Mark 11:1-10

Some people walk into a room thinking something like, "Here I am."
Other people, far fewer, walk in and think, "There you are."

The first needs acknowledged, noticed. Needs to have the power. Needs to be needed.
The second likes some of that stuff, but has tamed the beast and can defer energy to others. The second is far more equipped to love and serve and to enjoy life.


Spend some time as a group discussing, each of you, whether you are more "There you are" or "Here I am".

• Where did you learn this?
• How has it affected your relationships?
• Who are the people in the group that best exemplify one or the other?

Read
Mark 11:1-10

What most stuck out for you about Sunday morning?

What were the key points for you in the message?

What was the "one thing" you took away that seems applicable in your own, personal life?

What did you learn:

*About God?

*About yourself?

*About others?

What changes in thought and in style-of-relating might be necessary in light of what you've learned?

What are the hindrances to transformation, and what do we do about those?

What role can this group play to help you take steps this week and beyond?

Mark 10:32-52 Where's The Glory?

This week may very well serve as a sequel to last.

Incorporate your discussion from your last group time and follow up with some of the insights and themes. You may encounter new ideas, but don't feel unsuccessful if you're all right back in the same ideas again. Mark expands on the the idea of "first must become last", humility and the condescension of power. It's a message we've apparently needed to hear a lot over the last few thousand years.

----------------------------

Thaw

• What were you doing this week 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago?

• What most impacted you from Sunday?

Read

• Mark 10:32-52
• Thoughts and impressions?
• Why were the people shushing Bartimaeus?

Leader note: this moment may or may not run parallel with the disciples rebuking people for bringing lowly children to Jesus a few paragraphs back.

• Why didn't Jesus tell him "follow me", instead telling him to just "go"?

Leader note: be sure and contrast this with what he told the Rich Young Ruler earlier.

Discuss

• Who do you know that seems to always have time/energy/consideration for others, even if it seems to take from them?
• What do we learn about Christ as we see him pause his journey toward Jerusalem to interact with someone who a) was obviously not well respected, b) was unclean and therefore unfit to interact with by any serious religious person heading to the Holy City c) couldn't reciprocate anything?

Apply

• In what ways does the course of your daily life contradict the values in your heart?
• What can be done about this, especially in light of the fact that guilt is neither useful or from God?
• Why do we have so much disdain for suffering, difficulty, inconvenience, etc. when we all recognize in hindsight, that's where all the good stories and all the deepest lessons are found?
• How can this group be a catalyst for becoming the kind of people who step into others' reality?
• How can your group, working perhaps with other groups, help build momentum toward our church becoming a people who willingly, fearlessly overlap with others and their difficulties?

Mark 10:13-31 Camels Make Terrible Quilts

If you make this passage only about money, and this one man, you're missing it.
There are all kinds of reasons we don't fit through Kingdom gate.

Use this discussion time to find attachments and demands in your lives. We all have them. The variations only have to do with quantity. And each attachment is a reason we aren't finding life to the full. You can expect some people to come right out with it. Others may have a harder time. Keep in mind that these sorts of conversations most typically serve as a step, not the whole movement toward letting go.


Thaw

• What are a few things you have learned/relearned this Summer?
• Have there been disappointments?
• What has gone well?
• How would this Summer be different if you were able to have no expectations (good or bad)?
• 
  

Read

• Mark 10:13-31
• Thoughts and impressions?
• What from Sunday morning stands out as you read through?
• Considering the setting, why does Christ mention leaving "home" and "family"?

Leader note: It may be worth reminding the group that Christ isn't advocating abandoning loved ones as a litmus test for faith. Paragraphs earlier he affirmed fidelity in marriage, the value and sacredness of children, etc. Generally speaking, he is referring to a state of mind, not a state of geography.

Read

• Matthew 7:13-14
• Luke 12:15
• Thoughts and impressions?
• How does this fit with how we have structured our society?

Leader note: Many people interpret Jesus' words about few finding the narrow path as "most people will go to Hell!" Try not to get distracted. Suffice it to say for now that if this were the case, it essentially positions God as mostly not victorious, and sin being ultimately a little too much for God to handle. If it's helpful, think of gates in the first century to reinforce the picture Christ paints. Wide gates with throngs of people moving through to say, shop for themselves or see a gladiatorial game. Something popular. A narrow gate, such as might be in front of a synagogue or the home of a poor widow, sees far less people passing through it. But the latter contains the object of Christ's greater concern. The first reinforces selfish ignorance or "destruction", the second leads to life. Few choose the second.

Discuss

• Other than material things, what are some things that we keep/possess/invest ourselves in?
• How do these things get in the way of the peace Christ invites us each into?
• Why does dropping something we know creates tension and stress and division seem so scary, or even impossible?

Apply

• Who in this group has perspectives, pursuits, ideas, desires, hopes, wounds, grudges, etc. that they feel they are unable to release?
• What would life be like without it?
• What makes you continue to hold on to it, despite the fact that you can see it makes you, where the Kingdom's "eye of the needle" is concerned, more camel than thread?
• What on step can you and the group take today that would make you freer from demands to be known, loved, understood, respected, admired, heard, etc?