Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words believe and follow.
Reading
Mark 1:14-20—Immediately Following
Optional Reading
Heb 2:1-4
Keys for kids
- Jesus spoke the gospel all His earthly ministry.
- The gospel is glorious good news.
- We must respond by believing the gospel.
Questions
- What was Jesus preaching?
- What response is called for to this good news?
- What is required of and promised to all who follow Jesus?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
Hebrews 2:3 confirms what Mark and the other gospel writers state. Jesus began His earthly ministry preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. This good news was good because of the bad news that all have sinned and will not enter God’s kingdom left to themselves. The call from Jesus, then and now, is to repent of our sin and believe in the work of the sinless Saviour that we have in Jesus.
As Jesus preached, he called people to respond. And did they? We know from the whole gospel account that many did not—choosing instead their own self-righteousness. Yet, by God’s grace, many did respond. Their response was seen in following Jesus. Mark shows us four who immediately followed Jesus’s call. All four of them, brothers Peter and Andrew and brothers James and John, heard, then immediately heeded Jesus’s call to follow Him. They left their nets, they left their boats, they left their livelihood, and they followed Jesus.
Hendriksen notes that their decision to side with Jesus exhibits his greatness: the impelling force of his influence over the minds and hearts of men, so that when he calls, they follow immediately.
Have you responded? Have you repented and believed? Are you willing to give up all Christ calls you to give up in order to follow Him? There is no escape if you neglect this great salvation (Heb 2:3).
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 96a, 65d
Prayer
- Rejoice that Jesus spoke and secured the gospel.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.