 Good morning, everyone. The recording has started. Welcome to today's session on the New Testament survey. Today we're going to study on the second book of the New Testament, that is the Gospel to Mark. Even before we could start with our session, can I request one of those to please lead us in prayer? Can I request Brother Isaac to lead us in prayer, please? Father in heaven, we want to thank you this morning for bringing us together to attend this class and news estimates of you. We want to praise you, we adore you, we magnify your name. We ask that what we are taking in or what we are about to learn will grow in us, will become a seed that will multiply. Father God takes it in our heart. We want to bless you for the life of our lecturers, our pastors who are imparting knowledge in us. I want to thank you for the life of all of us who are attending class, our families and for our relatives. We want to thank you for this opportunity, giving us to all people's college. We thank you for everything that you are doing for us and everything that you have to do for us. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Thank you and Brother Isaac. So I hope everyone would have gone through the notes of the Gospel of Mark. Have you all? Would you take some time to go through the notes? Because there's a lot of information in the notes that we would not be able to cover it in the last time. But then I request as we study, let it benefit us. Let's take this time to go through the Gospel of Mark. Well, the Gospel of Mark was the first accounts of the life of Jesus. And early historians' tradition links this book to the Christian scribe named Mark or John Mark. His name means polite or a big hammer. He was a co-worker with Paul and also very close partner with Peter. In fact, some scholars say the Gospel of Mark, they call it as Peter's Gospel. And in fact, an ancient church historian named Papias, he recalls that Mark had collected all of these high witness accounts and the memories of Peter and then he shaped them into an account. But Mark didn't just randomly throw all the pieces together, but then he has carefully designed the story of Jesus. And in the first line of the book of Mark, Milsus' claim about Jesus says, It's the beginning of good news for Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. And interestingly, this is the only time where Mark is going to tell us a story that what he thinks. And then later for the rest of the book, it's going to inspire us by simply putting Jesus' action and his words in front of us and showing us that how other people reacted to Jesus, to his teaching, to his word, different kind of reactions. Even when we studied the Gospel of Matthew, we saw not everyone who followed Jesus except in the teaching. But then each one followed for their own personal reason. But then now Mark has designed this Gospel saying the story of Jesus in a drama format. We can put it across like three acts. In the very first act, we see one set in Galilee and in the second, we see Jesus on the way from one place to the other. And in the third, we see that Jesus is in Genesis. And each of these acts focuses on a repeated thing. For example, in Act 1, we see that everybody was blown away by Jesus and they were wondering who is this Jesus? And in Act 2, we see that it's his own disciples now. And they are struggling to understand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. Who is this man? They're trying to understand him. But then at the same time, they're very scared to ask any question. But then they're allowing the time so that they can understand exactly. Even though the words that Jesus was speaking may be far away from their understanding. But then they were scared, yes, to ask Jesus. Second, they thought that they will understand in time. Not everything I'll be able to understand now, but in time, I will understand. They gave them some time. And also, Jesus knowing that, Jesus also knows about his disciples that they are not able to understand everything. But then he gives them the time to understand. Same like the disciples, even we may be today. Not everything that we read, we study, that we share in the class, we are able to understand. But then we allow ourselves to go through it so that in time, we will receive the understanding of his word of the Spirit who's dwelling in us. And here we see the act three. We see the surprising paradox of how Jesus becomes a messianic king. Okay, so keeping these background in our mind. We need to study the gospel of Mark so that we can understand it better. As this class is only the survey, we'll only be studying about the author, the background, and certain important incidents or the events from the gospel of Mark. But then I would encourage you. We meet only two days in a week. That is Monday and Tuesday for about an hour. I request each one to please go through the gospel of Mark and Mark for us to understand better. Because in the class, we would have gone through the background. We have gone through certain historical incidents that happened. So keeping all this in mind when we read these gospel, the revelation