Mark 8:27-9:1, 9:30-37 "Power down"

The gospel of Mark has taken a notable turn. The cross is now named and fully hanging over the events and words of Christ. We can see all this in retrospect with a fair amount of clarity, but the disciples were confused. And perhaps some of us are when we really stop and think about Christ's mission:

God showed the power of the Kingdom by something you and I would in any other context call weakness and loss.

Use this time in your group to see if you can begin to identify the "power systems" in your lives, both active presently and hoped for at one point in the future. In what ways do we strive for the kinds of power, the kinds of control, conquest and converting that our culture teaches are the key to succeeding? Like electricity, power itself isn't bad. But 9 times out of 10, it's not it's channeled in a way that aligns with the Kingdom, and therefor works against the human life God intends for us all to live together.


Thaw

• How have you been more present to notice the sacred within the mundane in the last week? 
• How has God helped you have "eyes to see and ears to hear" in ways that you normally struggle?
• What stood out the most from Sunday morning?

Read

• Mark 8:15
• Mark 8:27-9:1 
• Mark 9:30-37
• Thoughts and observations?
• What are you learning about Christ here?
• What is this teaching you about what it means to be a follower of this sort of King?

Discuss

• Who taught you what "powerful" was as a child?
• In what ways does your life (career, relationship style, etc.) require displays of strength, dominance, "overpowering"?
• If you were to relinquish control over certain aspects of your life, what would it cost you?

Read

• John 6:15
• Thoughts and observations?

Discuss

• How do you think Christ made such a name for himself if he wasn't even willing to be made a king?
• You probably won't be forced into a king/queen decision. What scenario might you face where the same kind of decision is necessary?

Apply

• Think ahead about the rest of this month. How can you display the power of the Kingdom in your specific circumstances, even if it at odds with how you normally think, behave or even get paid to do?
• What about all this seems so uncomfortable, even though, intellectually, we are reasonably certain that this is the very best, most unified way to exist?
• How can this group be a support and an encouragement to you as you try and "take up your cross" and "deny yourself" in ways you have never done before?