mark
37 pieces
With All Your Heart
Jesus names the greatest commandment, and it is a commandment to love
What God Has Joined Together
Jesus answers a question about divorce by going back to the beginning, and a marriage can go there too
When You Stand Praying
Jesus attaches a condition to prayer that has nothing to do with technique
Not to Be Served
Jesus defines his own mission in a single sentence, and then hands it to his followers
Like a Little Child
The kingdom is not earned by adults and cannot be received any other way than a child receives
Last of All
Jesus answers an argument about greatness with a sentence that reverses the order
Help My Unbelief
A father's honest prayer became one of the most loved sentences in the Gospels
Listen to Him
On the mountain, the Father says one thing about the Son, and it is a command
The Whole World and the Soul
After Peter's confession and the first prediction of the cross, Jesus states the terms plainly.
He Has Done Everything Well
A Gentile crowd sums up what they have seen, and gets it exactly right.
Lips Near, Hearts Far
Jesus borrows a line from Isaiah to diagnose a religion of the mouth.
It Is I; Do Not Be Afraid
In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus comes walking on the water to men who are straining at the oars.
Come Away and Rest a While
Jesus notices that his friends have not even had time to eat, and does something about it.
Do Not Be Afraid; Just Believe
On the road to a dying girl, Jesus speaks four words to a frightened father.
Go Home and Tell Them
Jesus sends a healed man back to the one place he might least want to go.
Do You Not Care That We Are Drowning
The disciples' question in the storm is one many believers have asked, and it deserves a slow, honest answer.
A Lamp and a Seed
Two small parables in Mark 4 describe how the kingdom grows: openly, and by itself.
Why Are You So Afraid
Jesus asks the disciples a question after the storm that he could also ask us.
Thorns in a Marriage
The parable of the sower offers a surprisingly precise account of how a marriage's spiritual life gets crowded out.
Why He Spoke in Parables
Jesus' explanation of his own method is uncomfortable, and it tells us how the word works.
Good Soil
The parable of the sower ends with a promise about what a receptive heart can yield.
Reading Mark as a Household
A practical guide to walking through Mark 1 to 4 together at home, whatever your family looks like.
Whoever Does God's Will
Jesus redefines family in a single sentence, without dishonouring the one he was born into.
The Man with the Shrivelled Hand
In a tense synagogue, Jesus asks a question nobody will answer and heals anyway.
New Wine, Old Skins
Jesus' answer to a question about fasting explains why his presence changes the shape of religious life.
Made for Man
Jesus' word about the Sabbath reorders the relationship between people and the rules meant to serve them.
Through the Roof
The story of the paralysed man in Capernaum, retold, and what it teaches about need, friendship and the authority of Jesus.
The Faith of the Four
Mark says Jesus saw their faith, and the pronoun is worth a Sunday's reflection.
Your Sins Are Forgiven
Jesus gives a paralysed man something he did not come for, and it turns out to be what he most needed.
Claim the First Fifteen Minutes
A concrete practice for building a solitary place into an ordinary week.
A Day in Capernaum
One Sabbath in a small town shows the whole shape of Jesus' work, and the place of prayer within it.
Follow Me
Jesus' first call to his disciples is short, direct and still open.
Prepared in the Wilderness
Why does the Spirit send Jesus into the desert before he sends him into the towns?
A Gospel That Starts Running
Mark's opening chapter moves fast, and the pace itself teaches something about who Jesus is.
The Time Has Come
Mark opens Jesus' public ministry with a single sentence that still asks something of us.