would be much greater and better. So one suggestion could be, yes, we can read the Bible through. The other way that we could do is use the audio Bible. Use the audio Bible two, three times when you play it. You can understand each chapter by chapter and use different colors to highlight it and study and have a deeper relationship. But God, by understanding this flood. Any questions so far? If I could move ahead or you would like to add on anything? Dance is very quiet. Yes ma'am, you can go ahead. Okay, so when we talk about the author, what do you know about Mark or John Mark? Anything that you know about this author of the gospel of Mark? Please feel free to share anything. What is, what do you know about the author? It can be anything from next class onwards. I would request you all because all the answers are in our notes and much deeper. I request you all please go through the notes. Okay, well, I'll just give you share a few background, a few background of the author of the book of Mark. The author was John Mark and we know his name. What does his name mean? Can anyone say? I just repeated a few minutes back. I just shared a few minutes back. For light or big hammer? Yes, yes. His name means for light or big hammer. Well, his name, the full name of Mark was John Mark. How do we know? Can I request one of his turn to Acts chapter 12 verse 12? Acts 12 verse 12, please. Acts chapter 12 verse 12. When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. Yes, thank you. See, here in Acts 12, 12, we see that his full name is being mentioned. The mother of John, whose surname was Mark. So this is a combination. John Mark is a combination of Greek and Latin or a Roman name. So it may suggest that his father was a Roman and his mother was a Greek, in which case he was most likely a Roman citizen. So here we see that the details of his mother is given in Acts 12. We see that his mother name was Mary, a little bit about his family. We see that. So little is known about her, except her name. And she had a home that was large enough for the gathering of a church. They met there a week after week or very often. And the early Christian community also say that the upper room, maybe it was about their house. And also in Acts 12, 12, when we read, it also says that apparently she was a person of wealth. So there is no mention about his father here. So the scholar suggests that maybe the father was not a Christian or a Jew. But then, and he was no longer in the home, possibly maybe he was dead. So the emphasis was seemed to be given in the relationship between the other relationship we see here with John Mark is Barnabas, who was his uncle or cousin. There's a relationship between John Mark and Barnabas. When we read the book of Colossians, we see that in chapter 410, that he was the cousin, he was a relative to John Mark. And the early life of Mark was a little bit is known about his childhood, but it is most likely that he was used to being around very important figure in the early church. One reason could be because they had this Christian gathering at home. So maybe that was one of the reason. And he was most likely very close to the ministry of Jesus because his mother was in faith and she walked very closely with Jesus so that she impacted her son. So some historians suggest that this home where John Mark lived was the ministry center for Jesus. They often met there. And they also suggest that, as I said, the upper room was the place where Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Last Supper and the Last Supper and where also after the ascension of Jesus where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened the day of Pentecost, some scholars say maybe it was the upper room where John Mark lived in their house, the upper room. So we are not sure just the scholars say about the situation and the openness, the meeting that they had. Maybe it was in his place. And he is not named in the Gospel that bears his name. But most scholars feel that it is most likely that the unnamed man in the book is Mark. Because there is certain culture that they used to follow before the authors who write the book. It was accustomed for the authors to leave off their name out of the book when they are writing. So that would have been one of the reason why John Mark has not mentioned his name. And the main theme when we study the book, the main theme of this book is Christ, the tireless servant of God and man. Christ, the tireless servant of God and man. So the whole book is portraying Jesus as a servant of God and man. So keeping this in mind, we need to study further. Some of the experience that John Mark had, we can see through the book of Acts when we read. So in Acts 12, 25, can I request one of us turn to Acts chapter 12 verse 25? Another person, please turn to Acts chapter 13 verse 4 to 5. I'll just type few scriptures. Acts 12, 25, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they have fulfilled their ministry and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark. Thank you. The next person read Acts 13, 4 to 5. Another person take up Acts 13, 13, 4 to 5. The