Welcome
Invite various persons to bring a designated item and use this liturgy as a way to begin your time of learning together.
One: The season of Advent is past and the celebration of Christmas is given way to a New Year, but the story of God’s faithful love continues in
All: Jesus the Christ
One: The Magi followed the star to discover the light that overcomes darkness
(Place a candle on a table but don’t light it yet)
All: Jesus the Christ
One: The light of the world is God’s own Son
(Light the candle)
All: Jesus the Christ
One: Baptized by water and the Spirit he was anointed by God as
(Place the bowl of water on the table)
All: Jesus the Christ
One: We give thanks and remember, we too are baptized and made siblings with
(Each person touches the water)
All: Jesus the Christ
One: We are here, Holy Spirit, ready for your leading.
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something — a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world. [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for… [invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Connecting with Scripture: Mark 1:16-20
Read the Scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
For the second reading this week, ask each person to choose a part and act out the story of Jesus calling the disciples.
Connecting through story
Watch this scene from “Dead Poets Society” as Mr. Keating invites them to be a part of something bigger than any of their personal ambitions.
- What does Mr. Keating want the students to contribute to life?
- Why does it matter that we should also be a part of something bigger than ourselves? That we should make a difference in the world?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue:
- What was Jesus doing in this story?
- Why did he call Simon, Andrew, James and John?
- “Words and ideas matter … words and ideas can change the world,” says Mr. Keating. What were Jesus’ words and ideas that mattered — that changed the world?
- What were the words and ideas of Jesus to which the disciples were called?
- Keating quoted Walt Whitman’s poem “O Me! O Life!” and proposes that each person has the ability to contribute to life in a way that makes a difference. In what ways was Jesus inviting the disciples to contribute to life and make a difference in the world?
- What are you being called to contribute to life and to the world?
- How can it make a difference?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion:
- In the Gospel of Mark, shortly after Jesus is baptized, he sets about inviting disciples to join him on the journey of ministry.
- The immediacy of this act shows the importance Jesus places on calling people to be a part of God’s story.
- The life of Jesus is the story of God’s extravagant love and unmerited and free grace. It tells the story of a God:
- Who loved us, loved the world, so much that God became human and lived among us.
- Who understands our joys and our pains because God experienced through Jesus’ life.
- Who calls us to a different way of life — a life that makes a difference in us, in others and in the world.
- Who shows us how to live that life by sending Jesus.
- Jesus’ invitation to join him in ministry – to make a difference in the world – is not just to the original Twelve. Each invitation to a disciple in the Bible is an invitation now — to join Jesus in contributing to life, to the world, to make a difference and write a verse, to be a part of God’s ongoing story of love and grace.
Take five minutes to walk around in God’s world pondering and praying the question, “What verse is God calling you to contribute to life (the world) in Christ’s name?” Return to the gathering and share as each is comfortable.
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world.
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
