Learning to be a Bible Story listener

Mark 9:33-37 … Who Is the Greatest?

Pray

Note: Prayer is a story:
[Fact] say a fact about God … God, you are awesome! Creator of the universe!
[Experience] What is it you feel/sense/believe about this? … “and I am soooooo thankful that you speak to me!”
[Meaning/so what?] “Holy Spirit, help ME to listen to you as I read your Word”
[Pause] (listen to Holy Spirit)
[What’s next?] Read the Bible passage …

Read the passage: a stated or implied combination of [Fact][Experience][Meaning]
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Listen

• your responses/reactions
• Holy Spirit nudges
• list any responses you have heard offered by others (e.g.learning point/theme words: • Jesus sorts out his disciples’ ambitions with a child • Humility can replace huge egos • Fame is not the boss

Story listener choice … What now? Your choice!

• ask for another story … where was that other story about Jesus and children in Mark’s Gospel?
• Smile at your own stories of being a child; Smile (awks!!) at your own stories about arguments as to who was better at this or that.
• So what for you personally as a follower of Jesus?
• Do the further work required to share this story with others.

Find the mini stories … suggested as:

• Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
• But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.
• He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
• Then he took a little child and put it among them [in their midst];
• and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Deconstruct each mini story

This takes some time and some choice regarding how you use:

• detective work to uncover context, why this story is in the Bible, what did it mean to the original story listeners
• biblical imagination & Holy Spirit discernment to place yourself in the story to ‘fill in’ what is implied
• underline facts; circle emotions or belief statements; add notes or questions as to what it was meaning to those present; what were the responses/reactions of characters; what happened next? Is it stated or are we left wondering what we would do?

Comments

Make your own personal notes about all this to be used in the next section. Reserve the comments section here for any questions you may have.

Your comments

Because this is a learning community space, the task now is to critique the ideas &/or stories presented here.

• Use the comment space below to share your ideas, responses, questions, alternative points of view, or suggested improvements and reasoning.
• Share how you would use any of this appropriately in your context, with your skills, and in your style!
• Add below any of your own related experiences or similar examples of stories or ideas you have seen, heard, or tried.