Welcome...

Wow! It's quite incredible how quickly the year went by!

We learned SO MUCH from our study of

Mark

Philippians

and James!

Here's wishing you a fabulous summer!

May you take the Word of God (from your heart as well as your Bibles)

and share it UNASHAMED with those you meet with this summer!

James Lesson 5

Begin with a Jenga game.

Have some of the students build the "foundation" with Scripture with which to build our lives.

Then have other students take blocks away with Scripture warnings for our each of our characters.

Deliver the Wrap Up.

Have some students stand and read "well known" Scriptures (John 3:16, etc.)

Discuss the difference between knowing God's Word and delivering a testimony. Share how most people are moved to know Jesus or know Him more by our testimonies. Explain how many people are turn from God when Scripture is simply stated to them.

Explain how a real testimony only comes from true submission.

Knowing Scripture is where we begin to grow our faith. Sharing our testimonies ALONG WITH Scripture is submitting to God's direction in Matthew 28:19-20 "Go and make disciples..."

Lesson 5 Memory Verse

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

James 4:7

Lesson 3 Memory Verse

"If you really keep my royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right." James 2:8

James Lesson 2

So Mrs. Gettelfinger came to the Wrap Up a bit of a mess today. Her hair was messy and she still had on her PJs. She was stopped by Mrs. Hamilton and reminded that she hadn't gotten ready for the Wrap Up. When she looked in the mirror, she was shocked to see that she had forgotten to get ready even though she knew God had asked her to "do it." Some of the kids also remarked about how she looked. Once again, she looked in the mirror and was shocked to find that she had forgotten to get ready for the Wrap Up... even though she knew God had asked her to

"do it."

She began the Wrap Up for Lesson 2 of James with a look back at last week's core group time...

How many of you remember what we talked about last week in our core groups?

Remember? We played the trivia game to review our study of Philippians. I have to tell you... the other teachers and I were a bit disappointed at how much we had learned in Philippians and how much had been forgotten. We were also a bit surprised at how many of you didn't want to participate in the review.

Listen... we -your teachers- would NEVER ask you to do something that would embarrass you in any way. God may one day ask you to do something which may cause you to feel uncomfortable (such as... ask someone for forgiveness or go far far away on a mission trip.) God will ask you to do things that may at first cause us to feel uncomfortable because HE knows how much we can handle. He knows exactly what we are ready for and what we are not. We -your teachers- are not God. We would never ask you to do anything that would embarrass you. Ever.

The trivia game was not intended to cause anyone to feel uncomfortable. Nor was it intended to give you bragging rights if you won or make you feel like a "loser" if you lost. It really had nothing to do with winning or losing at all. It had everything to do with helping you REMEMBER what you had learned from the book of Philippians.

It was simply a FUN way to remember.

How many of you play sports or have played an organized sport of some kind? What do you do before you can play an actual game? Yes, practice! That's how you LEARN the sport. You practice. In practice, you learn the rules and guidelines. In practice, you learn strategies and skills to help you succeed in the game. What do most teams do between practice and an actual game? Scrimmage? Even though a scrimmage is considered a "game," it's not an "official" game... winning and losing don't really matter in a scrimmage game.

It's sort of like - a FUN WAY TO REVIEW...

or a FUN WAY TO REMEMBER... sound familiar?

Listen, your coaches would never ask you to do anything in a game you didn't already learn AND DO in practice. Your teachers -me, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Neal- we would never ask you to do something in class you didn't already learn from your lesson. And God -this is the important one- are you listening -God is not going to ask you to do something you had not already heard about in His Word. God is asking you to REVIEW and REMEMBER what you have already learned from His Word. James 1:22 says, "Don't just hear God's Word while you're having fun at CBS or church or youth group. Don't think that as long as you do your CBS lesson each week or go to church each week that you are doing all God is asking you to do. What did you learn from the Word?! Review it! Remember it! Now go do it!"

At this point in the Wrap Up, Mrs. Gettelfinger went back to the mirror and "fixed herself up."

James chapter 1 teaches us life lessons of trials, temptations, pride, and so much more. Seek where God is speaking to your heart. I challenge you to review James chapter 1 this week. Don't be like me and the mirror... I walked away and FORGOT to do what God had already asked me to do. I challenge you to review James chapter 1 this week.

