Key Thought : The tenth chapter of Mark includes important teachings about what it means to follow Jesus as it relates to marriage, children, riches, and the cost of following Him.
August 24, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Mark 8:34-38..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What trap was hiding under the Pharisee’s question about divorce, and what lesson did Jesus teach in response?
3. Personal Application: How can we strengthen the marriages in our congregation? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “How can you help people whose marriages have already failed? Many times when this happens, one or the other of the partners stop attending church. How can we offer help without getting caught up in the drama and side taking of such experiences? What types of support can we offer?.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Mark 10:13-16.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What did Jesus do for those who brought children to Him?
3. Personal Application: How do we, or can we, reveal Jesus to the children around us? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “This is a different world than it used to be, and if you are too attentive or friendly to children, people might be worried about you. So how can you teach and encourage young people without being regarded as strange?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Mark 10:17-31.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What lessons about the cost of discipleship for anyone is recorded here?
3. Personal Application: If Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would you say? What do you think Jesus wants you to do for others for Him? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What does it mean to serve as opposed to being served? How do we live and interact with others as a servant of God?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 10:32-45.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How do these verses show the continued ignorance of the disciples concerning Christ’s mission, and what it means to follow Him?
3. Personal Application: What does it mean to be a servant for others? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/8-teaching-disciples-part-2-teaching-plan/

It is wonderful to travel through John Mark’s life and see the beautiful story climax with 
Christ The Lord Is Risen Today – Hymn 166, therefore 
Go, Preach My Gospel – Hymn 378. These two hymns give us a purpose all during this quarter to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus. May you enjoy these hymns for your theme hymn from which to choose.

Our study of “Mark carries important teachings about what it means to follow Jesus”, so that we may say without hesitation
I Will Follow, Thee – Hymn 623 (Sabbath afternoon).

We are taught on Sunday of 
O Perfect Love – Hymn 656 for those who are married.

On Monday, Jesus proves that I am 
A Child Of The King – Hymn 468 and that He is 
Jesus, Friend of Little Children – Hymn 543 therefore, “the kingdom of God belongs to them”.

It is with great sadness on Tuesday I see that the rich man did not have the final need of being able to 
Only Trust Him – Hymn 279 and sing in verse 3 to “believe in Him, without delay”.

Can I drink Jesus’ cup? A huge question on Wednesday. One way to answer this is that 
Jesus Paid It All – Hymn 184 and I wish to trust and accept the cup.

The blind man follows Jesus on the road once he is healed (Thursday), and I wish to sing 
I Will Follow Thee – Hymn 623 just as the healed man did.

I do not wish be like the rich young man, but instead
Trust and Obey – Hymn 590 my Jesus and our Father in Heaven.

Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed and to bless many others.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/8-teaching-disciples-part-2-singing-with-inspiration/

Daily Lesson for Tuesday 20th of August 2024

The man’s approach indicates his sincerity and respect for Jesus. He runs up, kneels before Him, and asks the question central to the destiny of every soul—What are the requirements in order to inherit eternal life? Jesus responds by referring to the second table of the Decalogue. Again, the man shows his idealism by saying that he has kept all these, even from his youth.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

Of the four Gospels, Mark alone notes that Jesus loved the man. There is something appealing about the man’s idealism. But Jesus tests his sincerity by asking him to sell everything and to follow Him. The man leaves crestfallen because he had great possessions. In fact, he was not really keeping the commandments. He broke the first one, placing something above God in his life. His riches were his idol.

Jesus then explains how seductive riches are and that it is easier for a big animal like a camel to go through the tiny hole of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven.

The disciples are astonished by Jesus’ words and wonder who can be saved. Jesus delivers the punch line in Mark 10:27. “ ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God’ ” (ESV).

Mark 10:27 seems like a beautiful place to end the story: you cannot make it to heaven on your own, you need the grace of God in order to be saved.

But then Peter blurts out that he and his friends have left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus responds that whatever you have left to follow Him is nothing in contrast to what you will receive, now and in “the age to come” (ESV).

Here is the point: it is the death of Christ that resolves human guilt, and then the grace of Christ and His resurrection are what empower obedience to His commands.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-08-the-best-investment/

Daily Lesson for Monday 19th of August 2024

While children were greatly desired in the ancient world (particularly boys in the male-dominant culture), birth and childhood were not easy. Without modern medical care, the risks to mothers in giving birth and to newborns, infants, and children were elevated. Many cultures had traditional medicines and amulets used to protect these vulnerable individuals against malevolent forces.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
children are approaching Jesus.

While children were desired, they were of low social status, along the lines of slaves, actually (Galatians 4:1-2). In the Greco-Roman world, those who were deformed or undesirable would be exposed, or even tossed in a river. Boys were valued over girls; sometimes girl babies were left to die among the elements. At times these abandoned babies were “rescued,” only to be raised and sold as slaves.

The disciples appear not to have understood Jesus’ teaching in Mark 9:1-50  about receiving the kingdom of God like a child (Mark 9:33-37). Now they rebuke those who brought children to Jesus for blessing, perhaps thinking that He would not have time for such a simple task.

They were wrong. Jesus is indignant. Throughout Mark, Jesus has some striking reactions to people, and it is instructive that one of His strong reactions was toward people who were keeping children away from Him.

He strongly insists that the disciples must not stand in the way of the children. Why? Because the kingdom of God belongs to them, and one must receive it in the attitude and outlook of a child—probably a reference to simple, implicit trust in God.

“Let not your un-Christlike character misrepresent Jesus. Do not keep the little ones away from Him by your coldness and harshness. Never give them cause to feel that heaven would not be a pleasant place to them if you were there. Do not speak of religion as something that children cannot understand, or act as if they were not expected to accept Christ in their childhood. Do not give them the false impression that the religion of Christ is a religion of gloom, and that in coming to the Saviour they must give up all that makes life joyful.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, Pages 43, 44.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-08-jesus-and-children/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 18th of August 2024

In this passage, the Pharisees ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Among the Pharisees, divorce was considered lawful. The question was on what grounds. The School of Shammai was arguably more restrictive—only for childlessness, material neglect, emotional neglect, or marital unfaithfulness. The School of Hillel was much more lenient, allowing divorce for almost any reason, though their process of granting the divorce was more complex, helping to slow things down.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

So, it may seem a bit odd that they ask Jesus the blanket question if divorce is acceptable at all. Hiding under this question was a plot to get Jesus in trouble with Herod Antipas, the ruler of the region to the east of the Jordan, where Jesus was now. Antipas had divorced his wife and married Herodias, his brother’s wife. Herod had beheaded John the Baptist because of his rebuke regarding this illicit relationship (see Matthew 14:1-12).

Jesus parries their question with His own, asking the Pharisees what Moses commanded on the matter. The passage the Pharisees reference in reply is Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which describes a particular case of remarriage after divorce. The Israelites in Moses’ day were already practicing divorce. The case law described in Deuteronomy 24:1-22 was meant to provide protections for the woman. But in Jesus’ day, this was twisted by the School of Hillel to make it easier to get a divorce for almost any reason. Thus, the law that was meant to protect the woman was being used to make it easy to thrust her aside.

Instead of debating the case law in Deuteronomy 24:1-22, Jesus refers back to God’s original ideal for marriage in Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:1-25. He notes that in the beginning God made a man and a woman (Genesis 1:27), two individuals. He then combines this truth with Genesis 2:24, which says that a man leaves his parents and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh. This concept of unity becomes the basis of Jesus’ affirmation of the marriage bond. What God has joined, people should not separate.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-08-gods-plan-for-marriage/