Second Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2021
Primary Text: Mark 8:31-9:8
Big Idea of the Message: Again & Again, We are Called to Listen
Like the disciples, we are often stuck in the pattern of messing up over and over again. We cling to power, we climb the ladder, we memorialize and commercialize Christ’s teachings rather than embodying them. However, we can’t be trapped by shame, guilt, ignorance, or inaction. Humility is required for transformation. Again and again, we are called to listen—to God and to others.
Discussion Questions:
Primary Text: Mark 8:31-9:8
Big Idea of the Message: Again & Again, We are Called to Listen
Like the disciples, we are often stuck in the pattern of messing up over and over again. We cling to power, we climb the ladder, we memorialize and commercialize Christ’s teachings rather than embodying them. However, we can’t be trapped by shame, guilt, ignorance, or inaction. Humility is required for transformation. Again and again, we are called to listen—to God and to others.
Discussion Questions:
- Recall a time you received a hard truth that “troubled the waters” of your understanding and challenged your notions of what is real. How did you react? What led you to transformation or change? Did the hard truth become less threatening at some point? If so, what changed in you so that you were more open and willing to receive it?
- Consider a time when you have been rebuked—perhaps for speaking up about a difficult issue or naming a hard truth. How did you handle the criticism? Did you respond to the one who criticized your message? In that situation, did you need to be rebuked, or were you delivering a message that needed to be heard?
- Peter and the disciples hear Jesus, but it’s not until their reality is transfigured that they truly listen to the voice of God. What practices allow us to cultivate and sustain a posture of listening?
- Where are you being guided to repent—to change direction and follow a new path?