Will you "do it?!"

Lesson 5 Memory Verse

Lesson 3 Memory Verse

"God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven and on the earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is LORD,

to the glory of God the Father"

Philippians 2:9-11

Mark Lesson 14

MARK 11:27-12:44

Take ten seconds to look over the sentence below
and count the number of "F's" you see.
DO NOT take more than ten seconds.
DO NOT read the sentence.
DO NOT go through it more than once.
Keep your answer to yourself.



The sign above was presented to the students today before our Wrap Up to Lesson 14.

Our CBS lesson this week is PACKED with life lessons.  Because of our time restraint, there is simply no way for us to address each of the life lessons God would have us learn from Lesson 14.  Let's "skim" over each life lesson and then we will decide which one to address...

In the first part of our lesson (Mark 11:27-33), Jesus had His authority challenged by the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the church.  This is nothing new in our study of Mark.  Remember, even the disciples are having a difficult time realizing Jesus IS God as well as man.
So we'll skip over that life lesson.

Next we hear Jesus give the parable of the tenants (Mark 12:1-12).  How many of you have heard this parable before?  Lots of us... so we'll skip this one also.

Our lesson next addresses Jesus speaking about taxes and the government (Mark 12:13-17.)  We all know the question about paying taxes was just another attempt by the Pharisees and Herodians to trap Jesus and turn Him over to the Roman government.  And let's face it... this isn't the first time the leaders have tried to trap Jesus.  Since we know all about that,
we'll move on to the next part of our study.

In Mark 12:18-27, the Sadducees decide to ask Jesus about the resurrection.  Seriously?  There's really no reason for us to linger on this part of our lesson because everyone knows the Sadducees didn't even BELIEVE in the resurrection!  So why in the world were they asking Jesus about it?!
Moving on...

Ooh, now this is a great life lesson part of our study... the two most important commandments (Mark 12:28-34.)  Who can tell me what Jesus said were the two most important commandments?  (Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength... and love your neighbor as yourself -Mark 12:30-31)  There you have it!  Everyone has heard this time and time again so there's really no need for us to go into detail on this life lesson since
we don't have time to touch on each and every part of Lesson 14.
Let's go to the next part.

The next part of our lesson has a "warning" from Jesus in it.  Perhaps we should stay here and focus on this warning.  Warnings do help keep us safe and we are to listen wisely when Jesus gives us a warning.  But the last part of our lesson really touches my heart and I can't help but think God wants me to focus my Wrap Up on the life lesson He has in the last part of Lesson 14.

How many of you know the story of the lady who gave her only two small coins into the church offering (Mark 12:41-44?)  Practically all of us know this story!
I guess we don't really need to discuss it then since
nearly all of us have heard it and
most likely understand it has to do with how much we give to the church.

How many of you counted one “F” in the sign I showed you earlier?  How many counted two “F’s?”  Three?  Four?  How about five “F’s?”  And how many counted six “F’s?”  Did anyone count seven “F’s?”  Let’s go through the sign together.  There are SIX “F’s” in this sentence.  Most of you counted ONLY THREE.  What’s funny about this sign is that it is the same for nearly everyone who sees it… most everyone only sees three “F’s.”
It’s curious how our brain misses things when we only “skim over” them.

Remember this… my Swiss Army Knife?  If I only use the knife part of my Swiss Army Knife and never open all of the other cool tools, I will never know how extremely useful ALL of the tools really are.  It’s the same for our Bibles.  If we only open our Bibles when we are working on our CBS lesson and never spend time simply reading it outside of doing our CBS lesson, we will never know how extremely useful it can be in our lives.  And if we only “skim over” it
(like we did with our Wrap Up or like you did when  you skimmed over the “F” sentence,)
we miss the MANY life lessons God has for us to learn.
Many times God uses the stories we have heard the most
to teach us the most valuable lessons of all.

I encourage you to read over Lesson 14 again this week BEFORE you begin Lesson 15.  Ask God to make it brand new for you.  It may sound like “more work” to do but if you look at it as simply spending time in God’s Word, it won’t seem like work at all.  Will you do this?  Will you spend time in God’s Word this week aside from doing your CBS lesson?