two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at the Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Chilis and Agrocs. John was with them as their helper. Yes. Thank you. So in the first verse Acts 12, 25, we see that Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem and when they fulfilled their ministry, they also took with them John whose surname was Mark. So we see that he returned to Antioch from Jerusalem with Barnabas and Paul after they presented the church with the relief offering. And in the second verse which is Acts 13, 4 to 5, we see that John Mark accompanied Barnabas and Paul on the first missionary journey to serve as their assistant. So what happened? Do anyone remember what happened to John Mark after this? The first missionary journey. Any incidents that you're able to recollect after the first missionary journey. There are certain incidents that happened. It was not very easy for John Mark. Maybe he was not very matured enough or grown and fit or it was too tiring for him. This many reason or he was homesick. There are many reasons that he could not continue the journey with Paul and Barnabas. So he leaves and met up the way and returned back home. This upsets Paul. This upsets Paul. We see that in Acts 15, 37 to 39, we see that John Mark leaves the team and he goes back home to Jerusalem early on the journey and this was interpreted by Paul. Paul feels like he's taking it very serious, very negative. What is this young guy? He could have continued with us but then he left in middle. He's not having any kind of good report on John Mark. Even in future, when he comes back and Barnabas say, can I call John Mark along with us for the ministry, Paul rejects it. Paul says no. Last time he left us in between. He had homesick and it's difficult for us when we go out on ministry to have someone not cooperating or being helpful to us in the journey. So I don't want to take him with the past experience. But then there would be a sharp conflict between me. Just a disagreement between John Mark and Barnabas. So when they go in the next missionary journey, Paul drops John Mark. But Barnabas encourages to take him in the ministry but then because Paul is disagreeing, so this is what they do. Barnabas and Mark pair up together and they go to share the word in different place and Paul will join stylist and they will travel together. But later what happens? We will study it. Some of the reason, yes, as I said, Barnabas being his uncle, he is the man of encourager. Barnabas was the man of encourager. Yes, despite what John Mark did. Barnabas gives him a second chance. We see that in Acts 15. Barnabas gives him a second chance because he helps John Mark to overcome his problem. I think by then the Lord would have prepared John Mark in time and then John Mark goes journeys with Barnabas. And we also see in Philemon 24 and in 2 Timothy 11, later after many years, later when Paul was in prison, John Mark has come back to help and assist Paul. And here we see in Philemon 24 or in 2 Timothy 4 verse 11. Can I request one of us to turn to 2 Timothy 4 verse 11? 2 Timothy 4 verse 11. Luke alone is with me and bring him with you for he is very helpful to me for the ministry. Yes, thank you. So Paul writes here, he acknowledges that John Mark is profitable in the ministry though Paul rejected him before, but later as he saw and he witnessed how faithfully John Mark started to serve in the ministry along with Barnabas. He heard the report of him and then he also experienced him when he met and the early he writes, get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for the ministry. You see, sometimes even we would have faced some situation ups and downs, some failures in our ministry, people may give up. But then the Lord who's in you, the Lord who's called you is faithful enough to work in and through you. So all of us have certain weaknesses in us, just like John Mark. We may not be bold enough. We may not have certain skills in us that is required in the ministry at the time when we have been serving alongside with some good leaders, but then we don't give up, continue, continue because the Lord is working in and through you. People may give up, like a leader like Paul who gave up on Mark at certain season. Now the same leader is looking up, looking at Mark and acknowledging, acknowledging him that is profitable in the ministry. God can turn things around for us. God can turn things around for us. And it is perhaps it is a worthy note to receive from a man of God like Paul. And what happened? The man who was rejected once and he's become the writer of a gospel of the servant. This gospel of Mark is also known as the gospel of servant. Matthew, what was the gospel of Matthew was known as? Do anyone remember from last class? Gospel of Matthew was also known as gospel of, okay, gospel of Matthew was also known as gospel to Jews. Okay, this is known as gospel to Romans. At the same time, gospel of Matthew, what was focused on that throughout the kingdom? Gospel of kingdom. And here we see gospel of the servant, gospel of the servant in the book of Mark. So what was a tradition