SERIES: Jesus, Son of God: Headlines from Mark
TOPIC: Jesus will Return
TEXT: Mark 13:32-37
SCRIPTURE:
We are concluding our time in Mark this week. We have learned so much about Jesus’ work – His miracles of healing and feeding and transforming people like you and me. This week is the capstone as we think about His promise to return to earth.
- To understand the context of this passage, read the entire chapter together out loud.
- In verse four, some of the disciples ask Jesus to tell them the “signs” that his return is near. List what Jesus says are the signs of the end of the age (verses 5-12), remembering that these don’t mean the “end is here,” but rather the “end is in motion.”
- Talk about verses 34-36. Describe what this story could look like in 2023.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
While people at Faith Church have varying views regarding the details about Jesus’ return, we are united in the fact that He WILL return.
- Are we/you awake? Paying attention to what is going on?
- Jesus clearly says to “be alert.” What does that mean to you?
- Verses 9-13 talks about persecution (something brothers and sisters in other countries experience now). How can we prepare ourselves for a time like this?
TRANSFORMATION:
- Instead of seeing this as a timeline, it is an encouragement. We are not to presume the time or day, we are to pay attention and look for the signs. Yet every generation has thought they saw the signs. How do we live in this tension?
- The response to Jesus’ return is anything but passive. Are we active? Instead of focusing on “when,” how can you be ready? If you thought He might return in a month or a year, how would you live differently?
- Could His waiting be a sign of His grace as He waits for others to come to know Him? Who in your life needs to hear the Good News of Jesus?
Watch this short video by Pastor Brian Dennert to understand more:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjDXuCk1VdsbWIPIvvH_SDatya6dImUX/view?usp=sharing
“Jesus didn’t tell us about the end so that we can figure out when he will return, but so that we can be ready for his return.” Brian Dennert
