The Beautiful Upset WK 1 - GROUP GUIDE

INTRODUCTION: The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.

OPEN:  If you knew you only had one year left to live, what are some of the things you’d want to do in the time you had left?

SCRIPTURE READING
Read together:  Mark 1:1-20

The gospel of Mark is all about action, and puts us right into the middle of it from the very beginning. It reads more fast-paced than the other gospels, but don’t let it’s fast-paced cause you to miss the critical details Mark puts in those stories for us to pay attention to as we read. Remember as well that Mark’s primary audience was Gentiles, and his gospel was likely the first of the four, as both Matthew and Luke share content with Mark, and these three gospels are called the Synoptic (common views) gospels.

HEAD: Explore the Text

1. Share any wisdom, insights, or thoughts you received just from listening to the text, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead.
2. What was “Good News” about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God? What would you say to someone who had never heard?
3. How do you think John the Baptist came across to people? What was the attraction that drew so many?
4. If Jesus was without sin, why was he baptized?
5. Mark doesn’t tell us as much detail about the temptation in the wilderness, but why do you think Jesus was sent there right after his baptism, by the Holy Spirit?
6. For Simon, Andrew, James, and John to be fishing with their father’s at this age, meant that they had been passed up by the Jewish elite for further training in the Torah. So what do you think it meant for them to be chosen by another Rabbi?

HEART: Personal Reflection

1. We’re told Jesus was around 27 when he began his public ministry. If you knew you only had a short time on earth to change the world, why would you spend so much time out of the spotlight of influence?
2. When you chose to get baptized, why did you and what did that experience mean to you? Any memories that have stuck with you about that moment?
3. John the Baptist knew who he was (the voice in the wilderness), and who he wasn’t (the Messiah). When people are coming to you in droves, people who are hoping you’re the Messiah, how do you stay focused on your call instead of trying to elevate yourself to a call that isn’t yours?
4. Has the Spirit ever led you to places you didn’t want to go (i.e. Jesus and the wilderness - a dry, hot land)?
5. Like the disciples, we are all called. What specific calling(s) do you find that Jesus has given you in your life? 

HANDS: Practice This Week
Spiritual Practice: Getting in-tune with your calling

• Jesus calls each of us to follow him, to first be with him, then to go out for him. We each have a calling. Spend time this week, 5-10 mins each day, asking God to reveal the specific calling in your life. What has he gifted you to do? Where has he placed you and what opportunities are before you?
• At the end of your time, simply ask God, “What is your calling for me life?”
• Journal any words, thoughts, or ideas that come to mind.
• At the end of the week, review your journey and see if you gain any more clarity on your calling than you’ve had before, or at least than you’ve had in a while.

Invite the group to check in next week about their experience.

WORDS TO REMEMBER (2 Corinthians 5:20-21, NLT)
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.