30 Days In The Gospel Of MarkSample

Thought:

Jesus had a big job to do on Earth, but He didn’t do everything all on His own. Instead, He carefully selected twelve disciples to help Him. They were given the authority to preach the gospel and drive out demons. Bringing healing and preaching the gospel to every person in the world is an enormous task, one that we are still working on today! Just like the disciples were called so they could be sent out, we are called to Jesus so He can send us to the world. This might be to our schools, to our families, to our sports teams, to our friends, or to other people we come into contact with. But He doesn’t send us alone! Jesus considered every person who follows God’s will to be His brother or sister or mother—His family. Jesus invites us into this special family. It is full of many people who are very different than us. It might even include people we never would have thought about hanging out with before. Every believer is our family and we should all do for each other what every good family does: support one another! When we all work together as one big family, we can bring the gospel to every person in the world.

1. Why does Jesus call the 12 disciples? What task does He give them to do?

2. How would you feel if one of your closest friends betrayed you?

3. How does Jesus redefine family?

4. How could Jesus consider and treat Judas as family when he knew Judas would betray Him?

Engage:

Who is a Jesus-follower you know that feels different from you or who is harder to get along with? Spend a few minutes praying for this person and ask God to help you treat them as your family. Think of a way you can support this person and go do it.

Deeper Waters:

There are a lot of disciples and several of them have multiple names. It can be hard to keep track of them all! Draw 12 stick figures and label them with the names of the 12 disciples.