WEEK 2: The Way To Follow

DATE: October 11th

MAIN SCRIPTURE: Mark 1:9–20

SUPPORT SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:37–39; Romans 6:3–4

COMMAND: Come, Follow me.

MAIN IDEA: The way of Jesus requires walking in His footsteps.

SERMON IDEAS:

- Jesus’ identity is revealed before His disciples are called

-- Mark 1:9–11 introduces Jesus through His baptism.

--- Heaven is torn open.

--- The Spirit descends.

--- The Father declares, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

-- Before Mark tells us what disciples must do, he tells us who Jesus is.

-- Discipleship begins with the identity of the One we follow.

- Jesus calls ordinary people to walk after Him

-- Mark 1:16–20 records Jesus calling Simon, Andrew, James, and John.

-- “Come, follow me.”

-- Their response is concrete. They leave nets, boats, and familiar patterns.

-- Following is not admiration from a distance.

-- It requires walking where Jesus leads. We must follow Jesus.

- Baptism becomes a public act of obedience and identification

-- Mark does not offer a full theology of Christian baptism, so Romans 6:3-4 can support the application.

--- Baptism does not save us, but it publicly identifies us with Christ.

--- Baptism declares that our life is now bound to Jesus and His death and resurrection.

-- Baptism is one of the first concrete acts of obedience for someone who has trusted Christ.

-- Baptism is a clear way of following Jesus. We cannot remain still, we must follow in His footsteps.

- Following feels like imitating Jesus at first

-- The disciple does not simply learn information from Jesus.

-- The disciple watches His life and begins to walk in His footsteps.

-- His obedience, compassion, prayer, holiness, service, and mission become the pattern.

-- Each day, the disciple imitates Christ. He/she must follow His pattern.

- Parabolic Interpretation

- The Parable of the Old and New Wineskins

--- New wine requires new wineskins.

--- If not, the skins will break because it cannot contain the new wine.

-- Jesus is not asking the disciples to attach Him to their existing lives.

-- Following Jesus means that His presence creates a fundamentally new way of living.

-- That connects naturally to baptism:

--- Baptism is not merely adding a religious practice to an old life. It publicly identifies us with the new life Jesus has begun.

- Overall Markan Theme

-- There is a “tearing” that happens through this Gospel.

--- At Jesus’ baptism, heaven is “torn open” in Mark 1:10.

--- At Jesus’ death, the temple curtain is “torn in two” in Mark 15:38.

-- The Gospel begins with heaven opened over Jesus and moves toward access to God being opened through Jesus.

-- The One we follow is the beloved Son who opens the way to the Father.

APPLICATION:

- Move from private belief to public identification.

- Ask where your lifestyle does not yet match the footsteps of Jesus.

- Choose one concrete area of obedience rather than leaving discipleship abstract.

- Reorganize your priorities around the call, “Come, follow me.”

- If you have trusted Jesus but have never been baptized, take that step of obedience.