Lesson 14 Memory Verse

Mark 12:30-31

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lesson 12 Memory Verse

"Whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Mark 10:43-45

Mark Lesson 11

MARK 9:30-50

Object Lesson:  Use a Swiss Army Knife to explain the importance

of the church having many parts of one body.

IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT.

It seems many times so far in our study of Mark, we find that people as well as the disciples just don't understand the fact that Jesus is truly God and truly Man.  Last week's lesson shared with us how Jesus was in tune with everyone's lack of understanding when He asked the disciples, "Who do people say I am?"  When Peter was asked Who he thought Jesus was, he answered, "You are the Christ."  Christ is translated as Messiah and Messiah means "the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied in the Hebrew Bible."  Peter basically said, "You're the One we've been waiting for.  You're the One God promised would come.  You're the One Who is going to save us and make things right."  THIS is IMPORTANT.

According to Peter's answer, perhaps the disciples finally understood Who Jesus really is.  Then we come to today's lesson and we find the answer to that to be... no, they still don't get it.  They still don't understand.  Mark 9:32 says, "They did not understand what Jesus was saying and they were afraid to ask Him to explain."  The disciples may have been everyday common men but they knew what Scripture said about the Messiah.  They knew in Jeremiah 23:5-6 it says, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely.  And this is the Name by which He will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness."

Our lesson moves on to the disciples arguing -actually fighting- about which one of them will be more important in the kingdom of heaven.  IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT.  The disciples might have even thought that because they were the first ones to be called by Jesus, they were more important than anyone else called by Jesus.

(At this point in our Wrap Up, Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Hamilton needed assistance that only the Swiss Army Knife could provide.  This is where Mrs. Gettelfinger explains the different features of the knife and how IMPORTANT it is to have each and every one of the tools be a part of the ONE tool.)

Right now, it's important for you to hear the Wrap Up for our lesson.  And since it is my turn to offer the Wrap Up, it's important that I be here.  Does this mean Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Hamilton are NOT important?  Absolutely not!  What if Mrs. Neal came and said to each of them, "Well, your girls don't really have anything to do right now so feel free to go on home."  Then when the Wrap Up is over, who would be in your classrooms to shepherd you?  I may not need my Swiss Army Knife right this minute but Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Hamilton needed it a few minutes ago.  It's the same when the Wrap Up is over.

God will have another IMPORTANT task for each of His CBS teachers.

IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT.

Jesus tries to help the disciples AND us understand what it means to be important.  He uses a child to help explain.  Think about it... children must be cared for, right?  This is why we have parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.  It is important to care for the children of our world.  This is why we have mission fields all over the world.  In Mark 9:37, Jesus said, "Whoever receives one such child in my Name receives Me..."  He said this so we would understand how IMPORTANT it is to care for others; adults as well as children.

At this point in our lesson, John actually shares with Jesus how someone who had not followed Jesus was actually caring for people and giving Jesus the credit for the actions.  That actually made John mad.  It was like the fork of my Swiss Army Knife complained to me that the spoon was trying to pick up a small piece of meat at dinner time.  That's just stupid!  Everyone knows a spoon is used for SOUP!  John thought that only he  and the other disciples were IMPORTANT enough to serve the Lord in such a special way.

IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT.

To have my Swiss Army Knife without the bottle opener... I don't know what I would do.  I like drinking bottled Coke.  And these little scissors... I can't tell you how scratchy some of my shirt tags have been.  These little scissors have really come in handy!  This is how Jesus would feel about His church and the people who argue about what's IMPORTANT.  He looks at His church and says, "Wow, this church would do really well to have a (insert student's name) in it.  And a (another student's name)!  Now that would come in handy for this church.  And it sure would be nice if we just had a (another student's name.)!  Then what this church could accomplish... THAT'S IMPORTANT!"

Toward the end of our lesson, Jesus goes into a crazy explanation of sin to try and get John and the others as well as us to understand THIS...

It's nice to be important.

BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE.

What does it matter if the scissors of my knife cut through a piece of rope for me?  Sure the pocket knife part of the tool will cut through rope quicker and easier than the scissors.  But the scissors work also.  What if none of the utensils on my knife opened at all because they all argued over who would be used for my next task?  The entire knife would be -USELESS.

