Signs & Stories of the Kingdom. King Over Chaos
Phil walks us through Mark 4:35-5:17 sharing reflections and insights. He reminds us that God is our refuge in the storms of life - when things are out of our control, the outcome in unknown, and it's a frightening place to be in - and that our circumstances don't equate God's love for us. Phil reminds us that the Cross demonstrates God's love for us. He encourages us to pray for God to open our eyes to see who Jesus really is.
Life Group Questions
Signs & Stories of the Kingdom. King Over Chaos.
Read Mark 4:35 – 5:17
- What do you notice?
- What is challenging for you?
- What parts do you have observations or questions about?
Discuss The Gospel of Mark places this passage immediately after the parables of the Kingdom, following teaching of ideas and patterns with authority and power.
- Are you more comfortable around discussing Jesus’ words or people’s experiences of His power?
- Are you more confident in being involved in sharing Jesus’ words and wisdom or requesting and relying on His power?
- What do you think that Paul is getting at in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5?
- What might this mean for our expectations?
Jesus stills the storm with words very similar to Psalm 107:29 (in fact, the same Greek words are used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and the Gospel of Mark). Two sets of questions get asked: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him.”
- What do you think Jesus is trying to communicate through his questions?
- What does our fear say about the way we view our faith?
- Was there a moment for you when you had to confront the question of who is Jesus? Tell us about it.
In the Mark 5 passage, there are a whole range of responses to Jesus.
- Why do you think the locals ask Jesus to leave after seeing what has happened?
- What might be motivating the man who has been set free to ask to follow Jesus (he is not a Jew, so not accustomed to following rabbis…), and why do you think Jesus says no?
- How might we help people without a faith background to process and find language for spiritual experiences, and how would they know to ask us?
Pray: invite Jesus to speak wisdom into the situations you are facing, to respond to them with His power, and pray for opportunities to guide people as they confront spiritual realities in their lives.