How many times have you started over, on Monday, in the new year, and how many times did the excitement fade before anything actually changed? This message opens the Gospel of Mark, which begins not in Bethlehem but with prophecies spoken centuries earlier and a voice crying in the wilderness (Mark 1), showing that Jesus’ coming was not a reaction to events but the keeping of a promise. The sermon runs from the heavens torn open above the Jordan to the temple curtain torn in two, reminding us that we do not live under a closed sky. Listen if you need a beginning that rests not on your own condition but on God’s faithfulness.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Mark begins his Gospel not in Bethlehem but with the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi. What does this choice reveal about how Mark understands Jesus' coming, and what did it mean for Israelites who had waited for generations?
- Why does John the Baptist minister in the wilderness, and according to the sermon, what did the wilderness mean in the stories of Israel, Moses and Elijah?
- Mark says the heavens were torn open at Jesus' baptism, and he uses the same word for the tearing of the temple curtain. What do these two moments together tell you about access to God?
- Jesus came during occupation, division and spiritual emptiness, not at a good moment. How does this truth shape the way you think about times when you feel unready for God?
- The sermon says repentance is not a box to tick but honesty before God and yourself. What helps you to be that honest, and what makes it hard?
- Which area of your life carries a "private property" sign, and how can you let the words of Jesus, the Son of God, carry more weight there this week than the opinions of others or your emotions?
