The Miracles Are Proof the Message Is Real

In one paragraph

This message worked through Mark 1:14-45, the opening stretch of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. The preacher walked the group through Jesus' first announcement, the calling of his first disciples, and a string of healings and exorcisms, drawing out what those events meant then and what they still mean now. Jesus opened his ministry with a two-part message: the time God had promised had finally...

Read together

1. Psalm 30:11 quoted during song introduction: 'You've turned my mourning into dancing, and you've taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy'
2. Proverbs 3:5-6 quoted as the basis for the song 'Nothing I Hold On To': 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding... In all your ways, acknowledge him. And he'll make your path straight'
3. Mark 1:14-45 the main passage read and discussed throughout the message
4. 1 Timothy 1:17 quoted as a closing benediction: 'All honor and glory to God forever and ever. He's the eternal king... the unseen one who never dies, he alone is God'

Talk about it

1. The message opened with Jesus calling people to repent and believe the good news, and the point was made that we do not hear much about repentance anymore. Why do you think repentance gets left out, and what happens to the gospel message when it does?
2. Simon, Andrew, James, and John left their nets and even their father to follow Jesus right away. What do you think it was about Jesus that made ordinary people, who had likely been looked past by the religious leaders of their day, respond like that?
3. The miracles in Mark 1 were described as proof that the message is real. How does seeing miracle after miracle in this chapter affect the way you read Jesus' announcement that the kingdom of God is near?
4. Jesus slipped away before daybreak to pray, and when the disciples found him and said everyone was looking for him, he said they had to move on to other towns because that is why he came. What does that moment tell you about how Jesus understood his own mission, and what does it mean for how we think about ours?
5. The man with leprosy said, 'If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,' and Jesus reached out and touched him when no one else would. Where in your own life are you bringing that kind of honest, direct faith to Jesus right now, and where might you be holding back?