Wednesday, June 04, 2014

When reading Mark 3:31-35 in preparation for this program a lot of thoughts flooded into my mind. I decided to do a “4S” study approach: spread, sort, structure and summarize. I started by spreading out the information in these verses and writing them down. Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive at a home where Jesus is teaching a crowd of interested followers. His family is concerned about His welfare. They feel He is pushing Himself too hard and is ready to crack, so they want to take Him home. They don’t want to make a scene, so they send word to Him to come out to them. When He gets the word He makes a comment that is hard for many to understand – “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He makes a further statement that some will understand and rejoice in, while others, especially His family, would find hurtful and confusing. Now try sorting this information into groups. For example: you have those who are unbelievers, who only see what is on the surface. Then you have believers who tune in to what is really being said – things of the heart, things of faith, and things of relationship with God. And finally, you have believers, but they have vested personal interests which at times distort their understanding of the things that really matter. This sorting process will help you structure the material into an outline. When I did this I came up with a title: The Family of God, with three main points – the unattached, the attached and the fully committed. Try putting a couple of sub points under each of these points based on these verses. Then ask yourself which point best illustrates where you are, related to the family of God. Are you satisfied with where you are?