in those days when Mark was writing? What was a tradition? Many believe that because of the unique use of his mother's own. Mark had a bit of spiritual father or son relationship with Peter because Peter being the leader was very effective. And how do we know that he did that? And first Peter chapter five verse 13. And I request one of us to turn to first Peter chapter five verse 13. First Peter chapter five verse 13 says, she was in Babylon, laid together with you, greets you, and so does Mark my son. I request everyone to have your Bibles handy in the class so that when I request, please take it, read out loud, it helps us to be in the class. Here we see that Peter greeting John Mark's mother, she was in Babylon, laid together with you, greets you, and so does Mark my son. Look at the relationship between Peter and John Mark, a spiritual father-son relationship that which we also see between Paul and Timothy. So here we also see that he is believed to have actually like Paul's son Peter's interpreter when he preached in Rome. So whatever is contained in the gospel of Mark came from the relationship or the association with Peter. So Mark was writing or whatever Peter was sharing. Mark started writing it. And we also see the early church father, Irenaeus suggested that Mark's gospel was a reflection of more of Peter's region because of the relationship, because of the time that he spent together with Peter. And it is also believed that after his work with Peter at Rome, he went to Alexandria, Egypt and helped establish the church there. While in the work there, he was severely persecuted now. The Romans was ruling. The Romans were ruling the place and there were a lot of persecution to the Christians. John Mark was severely persecuted and tortured. Imagine the guy who ran away and now he's undergoing the persecution and torture under the reign of this Roman government. But what we see here is, we don't see that he's wavering anymore. We see that the determination is very much strong. We see that the man who ran away, who was scared, ran away with fear, who could not keep up with the pressure or with the situation that the Christian leaders would go through. He ran away once, but now God has made him so courageous, so strong that he's able to undergo any kind of persecution and torture for the fake sake, the gospel sake. And how did all this happen? All this happened because there was someone who believed in him and encouraged him. Though he failed, but still, part of us encouraged him and we see that the gospel spread through Mark. Some of the traditions say that John Mark was martyred under the reign of Nero government. So those days, the persecution and crucification was very common. Very common. And also some of the scholars says that John Mark was tied behind the horseback and he was dragged through the city. It may not be once or twice, but many times and some of them say that was one of the last time when the cause of his death was that. So under the Roman government is when we study about the crucification that the Romans had this practice of crucification was practice as a method of torture and execute all the people who were against them. So under the Roman cities and where even Jesus was crucified. And we see that in our notes, we have given a detailed information on crucification, like how the crucified Jesus and what happened and how they put the title on the cross of Jesus, not only on the cross of Jesus, but any pleads, anyone who was against the Roman government they used to crucify them and put up a title there. And for Jesus they put up a title saying that I am our eye, which has a Latin phrase Jesus of Nazareth Rex Eudorium which means Jesus of Nazareth, King of Jews. And this was the notice put up by Pontius Pilate nailed over the cross of Jesus. And now many were reading that inscription. And this was also translated in three languages because that was commonly spoken. It was translated in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. And here we see the chief priest comes and tells the pilot like he is not the king of the Jews. But then the pilot says that's what he said. So what I have written, I have written. I request you to please go through what happened, how colonial act, how Christians we killed during the reign of Nero and the Roman government. I request you to please read that in the notes so that we have a clear idea. And John Mark also died and he was martyred under the leadership of Nero. So now with this we will come to a place where when was this book of Mark written? As in most of the books the Bible were considered as they agreed or there was some kind of disagreement when, what time, when, which reason did they write each one. But here in the Gospel of Mark it's believed that many scholars come in an agreement that it was the first Gospel that was written. And in an early date, as Peran notes it says 57 to 59 AD and some says 60 to about 61 to 68 AD. As I said the dates may vary but then the book was written. This Gospel was written and it was one of the earliest Gospel for which even Matthew and Mark, sorry, Matthew Luke referred