God wants to work through each and every one of YOU, serving others.  THIS is IMPORTANT!

This week, will you choose to understand that BEING NICE is more important than being important?  Will you ask God how you can be useful to your family, your church, your community today?

Lesson 10 Memory Verse

        

"Whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation,

of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed

when He comes in the glory of His Father

with the holy angels."    Mark 8:38

Mark Lesson 8

MARK 6

Object lesson: Use strips of clear packing tape to demonstrate how time spent in God's Word makes us stronger and more useful. Students pass the strips around, sticking it to one another's shirt sleeves or backs, while the teacher delivers the Wrap Up. In the end of the Wrap Up show how the  used strips don't stick together as well as the clean strips held by the teacher. So it is when we spend our time doing other things while avoiding special time with God in His Word.

How many of you have special "dates" with your parents?

How many of you have siblings and your parents try to spend special time with each of you?

Maybe some of you have special dates with a Godparent or special aunt or uncle.

My daughter and I enjoy going to Earth and Fire for our special dates while my son and I enjoy seeing a movie and going out for pizza afterwards.

Why do we do this?

Why do we need to spend special time with our loved ones?

No Jesus - No Peace

Know Jesus - Know Peace

Recently in our Wrap Ups, we've talked about how most people did not have the right idea about Who Jesus really is. We've talked about being good soil and what that soil will produce.

And we've talked about God's power

which is available to all who believe in and follow His Son.

How well do you know Jesus?

Jesus went home in the beginning of our lesson this week. I wonder if He had hoped to spend some special time with His family and friends while He was there. That didn't happen though, did it? As a matter of fact, Mark 6:3 says the people in Jesus's hometown "took offense at Him" which means they thought He was not acting like He was "on their side." They STILL didn't realize WHO Jesus really was, did they? Remember our Wrap Up a few weeks ago? Runner, softball player, hunter... I'm still Mrs. Gettelfinger. Teacher, Preacher, Healer... Jesus is still GOD. The people of His hometown saw Jesus as JUST a man... a man who healed a few sick people.

How well do you know Jesus?

King Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life to haunt Herod for cutting off John's head. Herod KNEW John was a "holy man" (v.20.) Therefore, if Herod thought Jesus was John come back to life, then Herod had to thing of Jesus as a "holy man" also.

Did Herod think of John as God?

Even someone smart enough or blessed enough to be king

did not understand that Jesus is God.

How well do you know Jesus?

Before Jesus sends the apostles out two by two in vv.7-13, He spends time with them -teaching them. Listen... this part is important... remember all those parables we talked about a couple lessons back -the seed, the soil, the lamp, the thief? Mark 4:34 says, "He spoke to them only in parables, but privately to His own disciples he explained everything." Before the apostles are sent out two by two, Jesus teaches them PRIVATELY. And while in their presence, He gives them authority over demons. We know the apostles were successful with their mission because v.30 tells us how they shared their experiences with Jesus. That's when Jesus tells them to "come away by yourselves to a desolate (private) place and rest awhile (v.31.)"

How well do you know Jesus?

But before the apostles can get away for some rest, we hear the story of how Jesus fed more than 5000 people with just two fish and five loaves of bread. Jesus and His apostles needed to rest. Instead of telling the huge crowd to find the nearest city and go have dinner, Jesus put His plans for His own well-being aside and fed the crowd. Jesus made "special time" for the crowd. After all, the people in the crowd were children of God just as the apostles were.

How well do you know Jesus?

Let's talk about the people in the crowd. Do you think they knew Who Jesus really was? Do you think knew and understood the fact that Jesus was God? Even the apostles had not fully understood that Jesus was God. If the apostles had understood this fact, THEY would have fed the crowd when Jesus told them in v.37, "YOU give them something to eat."

How well do you know Jesus?

If the apostles and the crowd were all God's children and none of them fully realized Who Jesus was, what makes these two groups any different from one another? Name some of the differences between the two groups...

the apostles could heal...

many in the crowd probably came to Jesus to be healed.

the apostles could preach the Gospel...

the entire crowd came to hear the Gospel.

the apostles were Followers of Christ...

many in the crowd were merely "seekers" of Christ.

