The Augusta Church

Sunday Lesson Notes from August 22, 2021

We usually have one thing in our life that we can feel helpless about. Remember to bring that thing to Jesus.

Read Mark 9:17-29

• Jesus is able to fix difficult problems even when we can’t
• Jesus was calm and confident, He knew he could help in this situation
• Jesus was becoming known as someone we can go to for healing
• There was an amazing lack of faith in Jesus’s ability to help

The father in this text was willing to do anything in order to help his son. However, he was unable to change the situation on his own. Jesus and his disciples were known to heal people, but in this particular instance the disciples were not able to heal the boy. After a single conversation with Jesus the son was healed. The disciples then asked Jesus why they were unable to heal this boy. Jesus answered them that this healing was only possible through prayer. When we pray, we tap into the power of the creator. Our very own words in prayer have the ability to do amazing things. We were created in God’s image. God created the universe by speaking. When we speak in prayer God can answer those prayers resulting in amazing things too!

• Jesus had recently come back from the transfiguration and he found his disciples arguing and not praying and not having faith. It was so bad that they couldn’t even heal people. Jesus was gone for only a little while before his disciples lost faith.

Do you pray about hard things in your life or fret and give up?

• We usually have one thing in our life that we can feel helpless about, remember to bring that to Jesus
• Jesus said a really outrageous statement: everything is possible for him who believes!
  • What are some other really outrageous statements that Jesus made in his lifetime?
  • Examples: the only way to God is through Him; Hate your mother and father or you cannot be his disciple; forgive others 77 times and the list goes on and on

Read John 2:18-22

• Jesus’s words are powerful. Our words are powerful in prayer. We are made in God’s image and therefore we have access to these powerful words. 
• Jesus left God to come here to this earth to be with us. He allowed himself to be crucified so we could have a relationship with God. He defeated death so we can too!

Have you ever been invited to something that you thought would be boring, but you went anyway and had a great time?

Read Mark 4:1-25

• What measure is Jesus referring to? 
  • The more effort you put into something, the more you will get out of it. The more you invest your heart and time into Jesus, the more you will get out of your relationship with him. Jesus promises to give to you way more than you can give to Him: that is the measure that is "pressed down".
• The Soils
  • In this passage, Jesus paints a picture, and asks you to look at it.
  • What you see here is Jesus's view of the world.
  • The measure with which you retain this worldview blesses you more than you expect.
  • The words and conversations of Jesus are kinetic and full of life. They grow and shape the world apart from your own efforts.
  • At any time in our lives, we can switch from one soil type to the next
  • We don’t have to remain in the condition of bad soils, we can put work into changing our soil
  • Good news, we can weed the paths, beat the paths to make it better soil
  • Good news, we have a whole lifetime to learn learn different lessons
  • Good news, the farmer already put the seeds in the soil, so we can make effort to change our situation, even if it takes time
  • When I engage with Jesus and put effort into it, I will get so much more out of my relationship with Jesus
  • God is generous and gives us the ability to make good judgements to strengthen our convictions about how we should live and allows us to take time to investigate Jesus further
  • God perseveres with us and helps us in every situation. We don’t have to quit because God is super generous with his love
  • Hosea 10:12- reminds us to take time to prepare in my life now. God uses every moment we are weak to strengthen us

• Hearing Jesus’s Words
  • John 5:25- We live by hearing Christ and making sense of what He says.
  • Ephesians 3:2-6: How did the Jews learn about the mystery of the past? Jesus revealed it to them
  • Romans 16: 25-27: the mystery of Jesus was revealed to some, and not to others
  • Psalms 78:1-2: Mysteries from old will be revealed, some will hear and some will not hear
  • Mark 4: 11-12:He spoke in parables to allow those who really wanted to hear, will hear
  • In order to understand what Jesus was saying, you would have to go ask questions
  • Mark 4: 21-22: When we put effort into something, it shows
  • Although Jesus’s teachings are a mystery, he wants everyone to know what he has to say. He wants to proclaim who He is. He wants to have a strong relationship with each of us.
  • His foot is always on the gas, ours is on the brake.

Sunday Lesson Notes from August 15, 2021

How has spending time with Jesus this week change your life in a positive way?

Read Luke 10: 38-42

• Mary took time to listen to Jesus and it changed her life
• Martha was full of distraction and missed out on something great, spending time with Jesus
• God has already taken care of the “to do” lists in our lives therefore, we can take time to spend time with Jesus as we go along in our day
• Mary sat at Jesus’s feet to learn, which was something against cultural norms for women in her time
• Remember that sitting at the feet of Jesus is about allowing God to do His will through you. Our relationship with God is not about trying accomplish a list of things that we think God wants us to do, but it is really about allowing God to use us to do his will

• Jesus is THE BEST example of someone who asked God to do His will through him

• Spending time with  Jesus will help us to remember what is really important: things like taking care of widows, orphans or the foreigner among us; instead of performing religious acts to feel close to God
• When we spend time with Jesus, we get to remember how righteous he was and learn about what God truly wants from us
• Spending time with Jesus can also help us to enjoy the simpler things in life and see how Jesus is present in these everyday life events. For example, when we spend time taking care of our family members or providing for the needs of others, we can imitate Jesus and the way he did these things, naturally and with a righteous heart, as he went along his daily life.
• How are you going to allow God to use you to do his will this week?