to. Matthew and Luke refer to Mark's Gospel and they wrote this. So most scholars believe that it was written in Rome and four years in the life of Jesus from the ministry of John the Baptist to the ascension of Jesus has been covered in the 16 chapters of Mark. And to whom was this book addressed? To whom was the Gospel of Mark addressed? Well, it was addressed to the Gentiles, to the Romans who was living there. His desire was to show the Romans that Jesus was God's servant and acting under the authority of the Lord God and he also gives us an immediate and full obedience to all his commands. And there are several evidence throughout the book when we will come across several evidence of Jesus obeying his father. We see that in the very start of Gospel of Mark in chapter 1, 2 to 3 we see that it was written to Gentiles and we find that one actual quotation from the Old Testament and it was regarding the John the Baptist and not about Jesus. And this was a contrast between the book of Matthew and the book of Mark. Because in the book of Matthew we see that 60 Old Testament quotations have been in the book of Matthew, not much, maybe one or two has been quoted. But then Mark omits much of his preaching style of Jesus but then he actually quotes the actions of Jesus. He records the action of Jesus. One of the reasons because he is writing to the set of the Roman people or the Gentiles they do want to have any kind of preaching. They don't want to do any kind of preaching but then they are much interested. The Romans are much interested in the practice of the action. So accordingly as he writing to this set of group, accordingly he takes the action of Jesus and he writes it down. Because the Romans were much inclined and they were much interested in the practices and not in the preaching of individual. I think among the all four Gospels it was Mark was the only one who gives us a translation of an Aramaic word that Jews would have often used. When we turn to Mark chapter 4 verse 41 can I request anyone to turn to Mark chapter 4 verse 41? They were terrified and asked each other who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. Was it Mark? Mark chapter 4 verse 41? Yes pastor. Okay. Thanks. Maybe I have got the scripture. Not trying. Okay. There is also another place where Mark quotes about a synagogue leader's daughter who was dead who reported that she was dead and here he goes into their house he held her hand and he says, Thalitha cumi. And then that is an Aramaic word which is translated saying that little girl I say to you right. So he was the one who used few of the Aramaic words for the common language which was spoken then. And we also see Mark often gives a Latin version of certain normal Greek words which suggest a Roman orientation well the term that Mark used for example throughout this book when we see a basket maybe a different word for the taxes in Julian and all these were Latinized version of these words to make this gospel of Mark familiar to certain set of people and we also see that Mark seems to feel the need to give a geographical description of the amount of olives and he also shares that Jordan was a river for which Jews don't need description of all that because they know what mountain of all it means and what Jordan means but then because he is writing to the set of different people so he had to explain it and also Mark omits many references to Jewish law which would not impress the Roman so accordingly as he is writing this gospel to the gentiles Romans so he is omitting certain things that may not please them but then at the end his intention is to share the gospel of Jesus to the unreached crowd so what was the purpose of writing this book anyone in the class we see when we read this book we see the basic purpose to have been to win the Christian faith by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a perfect and a faithful servant of the Lord he acknowledges as a son of God in Mark chapter 1 verse 1 and then shows him to be the suffering servant and the willing sacrifice for the sins of the this is how we portray Jesus in the gospel and what does that makes the gospel of Mark as the gospel of sin or the book of servant there are certain words that he mentions in this gospel which makes the scholars to call this book as a book of a servant few points I just list out the first indication of the servanthood is the absence of genealogy birth record or the adoration of the wise men pre-existence glory and early life it's not that Mark did not make a E was not aware of all these incidents in Jesus or the early life of Jesus but then he intentionally didn't mention why one of the reason was a servant's genealogy is of no importance to the Roman white there is no real value to a servant or a slave until they can start to work so Mark jumps right into the work of Jesus into the action of Jesus and the Romans may be interested in and the second point we see that the focus on the work of serving rather than you know talking about serving so there is no sermon on the mount has been recorded in the book of Mark no lengthy preaching or no lengthy preaching