Thursday, February 28, 2008

1 Corinthians 4

IV Apostles of Christ
A. vs 1-5 The Lord will judge our faithfulness to our calling
B. vs 6-7 Don't take pride in having been discipled by one apostle verses another
C. vs 8-13 Paul sarcastically says that he has become scum while the Corinthian church has been elevated
D. vs 14-17 Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate him
E. vs 18-21 The Kingdom of God is one of power

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

1 Corinthians 3

III Divisions in the Church
A. vs 1-4 They are not ready for Spiritual Meat because they are splintered
B. vs 5-9 Some plant, others water, but only God can make something grow
C. vs 10-15 Our works will be tested with fire
D. vs 16-17 We are the temple of the Holy Spirit
E. vs 18-23 Worldly wisdom is foolishness in the sight of God

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

1 Corinthians 2

II God gives wisdom
A. vs 1-5 Paul's preaching was confirmed by the power of God so the Corinthians could safely base their faith on it
B. vs 6-10 God has revealed His secret wisdom to us
C. vs 11-16 The Spirit reveals the wisdom of God to believers only

Monday, February 25, 2008

1 Corinthians 1

I The Cross is God's Wisdom Revealed
A. vs 1-3 Introduction
B. vs 4-9 Paul thanks God for the church in Corinth
C. vs 10-17 Divisions within the church
1. vs 10-12 Paul asks for unity within the church
2. vs 13-17 God sent Paul to preach a gospel of unity in Christ
D. vs 18-31 God saves through the foolishness of preaching
1. vs 18-19 The wisdom of the cross is revealed to those being saved
2. vs 20-25 God has used the foolishness of the cross to confound the wisdom of the world
3. vs 26-31 God chose the weak and foolish to shame the strong and wise for His glory

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Mark 8

VIII Jesus feeds the 4 Thousand and predicts His death
A. vs 1-13 Jesus feeds the Four Thousand
1. vs 1-3 A crowd has been with Jesus for 3 ays with no food
2. vs 4-5 The disciples tell Jesus they have 7 loaves
3. vs 6-10 Jesus uses the loaves and a few fish to feed the entire crowd
4. vs 11-13 The Pharasees ask Jesus for a sign
B. vs 14-21 Jesu says to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
1. vs 14-15 When the disciples discover they have forgotten to bring bread, Jesus tells them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
2. vs 16 The disciples think He said that because they forgot bread
3. vs 17-21 Jesus asks them how much bread was left over after the feeding miracles and then asks if they understand His statement about the yeast
C. vs 22-26 The healing of the Blind man at Bethsaida
1. vs 22-23 Jesus spits in a blind man's eyes to heal him
2. vs 24 The man says he can see people but they look like trees
3. vs 25-26 Jesus lays His hands on him again and he is completely healed
D. vs 27-30 Peter call Jesus the Christ
E. vs 31-38 Jesus predicts His death
1. vs 31-32 Jesus teaches His Disciples that He will be killed by the elders, chief Priests, and teachers of the law
2. vs 33 Peter tries to rebuke Jesus and Jesus rebukes Him
3. vs 34-38 To follow Christ we must deny ourselves and take up His cross

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mark 7

VII What is Clean and Unclean
A. vs 1-23 Jesus declares all food "Clean" or Kosher
1. vs 1-4 The Pharisees see the Disciples eat with ceremonially unclean hands
2. vs 5 The Pharisees want to know why Jesus allows this to happen
3. vs 6-8 Jesus accuses the Pharisees of letting go of the commands of God for the traditions of men
4. vs 9-13 Jesus gives examples of the Pharisees doing this
5. vs 14-16 What comes out of a man can make him unclean
6. vs 17-19 Jesus declares all foods clean
7. vs 20-23 From men's hearts come unclean things
B. vs 24-30 Syrophoenician woman
1. vs 24-26 A Syrophoenician woman asks Jesus to heher daughter
2. vs 27 Jesus says healing is only for the children of God (Jews)
3. vs 28 The woman says she will be content with crumbs from the children's table
4. vs 29-30 Jesus heals her daughter
C. vs 31-37 The Healing of a deaf mute
1. vs 31-32 Jesus travels to the Decapolis where the people ask Him to heal a deaf and mute man
2. vs 33-35 Jesus heals the man
3. vs 36-37 The people are amazed by Him

