Christianity Explained

• The title of this course is Christianity Explained
• Christianity, as the name implies, is all about Jesus Christ.
• The only records we have of Jesus are the four 'Biographies' - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
• Over the next few weeks we will be looking at one of these, the Gospel of Mark. (Give out New Testaments and help the group to find Mark.)

Begin by looking at Mark 1:1. Begin by looking at Mark 1:1. 'This is the Good News about Jesus Christ the Son of God'. What does it mean to say that Jesus is the Son of God? We will see that Jesus comes into the world with all the authority of God himself.

1. Jesus' Authority as a Teacher - Mark 1:21-22

The people were surprised at the method of Jesus' teaching. He did not quote the thoughts of other Rabbis or teachers. His characteristic way of teaching was, ''I say to you...'

2. Jesus' Authority Over Evil Spirits - Mark 1:23-28

At just a word this man was instantly healed. He healed demon-possessed people with a word. (Mark 5: 1-15)

3. Jesus' Authority Over Sickness - Mark 1:29-31

The Bible contains over 30 such incidents — the sick, blind, lame, leprous were healed. You might ask the group if they have an experience of spiritual healing - if nothing else the question might be a good 'ice-breaker'. Mark's Gospel contains many such examples of Jesus' extraordinary authority.

4. Jesus' Authority to Forgive Sins - Mark 2:1-12

(This shows him to be equal with God)

Jesus said to the man: 'Your sins are forgiven'. The religious leaders rightly saw this as a claim to be equal with God. The rest of the New Testament tells us that Jesus is indeed equal with God as God's Son — more than that, he is both God and man in the one person. (Emphasise this point.)

So this is the picture we are building up. Jesus has come into God's creation, God's world, with the full authority of God. There is no part of the creation — animate, inanimate, human or spiritual —over which Jesus does not rule. As God in human form, he also forgives sins. However, there is one more area of Jesus' authority we need to consider

5. Jesus' Authority Over Nature - Mark 4:35-41

In a violent storm, he stood up in a boat and commanded the wind and waves to die down, and they obeyed. (Mark 4: 35-41)

6. Jesus' Authority Over Life and Death - Mark 5:35-42

On three recorded occasions he raised up dead people — even Lazarus who had been four days dead. (Mark 5: 35-42)

But most importantly, as far as we are concerned today, we have seen:

7. Jesus' Authority Over People - Mark 1:16-20

Jesus went to almost complete strangers and commanded them to leave their jobs and families and to follow him.

As the Son of God, Jesus makes the same claim over your life and mine. He calls ordinary people like us to follow him. These four men did. Some whom Jesus called later refused to follow him. In the whole of creation Jesus' authority is never resisted, except by the wills of human beings! God, however, commands us to submit to the authority of his Son. Emphasise that we are not advocating that they should leave their family or spouse.

Summary

We have seen in this study:

• Jesus' great authority as God's Son. He is the supreme master in God's world.
• His claim to be divine.
• The need to come to a decision about him. Someone called Jesus 'the man you can't ignore'. You can reject him as a liar, dismiss him as a lunatic or serve him as the Lord.

 There are three concepts which you must believe to be a Christian. We have seen the first of these:

Homework

At home, read Mark chapters 1 to 5. Note any passages which they do not understand or which they would like to discuss. There will be a time for discussing these queries at the beginning of next week's study. Show them how they can download the app for themselves so they can start exploring