August 10, 2014 – Morning Worship
Monday – Matthew 5:15; 7:2; 10:26; 11:15; 13:12; Mark 4:21–34
Why did Mark put these parables together here when Matthew spread them throughout his Gospel? What do they tell us about King Jesus and his Kingdom?
Tuesday – II Samuel 22; II Kings 8:16–19; Psalm 132:17; Mark 4:21–25; John 1:9; 8:12
In Jesus’ parable of the lamp, who is the lamp? How is Jesus “hidden in order to be revealed”, and how is that such a comfort to us in this life?
Wednesday – Ecclesiastes 11; Matthew 13:24–30; Mark 4:26–29; I Corinthians 3:7; II Peter 3:1–13
What does this parable tell us about the kingdom of God? Its ordinary appearance? Its slow, God-given growth? Its final fulfillment/harvest? How does this warn and comfort us?
Thursday – Ezekiel 17:22–24; 31:6; Daniel 4; Mark 4:30–32
How does the apparent insignificance of the kingdom of God (as small as a mustard seed), yet its truly grand reality bring us comfort as we face challenges in the church? How is Jesus himself like the mustard seed? If the “birds of the air” symbolize gentile nations, how does this parable foreshadow God’s grace to Jews and gentiles alike?
Friday – II Samuel 12:1–12; Mark 4:22–24; John 16:25–33
Why are the parables of Jesus not like sermon illustrations designed to make hard truths easier to understand? How do they work to “get under our skin” and drive us to Jesus? How do they divide between elect and non-elect?
Saturday – Psalm 107; Mark 4:21–34; I Corinthians 1:18–2:16
How is the gospel like the parables of Jesus? How does that encourage us to study it carefully and constantly ourselves? To talk about it with others?