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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

01 The Beginning of the Gospel

02 A Day in the Ministry of Jesus

03 Controversies

04 Parables

05 Miracles Around the Lake

06 Inside Out

07 Teaching Disciples Part 1

08 Teaching Disciples Part 2

09 Jerusalem Controversies

10 The Last Days

11 Taken and Tried

12 Tried and Crucified

13 The Risen Lord

Continuing right along this week in our study of the book of Mark.

What a great study already and I'm just really excited about where we're just picking up the baton where we left off last week here in the first chapter of the gospel of Mark looking at what this lesson titles, A Day in the Ministry of Jesus.

So the gospel of Mark chapter 1 doesn't just include this 1 day, but it is a central feature that basically have 1 of the interesting maybe few times you actually have a zoomed in picture of what Jesus did in a particular day, and that day happens to be a Sabbath.

So we're gonna learn a lot of important lessons this week.

I don't know that we have any other announcements or any commentary at all.

Should I pray and then we'll share the talk points?

Father in heaven, we are so thankful for the testimony of your word and for the spirit of truth to give us understanding in spiritual things.

We pray that spirit would guide us now as we review this lesson, and that you would be with each 1 of the teachers and participants in our Sabbath school classes as they study this topic, that the Spirit of God would also reveal to each 1 of us those things that would draw us closer to you and help us to be more effective in ministering the gospel to others.

Well, as last week's was the beginning of the gospel, which is lifted directly from Mark chapter 1 verse 1, and it kind of covered some of the very introductory comments and background of who Mark was and the start of Jesus ministry, Now this week's lesson picks up essentially in verse 16, okay?

Because yours last week ended with, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, so he's announcing his ministry.

Now he steps into doing the ministry and the very first thing he does is call his first disciples.

Then it moves into a day in the life of Jesus and some ministry healings that he does subsequent to that.

So with that framework in mind, we've drawn out from this week's lesson 3 talking points.

Talking point number 1, Jesus called his disciples strategically.

We're gonna look at why he called, not just who he called, but the circumstances of their call, but why even have disciples and what was his aim and objective there?

Talking point number 2, Sabbath is for rest, worship, fellowship, and service.

That comes from Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, but basically that's the main thread of this week's lesson is looking at Jesus' activities on the Sabbath and the lessons we can learn from there.

And finally, talking point number 3, prayer is essential to successful ministry.

That taken from Wednesday's lesson, it looks like the prayer life of Jesus, who, going back to the human divine, he was divine, but he stepped into humanity and he maintained that connection with the Father through prayer, and we're gonna see what benefit there was to that and what lessons we can take away.

So, Jesus called his disciples strategically.

Now, when we teach our Emanuel Institute course, sometimes I like to ask the question, why did Jesus even have disciples?

And when I was growing up, I think if posed that question, I would probably say, well, you know, they were to watch what he did and document it.

Clearly, they have a gospel record and to let people know all the stuff Jesus did.

And while that witnessing of Christ's work was certainly an element, when we go to Mark chapter 1, if you want to read verses 16 and 17, let's just start there.

And as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Then Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Mmm.

Notice he, from the very beginning, the opening, just like in this gospel passage, the time is at hand, we're teaching the gospel, now in his opening discussion with these disciples, which the lesson brings out that as you compare the gospel of Mark with the account in the gospel of John, you get a little backstory that they were, this wasn't their first encounter with Jesus.

He'd just walk up to them randomly and say, hey, you guys like fishing?

But they had been witnesses to John's ministry.

But now Jesus makes the approach and says, you guys want to take this seriously, come follow me.

But he doesn't just say, you're going to see more things as you follow me, just come along and make sure to take notes.

From the opening line, he says, I will make you become fishers of men.

So in my estimation, they knew what they were, or they should have known, what they were signing up for, that Jesus had a purpose in calling them more than just documenting his labors.

He was trying to turn them into laborers.

There's several things here that could be drawn out.

When it comes to ministry, ministry, effective ministry is strategic.

And for a lot of people, strategic or strategy sounds so human.

There's a mindset that, no, no, no, the Spirit of God just kind of blows where He wishes.

And almost to the point where, well, yeah, Jesus picked him because the Holy Spirit whispered his ear that 1 that 1 that 1 as If Jesus himself from his human standpoint had no Objective or that a human minister never has it like that would be wrong almost.

In other words you see You see jesus Being strategic even in the statement follow me and I'll make you become I love this verse As opposed to matthew's version follow me And I'll make you fishers of men Make you still implies, but I'll make you become.

