The Gospel That Forgot Christmas
I. PREPARING the WAY for God who COMES. (v.1-5)
A. It’s PART of an ongoing PLAN. (v.1-2)
B. The IMPORTANCE of PREPARATION. (v.3)
C. A CALL to visible REPENTANCE. (v.4-5)
Today we move into the beginning of a series on Mark. It’s Christmas Sunday, and here we are in a gospel that skips right over the brith of Jesus. Mark’s gospel is a gospel on the move…because God for Mark is a God who comes to us and calls us to reorient our whole life toward following Jesus.
1. Kid’s Question: Have you ever had a friend or relative come to visit you? What did you do with your family to get ready?
2. Mark says this is the “beginning of the gospel about Jesus.” What is the end of the gospel?
II. When you THINK about GOD… (v.5-9)
A. …Is He a SAFE place for CONFESSION? (v.5)
B. …Are REPENTANCE and reorientation GIFTS? (v.5)
C. …Is He a CONCEPT or One who COMES? (v.9)
What we often think we think about God may not be what we actually think about God. We may adopt church phrases or doctrinal statement to describe what we think about God, but the truth is that our life will reflect what it is that we really think about Him. It’s important to spend time digging deep into your of perception of God if you hope to let the gospel shape all corners of your life.
3. If you had to describe what you think about God based solely on your actions, what would you say?
4. What makes confession and repentance hard things to talk about, not as concepts but as practices in our own lives?
5. If 1 is “concept” and 10 is “person who I relate to”, where do you fall in your own understanding of God? How can you move closer to “10”?
III. 2025: Hearing the MESSAGE, becoming the MESSENGER. (Ps. 90:12; Acts 1:8)
A. REPENTANCE facilitates ongoing RELATIONSHIP . (v.8; 2 Tim. 2:25)
B. This POSITIONS us to SPEAK…. (v.4; 1 Pet. 3:15-16)
C. …With CLARITY about our PLACE…. (v.7-8; Jn 13:15-16)
D. …And a role POINTING to what is GREATER. (v.7-8; Jn 3:30)
As we prepare to enter another year, it’s important that we take some time to reflect on the past in order to better guide our lives into the future. We need to start by hearing this message from John the Baptist, and surrendering to the call to repent. This beginning point, one to which we return over and over, sets in motion the call to be a messenger of the gospel wherever God may lead us.
6. Jeff said to repent literally means to re-think. How does your thinking need to change in order to shift your life toward different actions and responses?
7. What are ways that repentance can become a more regular part of your life? What hinders you from reflecting on areas where you might need to repent?
8. Where might God be calling you to humbly speak the gospel in this coming week? What might that look like?