Date:
Speaker: Tony Murphy
READ Mark 8
Tony started by reminding us that in our church vision, the “North star”,the direction on our journeying together is “becoming disciples”, and then went on to look at how the account of Jesus feeding the 4,000 in Mark 8 demonstrated something about the difference between being a disciple and being a part of the crowd. These included:
1. Sharing both the problem and his heart with the disciples, but not the crowd v1,2
2. Listening to the earthly problems the disciples had v4, and working with them on his solution, teaching them to see through the eyes of faith v5-7.
3. Doing the “afterwards”, the “tidy up”, ie finishing the job with the disciples after the crowd had gone.
4. Continuing the journey with his disciples by inviting them into a boat, after the crowd had been sent home
The final point demonstrates that the disciples didn’t just come to an event, but they journeyed on with Jesus.
RESPONSE: Listen to the lyrics of this song we sing afterwards, “When the stage is bare tonight.” Can you turn them into a “journeying on with Jesus” prayer?
DISCUSSION:
What does it mean to you to journey on and to get in the boat with Jesus? How do we or did we make the transition from Jesus seeking crowd to disciple?