Hearing Together
Pastor Blake will help us gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’ identity, teachings and deeds by sharing a message each Sunday from the Gospel of Mark. These messages will not simply address what Jesus said and did in the past, but how that impacts our lives today. These messages will be designed with not only those who regularly attend our worship services in mind but also those who are seeking to know more about Jesus. If you miss a message, you can easily listen to it on our sermon audio page.
Reading Together
As a church we will be reading and re-reading the Gospel of Mark over the course of three months. We will read it together on Sunday mornings. We will read it at Midday Prayers. We will read it in our LifeGroups. We will read it as families. We will read it privately. There is power in being exposed to God’s Word multiple times and in a variety of settings.
One of the ways we hope to help you read the Gospel of Mark with ‘fresh eyes’ is by making available an economical version of an exciting new translation of the Bible that has recently been published and has received favorable reviews. The Common English Bible (CEB) is an accurate, clear and inspiring translation. We believe you will greatly benefit from reading through Mark in this and other translations of your own choosing. 400 complimentary copies of the CEB New Testament were distributed in mid-January.
Sharing Together
At FFMC we deeply value the role of small groups (i.e. LifeGroups) in the spiritual development of each Christ follower. To get the most out of this integrated series on the Gospel of Mark, we encourage each person who is not yet a part of a LifeGroup to connect with a group that will be using Pastor Blake’s Sunday messages as a ‘launching point’ for discussion and application. The purpose of these groups is to help you understand and apply God’s Word to your daily life and to experience and express God’s love and concern in tangible ways.
Pastor Blake’s messages and ‘For You to Consider’ questions will be posted on this page (www.ffmc.org/mark) on Mondays so that you will be able to hear the message in a timely fashion even if you are serving on Sunday or if you are absent. In addition, each LifeGroup leader will be provided with a number of questions to help guide groups into a deeper, more practical understanding of the messages from Mark’s Gospel.
Studying Together
In addition to the sermon series, LifeGroup emphasis, and church-wide reading program, we will have access to study resources from SPU. The Center for Biblical and Theological Education at SPU provides an excellent online learning resource, Lectio, where you can access an audio podcast or a written commentary on various books of the Bible.
As of January 9th, FFMC’s own Laura Sweat, PhD, has been providing the commentary on the Gospel of Mark. (www.spu.edu/lectio). This tool, along with the January 11th lecture from our own Rob Wall, PhD, helps us get the most out of our study of Mark. Dr. Wall's lecture on ‘The top 10 things you need to know about Mark’ is now available online.