Kay Arthur - Jesus: Listening for His Voice: A Study of Mark 7-13

This small-group study is for people who are interested in learning for themselves more about what the Bible says on various subjects, but who have only limited time to meet together. Its ideal, for example, for a lunch group at work, an early morning mens group, a young mothers group meeting in a home, a Sunday-school class, or even family devotions. (Its also ideal for small groups that typically have longer meeting timessuch as evening groups or Saturday morning groupsbut want to devote only a portion of their time together to actual study, while reserving the rest for prayer, fellowship, or other activities.)

This book is designed so that all the groups participants will complete each lessons study activities at the same time. Discussing your insights drawn from what God says about the subject reveals exciting, life-impacting truths.

Although its a group study, youll need a facilitator to lead the study and keep the discussion moving. If you are your groups facilitator, the leader, here are some helpful points for making your job easier:

Go through the lesson and mark the text before you lead the group. This will give you increased familiarity with the material and will enable you to facilitate the group with greater ease. It may be easier for you to lead the group through the instructions for marking if you, as a leader, choose a specific color for each symbol you mark.

As you lead the group, start at the beginning of the text and simply read it aloud in the order it appears in the lesson, including the Insight boxes that appear throughout. Work through the lesson together, observing and discussing what you learn. As you read the Scripture verses, have the group say aloud the word they are marking in the text.

The discussion questions are there simply to help you cover the material. As the class moves into the discussion, many times you will find that they will cover the questions on their own. Remember, the discussion questions are there to guide the group through the topic, not to squelch discussion.

Remember how important it is for people to verbalize their answers and discoveries. This greatly strengthens their personal understanding of each weeks lesson. Try to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunity to contribute to each weeks discussions.

Keep the discussion moving. This may mean spending more time on some parts of the study than on others. If necessary, you should feel free to spread out a lesson over more than one session. However, remember that you dont want to slow the pace too much. Its much better to leave everyone wanting more than to have people dropping out because of declining interest.

If the validity or accuracy of some of the answers seems questionable, you can gently and cheerfully remind the group to stay focused on the truth of the Scriptures. Your object is to learn what the Bible says, not to engage in human philosophy. Simply stick with the Scriptures and give God the opportunity to speak. His Word is truth (John 17:17)!

O ne of the leading causes of both societal and personal demise is the absence of the knowledge and fear of God. To fear God is to discover who He says He is and then to live your life according to that knowledgerespecting, reverencing, trusting the God of all truth. To live in the fear of God is to live according to Gods precepts, by His rules, not ours! It is also to realize that consequences are inevitable when we dont value His standards above our own.

In the first of our three studies in the gospel of Mark, Jesus: Experiencing His Touch, we considered what happened when Jesus touched people from all walks of life: fishermen, tax collectors, the lame, blind, sick, hungry, and even demon possessed. In each circumstance, the people Jesus came in contact with either believed and reaped the reward of faith, or they resisted the truth and wanted to destroy the One who Mark clearly has told us is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God and the Son of Man.

Although the touch of Jesus holds the power to heal and transform, only those who believed found their lives truly changed. As they aligned themselves with the One who is truth, they experienced not only miracles but a new and deeper understanding of God. And with that understanding came respect, trust, and a changed life.