✝️ Mark 8:35 | The Kingdom Way: Losing to Gain

📧 In today’s email…

• 📱 Last chance for 30 days free with this week’s sponsor

• 📕 A quick review of what we’ve learned this week

• ✝️ Losing to gain

• 🧐 In case you missed it..

 🧠 Memorize

_{see if you know what words go in the blanks}

For _______ _____ ____ ___ ____ ____ ____ it,

___ _______ _____ ___ ____ ___ __ ____ ___ ___ _____’s ___ save __.

Mark _:__

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A review of what we’ve learned 🤔 

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve learned this week:

Background Context

• Author: Author: John Mark (aka Mark)

• Audience + purpose: The listeners of Peter in Rome were not content with just hearing his teachings once.

  • They persistently urged Mark, who was a follower and writer for Peter, to provide a written record of the teachings they had heard from Peter.

  • They continued to persuade Mark until he agreed, leading to the creation of the Gospel of Mark.

Main Theme:

• The ultimate purpose and theme of Mark is to present and defend Jesus’ universal call to discipleship.

• As the narrative unfolds, Mark categorizes his main audience as either followers or opponents of Jesus.

Stewarding his gifts ✍️

Mark used his God-given gifts as a writer and communicator to document Peter’s direct experiences with Jesus, resulting in the Gospel we have today.

What things are keeping you from “losing your life” for Jesus’ sake and the gospel’s today?

Maybe it’s one of these examples:

• 🛍️ Materialism: Prioritizing wealth, possessions, and financial security over spiritual growth and service.

• 😮‍💨 Pride: An inflated sense of self-importance that makes it difficult to submit to God’s will and acknowledge our need for His guidance.

• 🏃‍♂️ Busyness: A hectic lifestyle that leaves little time for prayer, worship, and reflection on God’s Word.

• 🤔 Doubt: Struggling with uncertainty about God’s promises, leading to a lack of trust and obedience.

• 👀 Sinful Habits: Patterns of behavior that are contrary to God’s teachings and keep us from fully experiencing a life lived in peace.

Open vs. Closed Hands 🖐️

✊ Closed fist: By holding onto our own life, seeking to save ourselves, we end up losing our lives. It’s as if God tries to hand us salvation, but our hands are full because we are clinging onto our own life.

And in doing so, we deny ourselves salvation.

🖐️ Open hand: By surrendering and letting go of our lives for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the gospel, we actually open our hand to receive salvation from God.

💡 Reflect: Does your walk with God feel like you are surrendered to his will for your life? Or do you feel like most of your life is spent trying to exercise your own will?

Losing to Gain: Embracing the Kingdom Way ✝️

Jesus’ words in Mark 8:35 turn conventional wisdom on its head, calling us to a deeper, counter-cultural understanding of what it means to truly live.

Key Thoughts:

• The Jewish people of Jesus’ time anticipated a Messiah who would bring political and military victory.

• Instead, Jesus exemplified and taught a path of self-sacrifice and servanthood.

• True life is not about preserving our own interests, but about surrendering ourselves for the sake of Christ and His gospel.

Application:

In a world that prizes self-preservation and personal gain, Jesus calls us to a radical shift in our values and actions.

Our Call to Action 💪

• Embrace the sacrificial way of Jesus:

  • Trust that in losing our lives for Christ, we discover true, abundant life.

  • Live out the gospel through acts of love, service, and self-control.

In Case You Missed It 👀

In case you missed it, here are some resources to help you dive deeper into this week’s memory verse:

• 🎶 Living Years by Vertical Worship (Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music)

• 📹️ Bible Project: Gospel of Mark Summary (link)

• 📹️ You Have One Life, Don’t Waste It - John Piper (link)

• 📚️ A Commentary on The Gospel of Mark - The Gospel Coalition (link)

• 📚️ Following Christ: Losing Your Life For His Sake by Charles Spurgeon (link)

• 📱 Tuvu: The new social media app for Christians (link to 30-day free trial)

Answer key ✅ 

For whoever would save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Mark 8:35

How did you do? 💡