Friday, February 22, 2008

Mark 6

VI The Feeding of the Five Thousand
A. vs 1-6 A prophet is without honor in His own hometown
1. vs 1-2 Jesus begins to teacj in His hometown synagogue
2. vs 2-3 The people are offended by His teaching
3. vs 4-6 Jesus is amazed by their lack of faith
B. vs 6-13 Jesus sends out the Twelve Apostles
1. vs 6-7 Jesus sends out the Twelve with authority over evil spirits
2. vs 8-11 Jesus gives instructions for their journey
3. vs 12-13 They preached, anointed and delivered many people
C. vs 14-29 John the Baptist is murdered
1. vs 14-15 When people begin to hear of His miracles they compare Him to John the Baptist
2. vs 16 Herod thinks Jesus is John returned from the dead
3. vs 17-20 Herod imprisoned John because he preached against Herod's taking his brother's wife
4. vs 21-23 The daughter of Herodias dances for Herod and Herod tells her she can have anything she wants
5. vs 24-25 Herodias tells her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist
6. vs 26-29 John is beheaded and his disciples came and take the body for burial
D. vs 30-44 Jesus feeds the Five Thousand
1. vs 30-31 Jesus pulls His Disciples away to rest
2. vs 32-34 The crowd follows and Jesus begins to teach them
3. vs 35-36 The disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so they can eat
4. vs vs 37 Jesus tells the Disciples to feed them and the Disciple say it would cost to much
5. vs 38-44 Jesus takes the few supplies they have and uses them to miraculously feed all the people there
E. vs 45-56 Jesus Walks on the Water
1. vs 45-46 Jesus sends His disciples away by boat and goes on a mountaintop to pray
2. vs 47-50 Jesus walks on the water to the boat and scares the disciples
3. vs 50-52 He tells them to not be afraid and gets in to the boat
4. vs 53-56 When they land the crowd again asks Him to heal their sick

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Mark 16

XVI He is Risen
A. vs 1-3 Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome go to the tomb to anoint His body
B. vs 4-5 They find the stone rolled away and a young man in the tomb
C. vs 6-8 The young man tells the women that Christ is risen
D. vs 9-11 Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene
E. vs 12-13 Jesus appeared to two disciples
F. vs 14 Jesus appeared to the Eleven
G. vs 15-18 Jesus gives the Great Commision
H. vs 19-20 Jesus ascended to Heaven and the disciples went out to preach

All done with another week. What did I learn?

I need to find out why Jesus cursed the fig tree when it wasn't even time for the fig tree to have figs. (Yeah, I got the rest figured out ;))
Don't try to trick Jesus, He's smarter than you. (How many people left Him feeling dumb)
The greatest commandment isn't even in the 10 Commandments. (Why not the 2 Commandments?)
The end is coming. (And only those that endure till the end are saved)
There is an election (More and more on my way to being a full-fledged Calvinist)
Judas was terrible, and the crucifixion horrible, but the resurrection? Amazing. (Thank you God)
And finally, HE IS RISEN (He is Risen indeed)

Next week, review week, and I'll work on those passages from Mark I didn't do.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Mark 15