Fishers of men implies that I know I'm gonna need to train you.

And once you have training, you have thought that goes into training, you have planning that goes into training.

Anybody who's ever trained anybody in any capacity knows that you don't just, I don't know, let's just, let's just do this.

You, it's thought out and it's planned and it's intentional, and you have objectives.

And so just in those few verses we see that Jesus is modeling something that is so essential and not just in professional ministry but for any Christian desiring to reach souls, you need strategy.

Well, in Jesus' strategy here, like he already knew, of course, We know he knew it was coming because he was, he started Hole's ministry based on the time prophecies.

He knew that this, his time here on earth was limited, that he not only, how do I say this without sounding a little bit odd, but Jesus' mission wasn't to share the gospel of the world.

His mission was to be the gospel for the world.

And then he would continue that work, but through his disciples, that message would go to the world, right?

So for instance, in John 20, 21, he says, as the father has sent me, so send I you.

Acts chapter 1, you will be my witnesses.

And so he starts from day 1 in his ministry, not only drawing people to who will remember what he did, but training them for acceptable service.

And There's a great statement about this in Desire of Ages 291, taken from when he later ordains the 12 for this ministry.

Jesus had called his disciples that he might send them forth as his witnesses to declare to the world what they had seen and heard of him.

Their office was the most important to which human beings had ever been called, and was second only to that of Christ himself.

They were to be workers together with God for the saving of the world.

As in the Old Testament, the 12 patriarchs stand as representatives of Israel, So the 12 apostles were to stand as representatives of the gospel church.

And so even in the not just the language of the call, but there's a there's a great little book and I'm not advocating us getting into the issue of women's ordination but there's a book about ordination by Clinton Jean Walleen that talk about the organization of the Apostles that Jesus called and it it brought to light something I'd never really realized before but there are several lists of because these are just the first 4 but at once the 12 are collected all together they are continually organized in a certain way so that Jesus and his ministry didn't just have a haphazard group of guys hanging out with him, he had teams, so they each paired up.

So even in this passage here, we see the first 1 is Simon who would be called Peter and Andrew, then James and his brother John.

So he's got a pair, then another pair, so you've got a grouping of 4.

Later on you'd have another grouping of 4 and another grouping of 4 so that when he would then send them out later in his ministry, they would already be arranged in 2 by 2.

So you're going to go 2 by 2, and then you're going to go to the places I'm going to go, then I'm going to follow up with you on that.

From the very beginning, he was organizing them for service.

And you could think, well, now that's a bridge too far.

Organizing the 12 into subgroups, where do you see any inspiration?

And just like every other fascinating thing that you ever study out, the Spirit of Prophecy gives us this insight, some Desire of Ages 292.

Says here, at the head of 1 of the groups into which the Apostles are divided stands the name of Philip.

And by the way, if you ever notice that every list of the Apostles starts with Peter, the fifth person is always Philip, and the ninth 1 is always James.

So it's almost you're following the captains of thousands, captains of fifties, captains of hundreds, captains of tens, philosophy of Jethro in the Old Testament, where this organization thing.

And what's interesting to me, even as you bring that up is When Jesus goes to feed the 5, 000 He turns to because they're in the region of Bethsaida He turns to Philip who the Bible says was from Bethsaida He says Philip where are we gonna find bread for all these people?

Series

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

02 A Day in the Ministry of Jesus

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Talking Points, 4th Quarter 2020: Education

06- More Lessons From the Master Teacher

29m

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

09 Jerusalem Controversies

29m

Sabbath School 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

02 A Day in the Ministry of Jesus

28m

Talking Points 4th Quarter 2023: God's Mission My Mission

08 Mission to the Needy

30m

Prayer and How We Can Grow Closer to God

44m

2nd Quarter 2020: How to Interpret Scripture

01- The Uniqueness of the Bible

1h

Secret To a Life of Power

1h 18m

Reprioritizing in the Last Days

Devotion to Agonizing Prayer

1h 4m

Plenary Sessions

Sabbath School Lesson Study: While It Is Day

1h 35m

GYC 2011 Seminar: The World's Greatest Wireless Connection

Teach Us To Pray: The Model For Prayer, Part 2

46m

The Book of Luke

Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Prayer

58m

Power Through Prayer: Learning the Science of Prayer and the Secret to a Life of Spiritual Prayer

1. Life of Power

1h 12m

Sound Doctrine