CONNECT GROUP DISCUSSIONS
You can choose to download each week here and print, save on your ipad, etc to take notes or take notes right in the app!
THE GOSPEL DISCIPLES
Did you know the term "discipleship" is not found in the Bible? Yet, if you ask most churches what area they hope to grow in during 2025 many will say resoundingly discipleship.
In the Bible, we never see Jesus teach a seminar, conference, or hold a convention teaching churches how to disciple, yet everything He did in His earthly ministry was in fact discipling disciples.
Jesus began his earthly ministry and immediately called men to follow Him and on the road of constant service. Jesus prepared and patterned His twelve on how to be full court, all in Christians.
THE GOSPEL OVER RULES
Legalism, legalistic, judgemental, and self-righteous are all words that make me feel nauseous. How about you? I grew up in a time in which in many circles that was the feeling about churches. Men began to take their eyes off the Bible and preach man-made ideas as if it was truth.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. In Mark 2 and 3 we see a verbal sparring over the Pharisees' view of religious regulations and Jesus's apparent superseding. The law is vital and powerful to reveal that all men can not ever be completely lawful and in its intended effect points us to the need of a Savior. Satan seeks to trap us at every turn. He will use doing good, ritualistic, dogmatic things to get our eyes off Jesus and on our own merit, causing us to be ineffective for the cause of the gospel on the ground.
THE GOSPEL UNIFIES
Families are knit to God’s heart. In fact, they were His design from the start. When God created man, He said, "It is not good for man to be alone," so He created woman (Genesis 2:18). Then, He blessed them and told them, "Be fruitful, and multiply" (Genesis 1:28).
In Mark 3:20-35 the scene opens with much familial disruption. Even close relatives and religious insiders were nonplussed by what Jesus preached, because it threatened to hamper so many aspects of typical society. They accused Him of being insane and even demon-filled. Jesus goes on to teach that what makes a family is the dynamic unifier of the gospel on the ground.
THE GOSPEL MOVES
Have you ever used phrases like "you are asking for trouble," "playing with fire," "rocking the boat?" I wonder if the disciples ever felt like that as they followed Jesus into difficulty. At the end of Mark 4, Jesus whisks the disciples away from the multitude and takes them directly into the mess. In chapter 5 they go from that mess, to a maniac (demoniac) named legion.
The Gospel on the Ground is a gospel that seeks opportunities wherever it will be needed. Remember Jesus said in Mark 2:17, "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Are we passionate about finding a place for the gospel? Passionate enough to rock the boat, to find a mess, to get uncomfortable for the cause?
THE GOSPEL DESPERATION
What is desperation? Can you think of a time when you felt you were without any answer and just desperate? One definition stated it is the feeling that you have when your situation is so bad that you would do anything to change it.
In Mark 5, we meet with two completely different people who have situations of desperation. Jarius is losing his little girl at the brink of death and there is an unnamed woman with a long term disease, both making a last ditch effort to get to Jesus. How desperate are we to get to Jesus? To get others to Jesus? The gospel on the ground is an anthem of desperation to encounter Jesus. Are you desperate?
THE GOSPEL SOWS SEEDS
Everyone on the face of the earth is represented as soil by this farming story found in Mark 4:3-20. Isn't it interesting that Genesis 2:7 says, "God created man from the dust of the ground." Jesus scatters His good WORD all over earth and it is received either by hard, rocky, thorny, or good soil.
Jesus is the sower and we, by extension, have been given a mandate of sharing the gospel seed. It is important in physical and spiritual agriculture to understand what soil is like in order that we may be effective at sowing.
THE GOSPEL FEEDS
Have you ever received a meal, a card in the mail, a surprising gift, a blessing out of the blue? Do you remember how you felt when someone who didn't have to, did something that made you feel their care? God blessed my wife with the gift of hospitality and she loves to share it by cooking and serving meals. Because of that gift, I have been afforded the opportunity to share with many the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!
In Mark 6, we see a beautifully sensitive side of Jesus, as He is moved with compassion for the crowd. He miraculously, with hardly any supplies, feeds a large crowd leaving them overflowing with blessings. Jesus and His disciples served a physical need that opened the door to the spiritual. Are you looking for a need to feed?
THE GOSPEL LOVES
If someone asked you what is the story of the Bible? What is the very centerpiece, the thesis, the theme statement? What is the heart of the greatest story ever told? Arguably, if it had to be narrowed to one verse, it would be John 3:16.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life."
When God gave the 2025 vision to be the Gospel on the Ground, He included March 16th to be a special day. Can you think of 3 or 16 people to invite for 3:16 on 3-16? It is a great opportunity for us to work at being the gospel on the ground as we look to fill up God's house.
THE GOSPEL BELIEF
If you were tasked with rating your belief on a scale from one to ten, where would you land? Believing can be so hard. Especially about the things I can see. Sometimes it seems easier to trust God with my eternity than the rest of my day.
This week, we will explore belief and unbelief as we look at an interaction between Jesus and His disciples with a distressed father, begging for help for his tortured son in “The Gospel Belief.”
THE GOSPEL FOR KIDS
Have you ever thought about what impact Jesus had on children during his earthly ministry? Jesus received children, prayed for children, and blessed children. Jesus loved the little children, all the children of the world. The Barna Group released the following statistic; over 46% of all people become a Christian by age 18! Nearly half of all Christians are reached as an adolescent. It is so crucial that we reach the next generation with the gospel at home, in the neighborhood, at school, at the ball-field, and at CCW
THE GOSPEL SERVES
Have you ever thought about what impact Jesus had on children during his earthly ministry? Jesus received children, prayed for children, and blessed children. Jesus loved the little children, all the children of the world. The Barna Group released the following statistic; over 46% of all people become a Christian by age 18! Nearly half of all Christians are reached as an adolescent. It is so crucial that we reach the next generation with the gospel at home, in the neighborhood, at school, at the ball-field, and at CCW
THE GOSPEL IS WORTHY
This week we celebrate the arrival of our saving King. When the Jewish people shouted "Hosanna!" they meant "save us," envisioning a ruler with the might to free them from Roman oppression. Yet, Jesus is so much more than a temporary political or military figure.
Even if this wasn't the kind of saving they anticipated, it was the saving that every person, in every generation, needed. Palm Sunday is about Jesus volunteering to die for you and for me. I'm so thankful for Palm Sunday.
THE GOSPEL RETURNS
Jesus promised that history is heading somewhere—and He’s coming back. After devastation and darkness, after tribulation and trials, the Gospel doesn’t fade—it returns. Mark 13 paints a sobering picture: lights will fail, hearts will tremble, and the world will reel. But then comes the crescendo. Jesus returns, not in weakness, but in power and glory. His strength will calm every storm. His splendor will outshine the darkness. So what should we do? Stay awake. Be watchful. Live ready. Because the Gospel doesn’t just call us to look back—it invites us to look ahead with hope.