Why Mark?

As we get started, we will be going through the Book of Mark. I was drawn to this book after a friend told me it was one of her favorites. Ever since I have been reading and rereading it, listening to it on audio books and studying it. Mark is thought to be the earliest gospel book written so naturally, it felt like a good place to start.

Some background about the Book of Mark:

• Mark is thought to have been the interpreter for Peter. (1 Peter 5:13 – son is thought to refer to Peter being responsible for Mark’s conversion) Historians are not sure if this means that he was actually with Peter and Jesus during these accounts or if he acted as Peter’s interpreter for these writings.
• Mark is a fast paced approach to introducing the Son of God (or as he is referred to in this book – the Son of Man)
• Mark is more about highlights. “It’s the greatest news story of all times.” It is an exciting account of the gospel, otherwise known as the “good news”.
• Mark records about half of Jesus’ miracles.
• Mark focuses on action not speeches.
• Straightway or immediately is used 41 times in this book.
• The emphasis of this book is discipleship and persecution or suffering.
• Mark was a great encouragement to suffering Christians during persecution under Nero.

The Book of Mark is 16 Chapters long. We will cover one Chapter a day. I will do my best to write comments & questions to challenge you in your own study of this book. Please remember to leave your own comments & questions as well. We will get started with Chapter 1 on Wednesday, February 24th. We will cover a Proverbs or Psalms on Saturdays & Sundays. I won’t always cover everything in a chapter, maybe just bits and pieces or maybe just one topic in particular. If you have something you want to add or another topic to talk about, let’s hear it.

In the future, we will either go through another book of the Bible, a specific study in the Bible, or another book all together. If you have suggestions of a book you would like to go through, please let me know.

Looking forward to getting started…