but then yes we see few of his miracles and parables have been noted in the book of Mark the third point we see that Jesus performed miracles and he would often instruct those touched those who were healed who were touched he instructed them not to tell anyone not to tell anyone why the servants do not get a lot of credit for what they do in those days or it was not yet for the time one of the reason which Jesus after every miracle we said do not tell anyone but for certain people we said go show to the high priest another point we see here is Jesus ministry at times left him no time to eat not only to Jesus even to his disciples so we see in Mark chapter 3 verse 20 Mark 3 verse 20 then the multitude came together again so they could not so much as eat bread they were so busy so the multitude there were many people to attend to so Jesus gave the priority to serve people than to pay attention to his own need so yes Jesus was the son of God at the same time he was man he was God he was man so he has emotions he has sense he would be hungry he would be tired that is what the word says he was tired he walked very far up he was tired so he went and sat when he was crossing Samaria near the well of Chaitra and now we see he is so tired like you know ministering to people he had no time to eat yes maybe he was very hungry not only Jesus along with Jesus again his disciples also very hungry so we see that Jesus laying aside his own needs to serve others and there are some other things that are not there but there is no reference to is a judgment of Christ and the King enthroned in glory we do not see that and Mark also does not mention what happened in the garden of Gethsemane how the angel came and ministered to Jesus we do not see that but yes we read that and the other gospels but not and the gospel of Mark so the book ends with Jesus still working and his followers so the book of Mark is very important we see the Christ in action through the lives of those who bear his name we also see there is an army of believers who live to serve and touch and be felt who served along with Jesus and as we study this book the gospel of we should also know that some of the scholars feel that the last chapter Mark 16 Mark 16 the last chapter we turn to the last yeah 9 to 20 we feel the last chapter was only clay verse 8 9 to 20 most particularly the verse 15 15 to 20 should not be included in the book of Mark why the reason behind this has to do the fact that the oldest manuscript dating from 4th century do not contain these verses it is rather interesting that you know there was a debate between the scholars that this verse was later added by some writers some feel that you know Mark ended this gospel abruptly so later the writers filled in the gap by reading the other gospel and gave a sense of completion to this gospel so some other scholars feel that the manuscript that omits the verse reflect the fact that the last verse we dropped because they opposed a theological problem relating to the miraculous expression and isolation so whatever the case maybe what is important for us to understand is that things mentioned by Christ in this commission are confirmed in other places in the New Testament and therefore they are saved for the purpose and doctrinal study information these scriptures are very important because it is a great commission given by Jesus we are not very sure did John Mark wrote all the other writers who have added this but it makes sense for us that every gospel should end with a great commission every good news that has been shared should end with a great commission where the instruction of Jesus was given go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature even believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be content and these signs will follow those who believe in my name they will cast out demons they will speak with new tongues they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them they will lay hand on the sick and they will recover well after this verse 19 and 20 says so then after the Lord had spoken to them he was received up into heaven and sat down in the right hand of God and they went out and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the comforting signs so what a beautiful ending to show that Jesus Jesus has commanded each one to take up this gospel this good news and share it with others just like how Matthew gospel confirms in Matthew 28 same way Mark also confirms in his last chapter carrying this gospel it is not something to be contented with to just keep it to ourselves but then it is a gospel to share as you share as we share it will only be multiplied this we end the gospel of Mark so I leave it open to the class share add on what was the learning just share each one share one point that we learned from the gospel of Mark blessings llamas literally anyone just share one point on what we studied what we learned today from the gospel of Mark Mark revealed Jesus to be a man of action he was a representative of the religion of God and man anyone else Brother Lubeka, Brother Isaac Lyndon, Ruby anyone Mark we see as we said as