse 2)?

What do the people of Judah need to do for the Lord to let them “live in this place” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what would the people of Judah meant if they said “this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord” (verse 4)?

What four ways and actions are listed that the people of Judah need to change (verses 5 and 6):

1)

2)

3)

4)

How is “this place” where the Lord will let them live if they change described (verse 7)?

What worthless things are they trusting in (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the conflict between the stealing, murdering, committing adultery, committing perjury, burning incense to Baal, and following other gods; and standing before God in His temple and saying “we are safe” (verses 9 and 10)?

What does the Lord ask if “this house, which bears my Name” has become (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 11:12-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

¹⁵ On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶ and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹⁸ The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

How did Jesus feel when they left Bethany (verse 12)?

Why was there no fruit on the fig tree (verse 13)?

What did the disciples hear Jesus say (verse 14)?

Where was Jesus when He “began driving out those who were buying and selling there” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus quote the passage from Jeremiah here (verse 17)?

Who began to look for a way to kill Jesus and why (verse 18)?

What had happened to the fig tree (verse 20)?

Who remembered the cursing of the fig tree and said “Rabbi, look!” (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what mountain was Jesus looking at when He said “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea’” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what can we learn about prayer from verses 23, 24 and 25?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are the people of Judah in Jeremiah 7:1-11a and the chief priests, teachers of the law and sellers of Mark 11:12-25 similar?  How are the words of God through Jeremiah and the actions of Jesus in Mark similar? 

Acts 14:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. ⁴ The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. ⁵ There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. ⁶ But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, ⁷ where they continued to preach the gospel.

Where did Paul and Barnabas go “at Iconium” (verse 1)?

Who believed because of their effective speech (verse 1)?

What did the “Jews who refused to believe” do (verse 2)?

How did God confirm “the message of his grace” (verse 3)?

How did the people of the city respond (verse 4)? 

In your opinion, why was there “a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews” (verse 5)?

What did Paul and Barnabas do when they found out about the plot (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the conflict God’s call to reform to those entering the temple in Jeremiah 7:1-11a also shown by the division in the synagogue and city in Acts 14:1-7?

In your opinion, is there anything in the success of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:1-7 that helps us understand the teachings of Jesus about prayer in Mark 11:12-25?

Revelation 3:7-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Who is the One who opens and no one can shut or shuts and no one can open (verse 7)?

What have the Christians in Philadelphia done in spite of having little strength (verse 8)?

Who do “those of the synagogue of Satan” claim to be (verse 9)?

Why will the Philadelphian Christians be kept from “the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does the command to “hold on to what you have” mean (verse 11)?

Who will be a pillar in the temple with a new name written on them (verse 12)?

Who is to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the people who are entering the temple where Jeremiah stands giving God’s warning in Jeremiah 7:1-11a and those who become pillars of the temple in Revelation 3:7-13?

In your opinion, what does the victory of those who have little strength but are able to keep Jesus’s word in spite of the synagogue of Satan in Revelation 3:7-13 help us understand about Jesus’s teaching of prayer in Mark 11:12-25? 

In your opinion, how would the synagogues in Iconium in Acts 14:1-7 and in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13 being in opposition to Christians have effected people making decisions about Christ? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Jeremiah, Mark, Acts and Revelation teach us about how those who frequent ‘holy’ physical buildings can become hostile to God and His people?

In your opinion, are there ‘holy’ physical buildings or ‘holy’ groups who have become hostile to God today?  How can we be victorious in today’s challenges?

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