XV The Crucifixion
A. vs 1-15 Standing before Pilate
1. vs 1 Sanhedrin hands Jesus over to Pilate
2. vs 2-5 Jesus refuses to answer His accusers
3. vs 6-8 The Jews came to Pilate and asked He release a prisoner
4. vs 9-11 The chief Priests stir up the crowd to release Barabbas
5. vs 12-15 The crowd calss foe Jesus' crucifixion
B. vs 16-20 The soldiers beat oand mock Jesus
C. vs 21-32 The crucifixion
1. vs 21-24 Jesus is crucified at Golgotha
2. vs 25-30 The crowd calls for Him to come down and save Himself
3. vs 31-32 The chief Priests mock Him
D. vs 33-41 Jesus Dies
1. vs 33-34 Jesus cries out to God
2. vs 35-36 The crowd thinks He is calling for Elijah
3. vs 37-39 Jesus dies and the temple curtain is torn in two
4. vs 40-41 Women who were close to Jesus watched His crucifixion
E. vs 42-47 Jesus is Buried

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Mark 14

XIV The Final Passover, Betrayal, and Trial of Jesus
A. vs 1-11 A woman anoints Jesus
1. vs 1-2 The leaders are looking for a way to arrest Jesus
2. vs 3 A woman breaks an alabaster jar of expensive perfume over the head of Jesus
3. vs 4-5 The men rebuke the woman for wasting the perfume
4. vs 6-9 Jesus says this was done to prepare Him for burial
5. vs 10-11 Judas decides to betray Jesus
B. vs 12-26 The Final Passover Meal
1. vs 12 The disciples ask Jesus where he wants to celebrate Passover
2. vs 13-15 Jesus tells the disciples how to find the upper room
3. vs 16-19 Jesus arrives at the upper room and reveals His imminent betrayal
4. vs 20-21 It will be better for His betrayer that he was never born
5. vs 22-26 Jesus eats the Passover and leaves for the Mount of Olives
C. vs 27-31 Jesus says His disciples will deny Him and Peter says he will not
D. vs 32-42 Jesus goes to the garden of Gethsemane
1. vs 32-34 Jesus leaves His disciples in the garden to go pray
2. vs 35-36 Jesus says "Not my will, but Yours"
3. vs 37-38 Jesus finds the disciples have fallen asleep
4. vs 39-40 Jesus finds the disciple asleep again
5. vs 41-42 Jesus tells them His betrayer is coming
E. vs 43-52 Jesus is Arrested in the garden
1. vs 43 Judas appears with a mob
2. vs 44-47 Judas signals the mob by kissing Jesus
3. vs 48-50 Jesus is arrested and His disciples flee
4. vs 51-52 A young man (Mark?) flees naked from the garden
F. vs 53-65 Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin
1. vs 53-54 Jesus goes before the High Priest and Peter follows at a distance
2. vs 55-56 The Sanhedrin looks for reasons to put Jesus to death
3. vs 57-59 The stories of His accusers do not agree
4. vs 60-61 Jesus remains silent through the questions
5. vs 62 Jesus says He is the Christ
6. vs 63-65 They condemn and beat Jesus
G. vs 66-72 Peter denies Christ 3 times
1. vs 66-68 Peter denies Christ to a servant girl
2. vs 69-70 Peter denies Christ twice more to those nearby
3. vs 71-72 Peter remembers what Christ said earlier

Mark 13

XIII Signs of the End of History
A. vs 1-2 Jesus says all the buildings around them will be torn down
B. vs 3-4 The disciples want to know when the end will come
C. vs 5-8 Jesus says there will be wars, earthquakes, and famines
D. vs 9-11 The gospel must be preached to all nations
E. vs 12-13 Only those who stand firm until the end will be saved
F. vs 14-25 When you see the signs, run!
G. vs 26-27 Christ will gather His elect
H. vs 28-31 Heaven and earth will pass awy but Christ's words will remain.
I. vs 32-34 Only the Father knows when the Son will return
J. vs 35-37 Don't be caught sleeping when He returns

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Mark 12

I found an old friend on the internet today. Joel Eason was the last Youth Pastor I worked under before I became a Youth Pastor myself. He is now the Pastor at Bridgeway church in FL. I downloaded his last sermon and it was such a joy to hear his voice again! I'm so glad that he has started a successful church and will add him to my prayer list.

