Glencairn Church

Going Deeper is designed for use with your small group, a friend, or on your own. Its aim is to create time for you to spend with God and his word. Do as much or as little as you like.

1. Pray for each other, our church and leaders, for the not-yet believers in your life, and for opportunities to disciple others. Share a recent entry from your Life Journal with the group.

2. How do you approach Jesus, Messiah and King? Do we bow down in fear and trepidation; or do we see him as a force to be accessed anytime we wish? The back to back stories about the tenacious Gentile Woman, and the sensitive deaf-mute help us navigate the appropriate way to approach Jesus, who is both Lion and
Lamb. What thoughts or questions did the message raise for you? Which ones, encouraged you or posed a challenge to you?

3. How do you view Jesus, in terms of his approachability? Is your response the same or different for God the Father, and God the Spirit? What characteristics (or verses) can you list that makes him approachable; which ones make him unapproachable? What barriers are there for you to approach God with confidence?

4. Read Heb 10:19-25. After centuries of ritualistic acknowledgment that the Temple represents the very presence of God, and that only the High Priest can enter the Holy of Holies once a year, how do you think the Jewish people responded to this teaching? On what basis do we have to enter the Holy of Holies? List the commands that are given in this text. How are they related to the confidence we have in approaching God?

5. Read Mark 7:24-30 and the parallel passage Matt 15:21-28. Jesus attempted to get away and find rest, but a persistent woman begs him to help her. What barriers were present in that day for this woman to approach this Rabbi? Why was she so persistent? Jesus gave a parable about giving food to children first and then to the dogs. What did he mean? How did the woman respond to being called a dog? Why did Jesus exclaim that this woman had great faith?

6. What do we learn from this woman about approaching God? In our culture, we are inundated with aggressive demands that our rights be satisfied. How can we have “right-less assertiveness” when
approaching God?

7. Read Mark 7:31-37 imaginatively, visualizing the crowd, Jesus taking the man by himself, pointing to his ears and tongue, and looking up to heaven. Why did Jesus go through these actions? How was this different than the previous miracle? Why did Jesus give a heavy sigh? Read Isa 35:1-6. The Greek word used for mute is only used twice – here (v6) and Mark 7:32. It is probable that Mark intentionally used this word to point back to this prophecy. Why is there great joy? At what cost did this joy emerge? To whom did this divine retribution come?

8. Take a moment of silence to consider how God is speaking to you. Is He asking you to make changes or to do something new? What concrete steps of response do you want to take? How can your group support you in these steps?