THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 9:9-13
“Discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.” (Mark 9:10)
Being with Jesus must have been an inspiring yet confusing time.
Jesus was constantly challenging their ways of thinking about things.
They’d been taught the Torah in Sabbath school, but not how Jesus explained it.
I am encouraged by the fact that the disciples often DIDN’T get it.
The community of disciples today also needs to discuss what we see and hear.
We need to devote ourselves to the apostles teachings about Jesus (Acts 2:42).
There is always more to learn, as well as unlearning some things we got wrong.
Jesus promised His Spirit to continue to teach us (John 16:12) after He was gone.
When we gather, He is present with us, and we learn and discuss with Him there.
I believe that as believers discuss and wrestle together, the Spirit is teaching us.
Unfortunately most church gatherings are monologues, not dialogues.
Preachers ramble on with no time for questions, discussion or insights from others.
I think we need more discussion time, where disciples are actively engaged.
Are you part of any Spirit-led group that discusses Jesus and His message?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help us as a community of disciples to listen, to learn and discuss in love… in way that encourages and equips us all to live as Your disciples.
Thanks for the feedback, and please feel free to continue… I enjoy the company and conversation.
Yes to both – the Spirit is at work when we share different ideas about what the bible is saying to us; and there is so much to learn from each other!
Time alone with the Lord and time listening/sharing with others are both essential to healthy discipleship. We need the Lord, and we need each other.
My struggle has been to find people who are willing to talk about this stuff, especially when it gets personal. Maybe it makes people uncomfortable to share with me because I am a minister.
Anyway, thanks for joining in!
I’ve read an observation that in our Western culture, we’ve greatly individualized faith. There was more of a community-based way of doing faith among first-century Jews. Perhaps we over-emphasize (not that it’s not important – it is) personal devotions. I also believe it would be beneficial to do faith with Christians from broader circles, as sometimes we can get stuck in a theological rut when we default to doing faith with the same people (from the same denomination even). There’s so much to learn from others!
I strongly agree that small group discussions of the Bible are more beneficial than sermons. I have gained more insights in that kind of setting than anywhere else. I really believe the spirit is there when we share different ideas of what a Bible passage is saying to us.