PRAY!

On Your Mark

The Life of Jesus in the Book of Mark

Why Mark?

  • The Book of Mark moves very quickly and focuses on the power and authority of Jesus during His earthly ministry. It is a short and intense collage of the life of Jesus.

Mark 1:1 – The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,the Son of God,

On Your Mark

Get Set, Let’s Go!

MARK 4

Sower, Seed and Soils

4Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.2He taught them many things by parables,and in his teaching said:3“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

9Then Jesus said,“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.11He told them,“The secret of the kingdom of Godhas been given to you. But to those on the outsideeverything is said in parables12so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

(Isaiah 6:9-10 – 9He said, “Goand tell this people:“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’10Make the heart of this people calloused;make their ears dulland close their eyes.Otherwise they might see with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand with their hearts,and turn and be healed.”)

13Then Jesus said to them,“Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you

understand any parable?14The farmer sows the word.15Some people are like seed

along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satancomes and

takes away the word that was sown in them.16Others, like seed sown on rocky

places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.17But since they have no root,

they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the

word, they quickly fall away.18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the

word;19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealthand the desires for

other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.20Others, like seed

sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some

sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

  • The Seed
  • Romans 10:17 – 17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
  • The Soils (Hearts)
  • The Path
  • John 10:10 – 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,and have it to the full.
  • The Rocky Ground
  • 1 Peter 1:6-9 – 6In all this you greatly rejoice,though now for a little whileyou may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.7These have come so that the proven genuinenessof your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed.8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in himand are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,9for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
  • Matthew 5:10-12 – 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people insult you,persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.12Rejoice and be glad,because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

  • Among Thorns
  • 1 Timothy 6:9-10 –9Those who want to get richfall into temptation and a trapand into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.10For the love of moneyis a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faithand pierced themselves with many griefs.
  • 1 John 2:15-17 – 15Do not love the world or anything in the world.If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d]is not in them.16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,the lust of the eyes,and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.17The world and its desires pass away,but whoever does the will of Godlives forever.
  • Good Soil
  • John 15:4-5 – 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you.No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;apart from me you can do nothing.

Light Exposure

21He said to them,“Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t

you put it on its stand?22For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is

concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.23If anyone has ears to hear, let them

hear.”

  • Matthew 5:14-16 – 14“You are the light of the world.A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.16In the same way, let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deedsand glorifyyour Father in heaven.
  • John 3:19-21 – 19This is the verdict: Lighthas come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Given For Use

24“Consider carefully what you hear,”he continued.“With the measure you use, it will be

measured to you—and even more.25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not

have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

  • James 1:22 – 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

God Does It

26He also said,“This is what the kingdom of God is like.A man scatters seed on the

ground.27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though

he does not know how.28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head,

then the full kernel in the head.29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,

because the harvest has come.”

  • 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 – Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spiritbut as people who are still worldly—mere infantsin Christ.2I gave you milk, not solid food,for you were not yet ready for it.Indeed, you are still not ready.3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelingamong you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”are you not mere human beings?

5What, after all, is Apollos?And what is Paul? Only servants,through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.6I planted the seed,Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.8The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.9For we are co-workers in God’s service;you are God’s field,God’s building.

Kingdom Expansion & Parable Explanation

30Again he said,“What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,or what parable shall we use to describe it?31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth.32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.34He did not say anything to them without using a parable.But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Over Creation

35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples,“Let us go over to the other

side.”36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the

boat.There were also other boats with him.37A furious squall came up, and the

waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.38Jesus was in the stern,

sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you

care if we drown?”

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,“Quiet! Be still!”Then the

wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples,“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the

waves obey him!”

  • Colossians 1:15-17 – 15The Son is the imageof the invisible God,the firstbornover all creation.16For in him all things were created:things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;all things have been created through him and for him.17He is before all things,and in him all things hold together.