The most important difference between the two groups was that the apostles SPENT TIME ALONE -privately- WITH JESUS. The crowd had not had that kind of time with Him. Therefore, the apostles were stronger, more capable FOR CHRIST. Because of their time alone with Jesus, the apostles KNEW Him better than the people of the crowd.

There is a difference between knowing OF Jesus and KNOWING Him.

How well do you know Jesus?

(This is the part which is difficult to explain. Basically, the packing tape which was passed around from person to person will eventually not stick to anything. When the tape remains clean and is stuck to another clean strip, it is extremely difficult to tear apart. So it is when we make "special time" in God's Word and keep it important above all else that we become stronger and more capable of sharing the Gospel just as the apostles shared in our lesson.)

So how much time do YOU spend as Jesus suggests in Mark 6:31...

"Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile."

How well do you know Jesus?

Will you make time for Jesus... just YOU and God's Word this week...

and then will you try to do that each and every week of your life? 

Lesson 8 Memory Verse

"When He went ashore He saw a great crowd,

and He had compassion on them,

because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

And He began to teach them many things."

Mark 6:34

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

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?

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

Mark Lesson 2

Mark 1:1-20

object lesson: Use a broom to sweep the area as if "preparing" for a party.

Have another adult volunteer and step in to do the "preparing"

so that you can work on the invitations.

How prepared are you?

You're going to have a party.

What do you do to prepare for a party?

clean the house

prepare the food

invite the guests

Basically, these three things are the main things

most people do when having a party.

Wouldn't it be nice to have someone else "clean the house" and "prepare the food" for you?

Many people actually hire "party planners" to do these very things.

A party planner will even prepare and mail your invitations for you.

BUT...

YOU still have to be the one responsible for making the guest list.

It is YOUR party afterall.

The party planner can't send invitations if he or she doesn't know who the guests are.

So how prepared are you?

The people of Israel knew a Savior was coming. In the very first part of our lesson this week we know they knew of a Savior because they had the prophesy quoted in Mark 1:2-3

(which was prophecy from Malachi & Isaiah)

"I will send a messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare the way for you."

For years, the people of Israel had asked God for a KING... someone to rule over them.

(Deuteronomy 17:14)

So God let them have earthly kings...

time and time again the people and the kings would sin against God.

The people wanted their kings to "save them."

The people of Israel refused to prepare their hearts for a True King

who was the only King who can save anyone.

Isaiah 33:22 says, "For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King;

only He will save us."

How prepared are you?

John was sort of like a "party planner" for Jesus. He "prepared the way for the Lord."

And since John was doing all of the planning and preparing, Jesus took care of the guest list.

In Mark 1:16-20, Jesus calls Simon and Andrew and James and John...

"Come follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

Have you ever seen the TV show "Hoarders?" It's a very sad show.

The people on the show have extreme clutter

(sometimes to the point of no entry) within their homes.

Would they be prepared to have a party?

There is too much clutter and mess and sometimes dirt within their homes

for them to even consider having a party. They would first have to CLEAN their homes.

John can still be considered a "party planner" for us today.

"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him."

"Make straight paths for Him."

Mark 1:3b

You're being asked to have a party. How prepared are you?

Your heart is your home.

Is it cluttered with sin and dirty with things such as selfishness, worry, being too shy,

being too loud or rowdy, being bossy, wanting your way too often,

being told to help out, arguing with a sibling.

Sometimes our hearts are like the homes of hoarders with so much clutter

there is no way we could have a party.

When John said, "Make straight paths for Him," he meant, "Clean up your hearts!"

Jesus WANTS to come to your party. Jesus WANTS to enter your home... your heart.

What will you do to "clean up" your heart and

prepare the way for the Lord to enter into your heart?

Even if you've already invited Jesus into your heart, sin is always in the corner of our hearts.

Just like we always clean our homes, our hearts are always in need of a good sweeping.

The only way Jesus can enter our hearts and enjoy a party with us is

when our hearts are clean from sin and rid of bad behaviors.

Will you seriously look at the "problem areas" of your life and clean up your hearts for Jesus?

Lesson 2 Memory Verse

"Come follow Me, and I will make you

become fishers of men."  Mark 1:17