WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
/Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Confronting the “Gates of Hell”
Mark 8: 34 – 38 (NLT)
Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
The text tells us that Jesus taught not only His disciples, but the pagan crowd as well. What types of people were probably present when Jesus addressed the crowd near Caesarea Philippi?
What did He tell the crowd they must do if they wanted to be one of His followers?
In what ways would people who worshiped Pan and other gods have to “give up your own ways” in order to follow Jesus?
READ: 1 Peter4: 3 & 4 and 1 John 2: 15 – 17
How might the disciples have felt when Jesus suddenly called out to the pagan crowd? What impact do y think His strong words about being ashamed of him had on His disciples that day and in the future days of their ministries?