Christ as a tireless servant of God and man and also reveals Jesus emotions of Jesus as we discussed today sometimes his disappointment his Jesus appearing as wondered and sighed affection different emotions of Jesus but also being carefully considered while he was writing Thank you John anyone else would like to add on some of the points that we could recap just giving you Mark presents Jesus as a suffering servant of God as one who came to serve and not to be served he also came to be a sacrifice for us so in part to inspire us to do the same we need to do and follow the same we also see yes yes Rosalind please go ahead Rosalind I see your hand raised yes yes I believe God will not give up on us we learnt like you know Mark during his service he turned back like we don't know the reason like for him but maybe he was discouraged or disappointed or he could not cope with the pressure so maybe in our lives also if sometimes if we give up on ourselves or in the ministry God will not give up on us later we see that you know Mark really joined he came back he was again so active that he wrote a gospel yes he was fruitful and he was helpful to all as well yes yes thanks Rosalind for sharing that very important thing yes so from the life of Mark yes as Rosalind shared we need to learn to minister in that way the same greatness and humility that they carried in themselves as taking the example from Jesus himself they had a greatness of humility and the devotion the sacrifice with which they served the extent of their physical limitation they had to walk long miles not expecting any royal treatment from people around they were very simple people they ate what was given to them even if there was no food they went ahead serving serving people nothing stopped them so looking at that we need to be like that we need to be imitator of Jesus and you know as even Paul says in his gospel that imitate me as I imitate Christ because they went beyond the limitation they served they served God with all humility and with lot of self sacrifice and yes Jesus was willing to lay down his life for the sheep so calling us to be selfless to ourselves today as we set ourselves aside to serve God in any area that God has called us in so I request let us be our prayer Lord whichever area that we are and help us to serve you selflessly they should be our prayer help us to have that heart to seek you despite our weakness despite our limitations I pray that Lord you enable us you enable us just like how John Mark left and went many reasons maybe he was homesick homesick or he was weak he could not keep up with the maturity level of Barnabas or Paul who was a great leader you know it can be many reasons or he could be fearful he didn't have enough courage and confidence or he would have got scared with the persecution that each time this went through he was not ready to go through all that pressure at that time maybe it could be any of these reasons that John Mark ran away but then he didn't give up God didn't give up on him nor him we see the fulfilling of God's purpose in us in life unlike that even in our life nothing one thing we need to remember every time when I face challenges in my life one word that comes to my mind is that God's work should not stop God's work should not stop let not a weakness stop us from doing what God has called us to do let not the lack in skill stop us from what God has called us to do is there a way that we can improve we can change will it take time for you to accomplish or to learn that skill yes must God who is the giver of everything God can give us the grace the skill that is needed in the area that God has called us because God is faithful the one who called you is faithful so friends as today as we studied the gospel of Mark we may have some of the weakness and challenges just like how Mark went through but let us be like John Mark who never gave up though he fell but he never gave up he trusted on God who called him was faithful today as we also trust God let's trust God and ask God to fulfill that in our life I will end the session with a quick breath Father God I surrender each one of us and myself in your hand we pray that you will help us not to give up in any area Lord the God who called us is faithful and we trust in you Lord that you will help us to work in every weakness in every area in our life as we look up to in Jesus name we pray Amen Thank you class thank you so much and I'm sorry we have exceeded the time thank you take a quick break and join the other class God bless oh there's no more class sorry I thought there's a session after that okay thank you God bless have a great day see you all next week with the next gospel I request you all please go through the gospel of Matthew gospel of Mark okay one more thing there's an assignment I request you all to write an assignment a short summary on gospel of Matthew and Mark you can present it in a PPT or a word format and upload it on the Google Classroom I will create an assignment and send you all an email okay thank you God bless you all on Monday with the next gospel thank you thank you God bless thank you God bless