05-17-2020

Amazed Outputs - Main Graphic.jpg

05-17-2020
Rev. Trevor Johnston and Pastor Efrain Silva
Sermon Series: “Amazed! A Closer Look At One Amazing Life”
Week 5 – “Jesus was Amazed”
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español.

Each week, our Sermon Discussion Questions are here to help the sermon go deeper into your life. You can think these through on your own, or discuss them with your spouse, family, or small group.

1. Icebreaker: Describe your hometown, and share what you like most about it.

2. Say our theme verse for this sermon series together. Mark 7:37a:
People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said.

3. The best way to learn is to benefit from someone else’s mistakes, rather than having to make the mistakes yourself. Share about a time when you learned from someone else’s mistake.

4. Read Mark 6:1-6:
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.”


What do you notice in this passage, or what questions come to your mind?

5. We’ve seen many occasions in Mark’s Gospel when people were amazed at Jesus, but in this passage, it’s Jesus who was amazed. It’s only recorded twice in the New Testament that Jesus was amazed. Read about the other occurrence in Matthew 8:5-13:
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.


Why was Jesus so amazed in this situation?

6. In Mark 6, Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of the people his hometown. Why do you think this amazed Jesus?

7. Why didn’t people from Jesus’ hometown believe in Jesus?

8. Scripture mentions different types of unbelief. One type of unbelief is recorded in Mark 9, when a demon possessed boy was brought to Jesus. Read Mark 9:20-24:
When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”


Even though the father had some unbelief, Jesus responded positively and healed his son. What was different about this man’s unbelief compared to the unbelief of the people in Mark 6?

9. Read what Hebrews 3:7-8 and 12-13 say about unbelief:
So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness….
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.


What was the writer of Hebrews trying to communicate here?

10. What does it mean to harden your heart? What causes a hard heart to develop?

11. Read God’s promise in Ezekiel 36:26-27:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

What does this passage mean? What was Ezekiel talking about?

12. Even as believers, we can gradually grow overfamiliar with Jesus and lose our sense of amazement of him. What helps you keep your heart soft and stay amazed at Jesus?


Ready for your next step?
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05-10-2020