Reading Mark –
Week By Week[i]
Nov 22: Kingdom: Mark 1:1-45
Nov 29: Confrontations: Mark 2:1-3:6
Dec 6: Decisions: 3:7-35
Dec 13: Kingdom Mysteries: 4:1-34
Dec 20: We’ll take a short break from Mark to read what others say about Jesus’ Birth:
John 1:1-18
Matt 1:1-24
Luke: 1:26-38; 2:1-20
Dec 27: Kingdom Power: 4:35-5:43
Jan 3: Discipleship: Mark 6:1-30
Jan 10: Bread part 1: Mark 6:30 – 7:23
Jan 17: Bread part 2: Mark 7:24 – 8:21
Jan 24: Cross Blind part 1: Mark 8:22 – 9:13
Jan 31: Cross Blind part 2: Mark 9:13 – 9:32
Feb 7: Cross Blind part 3: Mark 9:33 – 10:52
Feb 14: Jerusalem Confrontations part 1: Mark 11:1 – 11:33
Feb 21: Jerusalem Confrontations part 2: Mark 12:1 – 12:40
Feb 28: End Times: Mark 12:41 – 13:37
Mar 7: Heart of the Mystery part 1: Mark 14:1 – 31
Mar 14: Heart of the Mystery part 2: Mark 14:32 – 72
Mar 21: Heart of the Mystery part 3: Mark 15:1 – 15:47
Mar 28: Jesus is Risen: Mark 16:1-20
Happy Easter!
[i] Michael B. Raschko’s book, A Companion To The Gospel of Mark, (Twenty-Third Publications, 2003) helped me with weekly lay-out and subject headings.
On October 5th Nancy led a Bible Study on the Family – during the Christian Ed hour on Sunday (9:45 – 10:30) – see her question below under “comments”.
On Oct. 12th (2008) Brie kicked off our first NOOMA video during Christian Ed (9:45 – 10:30) – the topic was “Silence.” Why is it, Rob Bell asks us, is silence so hard? Why do we fill all our waking moments with noise? I wonder what we are afraid of?
How are we ever going to hear the voice of the Divine if we make no room for it? How do we, in today’s busy world, make some room for silence? (Maybe God is trying to answer our prayers, but, we just can hear the answer???)
First United Methodist Church Bellevue 
October 7, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Last Sunday’s “FaithLink” Bible study looked at the state of the family. What are some of the challenges facing families today? How can the local church help families to deal with the pressures they face?
October 27, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Reflections on “Planet Earth: Pole to Pole”
I found the segment on the wild dogs of Africa remarkable. Although they were ferocious predators, there were also some commendable things about them. They worked as a team to pursue a gazelle. When another part of the pack (off camera) succeeded in bringing down some prey, they called out to their companions, inviting them to come and share the feast. The successful hunters were not greedy but shared their meal with the other dogs. The pack needed to capture one game animal each day—once this had been accomplished they stopped the hunt and did not “hoard” more than what they required for survival. The team whose gazelle had run into the water did not have their egos invested in capturing an animal of their own, unlike us human beings, who sometimes define our value, or that of other people, by how much success we have as breadwinners.
Perhaps because we have been cautioned against anthropomorphizing (attributing human traits to animals), we sometimes overlook what we may learn from animals. We forget that, like all living creatures, we are dependent on the sun, on water, and the Lord who made all things.