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Jan 23, 2022

Represent!

Represent!

Passage: Mark 6:1-13

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Follow: Learning from Mark about Jesus’ Most Misunderstood Command

Keywords: deliver, repent, prophet, heal, rejection

Following Jesus means always taking refuge in what He has said to us and done for us. But following at some point becomes a life of representing Him. We speak, pray, and act on His behalf. In this passage about representing Him we find the struggle in it, a sketch of it, and the strength for it.

1.23.22 GMR Online Service from Grace Mills River on Vimeo.

 

Readings & Scripture

PREPARATION: Psalm 24:7-10, NIV
LEADER: Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
ALL: Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
ALL: Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
LEADER: Who is he, this King of glory?
ALL: The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.

CENTRAL TEXT: Mark 6:1-13
He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. 7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

CONFESSION OF SIN: Adapted from The Worship Sourcebook

ALL: You asked for my hands,
that you might use them for your purpose.
I gave them for a moment, then withdrew them,
for the work was hard.
You asked for my mouth
to speak of your great love and against injustice.
I gave you a whisper that I might not be accused.
You asked for my eyes
to see the pain of poverty.
I closed them, for I did not want to see.
You asked for my life,
that you might work through me.
I gave a small part, so that I might not get too involved.
Lord, forgive my calculated efforts to serve you—
only when it is convenient for me to do so,
only in those places where it is safe to do so,
and only with those who make it easy to do so.
Father, forgive me,
renew me, send me out
as a usable instrument,
that I might take seriously
the meaning of your cross. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON —Isaiah 1:18, NRSV
LEADER: Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
ALL: Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION:
LEADER: May our Lord Jesus Christ,
the One who came with grace and truth,
also fill your hearts with grace and truth,
as you serve him in the days ahead.
And may the joy of the Lord—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— be your strength.
ALL: Let us go forth to serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • Deuteronomy 17:6 / Numbers 35:30
  • Isaiah 53:3
  • Matthew 5:10-12
  • John 1:45
  • John 14:12
  • John 15:20
  • 2 Corinthians 5:8-21
  • Ephesians 6:13-20
  • James 5:13-20

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Got any experiences of speaking or acting on someone else’s behalf? Who for? What for? What was it like?
  2. Talk about the challenges you have faced, or perhaps mainly felt, when it’s come to being open about your faith in Jesus. What responses have you received? What are several reasons people are put off by Him?
  3. The response of the synagogue attendees is admittedly hard to explain: a combination of both regard and offense. How would you explain that response–what Jesus ultimately summarizes as dishonor? 
  4. Why might Jesus have given this guidance to the disciples? How would it have served their efforts? Imagine how they might have felt setting out in that way.
  5. Now consider the impact the ultimate rejection Jesus would soon face: how would it affect their understanding of his guidance? Motivation for it? How is all that meant to motivate and shape our representation of Him? What are your greatest apprehensions to acting on His behalf?

ILLUSTRATIONS:

 

 

QUOTES: 

  • Disciples of Jesus are fit for purpose when they are able to act as heralds and representatives of the kingdom of God. - Kevin Vanhoozer
  • Today’s culture believes the thing we need salvation from is the idea that we need salvation. - Tim Keller
  • Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important. - C.S. Lewis
  • Mercenary acts are of no account in the sight of God. Not that he absolutely condemns all acts of kindness which are done in the hope of a reward; but he shows that they are of no weight as a testimony of charity; because he alone is truly beneficent to his neighbors, who is led to assist them without any regard to his own advantage, but looks only to the necessities of each.- John Calvin

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