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- What is a parable?
-A parable is a story that teaches the truths of God.
- Why did Jesus begin to teach the people in parables?
-Even though many people followed Jesus, they did not believe in Him.
- In the parable, what is the seed?
-The seed is the Word of God.
- In the parable, who is the sower?
-The sower is the one who teaches God’s Words.
- Which people are like a path?
-The hearts of these people are hard.
-The Word of God cannot penetrate into their hearts.
-Then, Satan comes and takes the Word of God away from them.
- Which people are like a rocky soil?
-On the top, these people say that they believe in God, but there is no belief underneath.
- Which people are like a soil with many thorns?
-The people say that they believe in God, but their desires are more important to them than God.
- Which people are like a good soil?
-These people hear the Word of God, believe it completely, and produce much fruit.
-Jesus continued to teach the crowd until evening came.
-Then Jesus and His disciples got into a boat to cross the lake of Galilee.
Let’s read Mark 4:35-37
35-That day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
36-Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
37-A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
-As they were crossing the lake, what happened?
-A furious storm came.
-The wind was blowing so strongly, and the waves were so high that the boat was in danger of sinking.
-Where was Jesus?
Let’s read Mark 4:38a
38-Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
-Why was Jesus sleeping?
-Because Jesus had taught the crowd all day, and He was tired.
-Why did Jesus become tired?
-Although Jesus was fully God, He was also fully man.
-Because the boat was in danger of sinking, what did the disciples do?
Let’s read Mark 4:38b
38-The disciples woke Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
-The disciples woke Jesus up.
-What did the disciples say to Jesus?
-“Don’t you care if we drown?”
-Did Jesus not care?
-Jesus cared very much.
-What did Jesus do?
Let’s read Mark 4:39
39-Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
-What did Jesus do?
-Jesus commanded the wind and the sea to be still.
-Then what happened?
-The wind died down, and the sea was completely calm.
-How was Jesus able to command the wind and the sea to be still?
-Because Jesus was God.
-In the beginning, who created the wind?
-Jesus.
-In the beginning, who created the sea?
-Jesus.
-Why did the wind and the sea have to obey Jesus?
-Because it was Jesus who created the wind and the sea.
-What did Jesus say after the wind and the sea became calm?
Let’s read Mark 4:40
40-Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
-Jesus asked them why they had no faith.
-What did Jesus mean?
-Jesus was asking them why they did not believe that He was God.
-What then did the disciples say?
Let’s read Mark 4:41
41-The disciples were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
-Even though the disciples had seen Jesus heal people, they had never seen Jesus command the wind to be still.
-Even though the disciples had seen Jesus command demons to come out of people, they had never seen Jesus command the sea to be still.
-There is nothing that Jesus cannot do.
-Jesus is God.
-Later, Jesus and His disciples arrived on the other side of the lake.
Let’s read Mark 5:1-4
1-They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
2-When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3-This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.
4-For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
-Was the demon-possessed man able to save himself from the power of all of the demons who controlled him?
-No.
-Were others able to save this man from the power of all of the demons who controlled him?
-No.
-Others had tried to help him by tying him up.
-But the demons in him were so strong that they broke the iron chains which the people used to tie him up.
Let’s read Mark 5:5
5-Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
-How do we know that the demons hate us people?
-Because the demons forced the man to live in caves where people were buried.
-Because the demons forced the man to cut himself.
-The demons had made the man their slave.
-The demons wanted this man to kill himself.
-Because this man had many demons, they were hurting him very much.
-Yet all people are born like this man, because we are all born as slaves of demons.
-Who is the chief of all of the demons?
-Satan.
-Satan and his demons hate all of us.
-Satan and his demons only want to destroy all of us.
-Even if Satan and his demons seem to help us, they are only doing it to destroy us.
-The spirits who control your lives may seem to help you.
-But they are only doing it to destroy you.
-Satan and his demons have only one purpose in life.
-That is to destroy as many of us people as they can.
-Satan and his demons do not want you to know God and to be delivered from their power.
-What happened when this man saw Jesus?
Let’s read Mark 5:6-7
6-When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.
7-He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”
-Did the demons know that Jesus was God the Savior?
-Yes.
-What were the demons afraid of?
-The demons were afraid that Jesus would send them into the Lake of Eternal Fire.
-Who is greater than Satan and his demons?
-Jesus who is God.
-God will send Satan and his demons into the Lake of Eternal Fire whenever He chooses.
-What did Jesus say to the demons?
Let’s read Mark 5:8-10
8-For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
9-Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”
10-And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
-Did the demons know that they were not able to defeat Jesus?
-Yes.
-Jesus has all power over Satan and his demons.
-In the end, Jesus will send Satan and all of his demons into the Lake of Eternal Fire.
-Why should we serve spirits who will be sent by God into the Lake of Eternal Fire?
-It is better to serve God than the spirits.
-What did Jesus then do?
Let’s read Mark 5:11-14
11-A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
12-The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”
13-Jesus gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14-Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside and the people went out to see what had happened.
-Because the demons begged Jesus, He gave them permission to enter the pigs.
-While all of the pigs died, did the demons die?
-No.
-While all of the pigs died, why did the demons not die?
-Because demons are spirits.
-Because demons do not have a body like people or animals do.
-Why did Jesus not send the demons into the Lake of Eternal Fire?
-Because it was not God’s time to punish the demons.
-In the end, however, Jesus will send Satan and all of his demons into the Lake of Eternal Fire.
-When the people who were living in the area came, what did they see?
Let’s read Mark 5:15
15-When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
-Was the man who had been possessed by demons still their slave?
-No.
-Who set the man free from the bondage of the demons?
-Jesus.
-The man was no longer a slave of the demons.
-The man was set free by Jesus, God the Savior.
-What did the people who were living in the area do?
Let’s read Mark 5:16-17
16-Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man–and told about the pigs as well.
17-Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
-Why did the people beg Jesus to leave?
-Because the people were foolish.
-Because the people were thinking more of their pigs than God.
-Jesus, God the Savior, had come to set them free from Satan, and they were only thinking about their pigs.
-Today, many people are just like those people.
-People think more about their pigs than Jesus.
-People think more about their belongings than Jesus.
-But will pigs or belongings set you free from the power of sin, death, and Satan?
-No.
-What did the man who was possessed by the demons then say to Jesus?
Let’s read Mark 5:18-20
18-As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.
19-Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
20-So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
-Why did Jesus not allow the man to go with Him?
-Because Jesus wanted him to tell his family and others what God had done for him.
-When God sets us free from the power of Satan and his demons, it is good to tell others that God also wants to free them from evil.