"Do not just hear the Word of God and think hearing is enough. DO what it says!" James 1:22

Monday, September 17, 2012

Lesson 6 Memory Verse


"With the measure you use, it will be measured to you,
and still more will be added to you.
For to the one who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away."
Mark 4:24-25

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Mark Lesson 5

MARK 3:7-35
Object lesson:
Dress up as two or three different types of hobbies/occupations,
ie. I dressed as a jogger and covered that outfit with clothes of a softball player.
Then I covered those clothes with a worker's coveralls.
With each layer, the students are asked "who am I?"
In the end of the Wrap Up, I layered up in the outfits again
and repeated the question of "who am I?" -ending with being just myself and asking, "who am I?"
Jogger, softball player, worker... I am still Mrs. Gettelfinger.
Jesus is Healer, Teacher, Authority...
the Truth missed by people in the Bible (and still many today) is
WHO Jesus really is...
Jesus said, "I and the Father are One"  John 10:30.


Last week we learn that Jesus called Matthew,
a tax collector looked down on by most people of the time, to discipleship.
Jesus eats with "bad" people. He works on God's day of rest.
He talks about a "wedding groom."
And He fixes a man's broken arm... literally fixes it...
it went from being broken to  being perfectly fine.

Who is this "Jesus?!"

That had to be what many people were thinking... "Who is this Guy?!"
We know from mark 2:10 that Jesus refers to Himself as "the Son of Man."
In Mark 2:19, it seems that Jesus is referring to Himself as "the Bridegroom."
And in Mark 2:28 while speaking about the Sabbath (or God's day of rest,)
Jesus says, "so the Son of Man is Lord even on the Sabbath."

Who is this "Jesus?!"

Our lesson today opens with a crowd coming to Jesus from everywhere and all around Israel. We learn that the crowd is SO large that even Jesus is concerned with being "crushed" by so many people (Mark 3:9 ESV.)  These people came to Jesus from all over the land -WHY?
Mark 3:9 tells us that people came because they "heard what He was doing."
WHAT HAD JESUS BEEN DOING?
Remember what He did last week for the man with the crippled hand? -Jesus had healed the man completely. So we know from Mark 3:10 that the people "pressing around Him to touch Him" were "all who had diseases." They had come to see a Healer.
"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life. I have wounded and I WILL HEAL, no one can do with their hands what I can deliver from my hands." Deuteronomy 32:39

We move on through our lesson to learn how Jesus calls the twelve Apostles and curiously enough... they all follow Jesus... no questions asked. He taught and trained the Apostles so that they could go and preach and teach and heal just like Jesus Himself was doing. Mark 3:15 says, "so they would have authority to cast out demons." Jesus gave unauthorized people authority to do things no one else could.

Jesus's behavior had the leaders of Israel so confused about Who He really was that they actually feared He was sent by satan. Mark 3:22 says, "He must be posessed by Beelzebul (who was known to be the 'prince of demons' -Luke 11:15.) Of course Jesus corrects their thinking in Mark 3:23-27 by asking, "How can Satan cast out Satan?"

Object lesson: Pulling the coveralls back on, another teacher steps forward with a stop watch and asks if I am ready to "run for the team." I start jogging in place and answer with an excited yes. She addresses my attire and how it may slow me down considering I will get overheated quickly. But I insist on running in my coveralls.

"Truly, I say to you , all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven the children of man, but whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin..." Mark 3:28-29. Jesus was basically saying, "If you are on my team, you will LOOK LIKE and ACT LIKE you are on my team." For the Apostles and for US, Jesus is our Team Leader.

Even Jesus's own family; His mother and brothers were confused about Who Jesus really was. Mark 3:21 says, "They went out to SEIZE Him." They actually said something like, "This guy is a FREAK!" 

Who is this "Jesus?!"

Object lesson: Putting all of the costumes back on, run through each one again as in the beginning of the Wrap Up and ask with each one, "Who am I?" Hopefully, one of the students will "get it" that I am STILL Mrs. Gettelfinger. If not, I can then share... jogger, softball player, worker... I am STILL Mrs. Gettelfinger.

We will very soon learn from Mark 8:29 where Jesus asks Peter Who Peter thinks Jesus is. Peter replies to the Lord, "You are the Messiah." Dictionaries define "Messiah" as "the anticipated Savior of the Jews" and "Jesus, regarded by Christians as the Messiah of the Hebrew prophecies and the Savior of the world."

Matthew 1:23 says, "and they will call Him Immanuel (which means 'God with us.')" and John 10:30 tells us that Jesus said of Himself, "I and the Father am One."

Who is Jesus TO YOU?
Is He just a healer?
Is He just a teacher?
Are you being asked to do more with your faith?
This week, ask yourself -WHO IS JESUS TO ME?
And when the answer comes to you, will you do with your life what He is asking of you?

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Lesson 4 Memory Verse


"Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick.
I came not to call the righteous,
but the sinners."
Mark 2:17