Week: Mark's Gospel
Welcome to Lectio for Families. This week we’re returning to our series exploring the life of Jesus as told in Mark’s Gospel.
Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
As usual, we start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Jesus, we hear You inviting us, and so we choose to follow You, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls and with all our strength.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Vera Lynn
John 10:10
[Jesus said] I came to give life – life in all its fullness.
John 10:10b (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
We’re REFLECTING on a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples, shortly after they left the city of Capernaum.
Read by Vera Lynn
Mark 9:50
[Jesus said] ‘Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, be full of salt, and have peace with each other.’
Mark 9:50 (NCV)
This sounds like a strange thing for Jesus to say, because how can salt lose its salty taste? But the salt that people used back then came from the Dead Sea, and this salt could go stale and lose its flavour.
And then Jesus is comparing being salty to being peaceful and good and kind, to being filled with God’s presence. He’s saying to His disciples that other people should be able to ‘taste’ peace and goodness and kindness, to ‘taste’ God’s presence in their lives. And He’s encouraging His disciples to hold onto these God-flavours in their lives, to stay salty.
Thinking about flavours for a moment, let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What is our favourite flavour of ice-cream?
In Matthew’s version of this story, Jesus adds, ‘You are the salt of the earth.’ (Matthew 5:13)
Holy Spirit, fill us – make us more like Jesus. We ASK that when people meet us and spend time with us, they would ‘taste’ peace and goodness and kindness – all the God-flavours inside us.
At the end of today’s passage Mark says, ‘And have peace with each other.’
Lord Jesus, we ASK You to help us to have peace with our friends. We also pray for our church community, and for the other churches in our town. Help us to work together and have peace with each other.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
Mark 9:50
[Jesus said] ‘Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, be full of salt, and have peace with each other.’
Mark 9:50 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Father God, we say a big YES to being the salt of the earth; and if we’ve lost a little bit of our saltiness – our peace or our goodness or our kindness – we ask You to make us salty again!
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
John 10:10
[Jesus said] I came to give life – life in all its fullness.
John 10:10b (NCV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Vera Lynn is 10 years old and lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with her parents, sister, and dog Max. Her favourite hobbies include reading, knitting, sewing, and embroidery. She is very creative. Her favourite book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis.