XII Jesus continues to teach and answer questions
A. vs 1-12 The Parable of the Tenants and the Vineyard
1. vs 1-5 A man owned a vineyard and sent servants to collect the crop. The tenants killed the servants.
2. vs 6-8 The owner sent His Son and the tenants killed Him also.
3. vs 9-12 The Owner will kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others
B. vs 13-17 Should Jesus pay taxes?
1. vs 13-14 The people want to know if they should pay taxes to Caesar
2. vs 15-17 Jesus says to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's
C. vs 18-27 What form will marriage take at the Resurrection?
1. vs 18-23 The Saducees ask a difficult question concerning marraige to Jesus
2. vs 24-27 Jesus answers the question then corrects the Saducees understanding of the Resurrection
D. vs 28-34 What is the Greatest Commandment?
1. vs 28 One of the teachers ask Jesus what the Greatest Commandment is
2. vs 29-31 Jesus answers him
3. vs 32-33 The teacher agrees with His answer
4. vs 34 Jesus tells the teacher that he is not far from the kingdom of Heaven
E. vs 35-40 How is the Christ David's son?
1. vs 35-37 Jesus asks how the Christ can be David's son
2. vs 38-40 Jesus warns the people about the teachers of the law.
F. vs 41-44 Jesus teaches his disciples using a widow's offering

Monday, February 11, 2008

So I've gone a whole week without posting. Why? you ask. Just laziness more than anything. I read what I wanted to read but now I am seeing that I haven't retained it as well as other weeks of reading because I didn't write anything about it. So one day this week I'm going to go back and outline Chapters 6-10 and look at them again. But for now I will skip directly to chapter 11.

XI Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, clearing of the Temple
A. vs 1-11 Jesus enters Jerusalem
1. vs 1-3 Jesus sends His disciples to find a colt
2. vs 4-11 Jesus enters to shouts of "Hosanna" then leaves for Bethany
B. vs 12-19 Jesus clears the Temple
1. vs 12-14 Jesus curses a fig tree
2. vs 15-17 Jesus overturns the temple tables
3. vs 18-19 The Priests begin looking for a way to kill Him
C. vs 20-26 The withered Fig Tree
1. vs 20-21 Peter notices the withered fig tree
2. vs 22-26 Jesus teaches us to believe we have received what we ask for in prayer
D. vs 27-33 Jesus is questioned
1. vs 27-28 Jesus is asked by whose authority He is teaching
2. vs 29-30 Jesus asks whose authority John's teaching was from
3. vs 31-33 The teachers can not answer so Jesus refuses to answer their questions

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Recap

Another week! I just got back from watching the Super Bowl and I was not expecting a game like that! Low scoring, defensive football and one absolutely crazy pass from Manning to Tyree. Is it wrong to be happy that the Patriots lost? However, if history is any indication, I won't even remember this game in 6 months.

I think I'm going to do something new on Sundays and try to come up with the main idea of each chapter I read. Something that is easily memorizable so I can say things like "Parable of the Sower? That's in Mark Chapter 4!" and impress my friends and wow the ladies.

1 - Jesus is Baptized
2 - Jesus heals the Paralytic his friends drop through the roof
3 - Jesus Appoints the Twelve Disciples
4 - The Parable of the Sower
5 - The Demoniac of the Gadarenes

So, what did I learn?
People can be in the church and have a demon. (But they can't be in Christ and have a demon)
Jesus got up early in the morning to pray. (I get up early in the morning to pee)
The paralytic's friends wanted him healed so desperately they were willing to do whatever it took to get him in front of Jesus. (What have I done for my friends?)
Whoever does God's will is in God's family (and those who don't do God's will....)
Understanding the Parable of the Sower is key to understanding all the parables. (I should probably spend some time on that)


Before I forget, I think I'm going to start taking note of every time someone comes to Christ for healing versus the times Christ goes to the person and asks if they want to be healed. I've noticed that there are a few differences when that happens and I'd like to see what those differences are.

Well, tomorrow I will continue with Mark Chapters 6-10. See ya then.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Mark 5

V Jesus heals a demon possessed man, a bleeding woman, and a dead girl
A. vs 1-20 Jesus heals the Demoniac of the Gadarenes
1. vs 1-5 Jesus meets the demon possessed man
2. vs 6-8 The demons do not want Jesus to torture them
3. vs 9-10 Jesus gets the demons' name
4. vs 11-13 Jesus sends the demons into some pigs
5. vs 14-17 The surrounding people ask Jesus to leave
6. vs 18-20 Jesus tells the man to stay and testify to what God did for him
B. vs 21-43 Jesus heals a sick woman and a dead girl
1. vs 21-24 Jairus asks Jesus to heal his daughter
2. vs 25-29 A woman touches Jesus' cloak in order to be healed
3. vs 30-31 Jesus wants to know who touched Him
4. vs 32-34 The woman shows herself to Jesus
5. vs 35-36 Jairus is told his daughter is dead and Jesus tells him to just believe
6. vs 37-40 Jesus tells the mourners that the girl is asleep and they laugh at Him
7. vs 41-43 Jesus raises the girl from the dead

Daughter, your faith has healed you
Mark 5:34

I have to confess that I have always been a little unsure of how healings happen. I know they do happen because I see them in Scripture and I have seen them happen right in front of me. But the mechanics of it have always puzzled me. In this verse we see the woman taking all the initiative to come to Jesus and is even told that it is her faith that healed her. This sounds almost like heresy! Isn't healing a sovereign work of God? How much of my healing depends on my faith? Obviously my faith is of some importance but I have known lots of people who have believed for healings and didn't get them. Was there something wrong with their faith? I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The faith we have is an important component in whether or not we are healed but not the only part. We cannot be healed outside of the Will of God. What I mean is no matter what our faith is, if God does not want to heal us, He won't. I know some say that God always wants to heal us and that may be His perfect will, not it is obviously not His permissive will or we would all be healed all the time. He allows trials and sickness in our lives sometimes because it's what is best for His purpose for our lives. We may not know on this side of life why we are going through things but we will see with perfect clarity when we are with Him in Glory. In the meantime, have faith and believe God for the best and who knows? He might bring the healing you are seeking.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Mark 3 & 4

Well I finished my fast last night. The whole month of January with no sweets or meat. And guess what I had at midnight. That's right. Chocolate! Mmmm....chocolate. Tonight? Steak. Mmmm....steak.

III Jesus heals, teaches, appoints Apostles
A. vs 1-6 Jesus heals a man wih a withered hand
1. vs 1-4 Jesus asks the people in a synagogue if it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath
2. vs 5-6 Jesus healed the man's hand; the Pharasees and Herodians began to plot together against Christ
B. vs 7-12 Jesus gatheres crowds; the evil spirits knew He was the Son of God
C. vs 13-19 Jesus designated the Twelve Apostles
D. vs 20-30 Jesus teaches on the nature of Satan
1. vs 20-21 Jesus' family think that He is out of His mind
2. vs 22 The teachers think He is performing miracles by the power of Beelzebub
3. vs 23-27 Satan can not drive out Satan and a house divided will fall
4. vs 28-30 Blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven
E. vs 31-35 Jesus says that whoever does His will is His family

IV Jesus teaches in parables
A. vs 1-20 The Parable of the Sower
1. vs 1-9 Jesus gives the Parable to the crowd
2. vs 10-12 Jesus explains to the Apostles why He gives the Parables with no explinations to the crowds
3. vs 13-20 Jesus gives the Parable's explanation to the Apostles
B. vs 21-23 Jesus says that whatever is hidden will be exposed
C. vs 24-25 Whoever has will be given more, whoever does not have will have what little they have taken from them
D. vs 26-29 The Kingdom of God is like seed growing in a field
E. vs 30-34 The Kingdom of God is like a Mustard Seed
F. vs 35-41 Jesus calms the storm; amazes the Apostles