Enjoying Jesus week 1

As a Christian, I want to take the time at advent and passion week to really slow down and think about what God has done for me. Unfortunately, as a musician, these are two of my busiest seasons. It is difficult to sit at the feet of Jesus while doing things that need to be done. I often find myself full of restlessness and anxiety, instead of joy. My own soul longs for just moments of quiet to reflect on Jesus and His Word. This takes work and purpose, sacrifice and saying no to things that I want to do and maybe even feel like I should be doing. So, I am purposing this season to say yes to striving to study and develop habits of grace.

The book Habits of Grace is divided into 4 sections. Feel free to read and focus on less than I post. My goal is to get through the whole book before Resurrection Sunday. I will do this by taking about 2 weeks for each of the first three sections and then wrapping up during Passion Week. 

I read Bible story books to my children each day, but I also read to them from an actual Bible each day. I believe it is important for my children to not see the Bible just as stories, but for them to see and touch the actual living, breathing, powerful, active, authoritative, and inerrant Word of God. I like to read through a passage expositionally with them each day. 

If your children are older, you may spend one or two days talking about the book of Mark and the history behind it. Here are a few things worth noting:

Genre of Mark

• a type of documentary on the life of Jesus 
• the first Gospel ( a new genre ) or a narrative focusing on the person and work of Jesus
• fastest moving of the Gospels
• includes many subgenres including: calling stories, recognition stories, witness stories, miracle stories, parables, discourses, sermons, provers, sayings, passion stories, resurrection stories.

Organization of the story of Mark

• clips of events to get a particular point across

You may also want to notice key places, leading character, and theological themes

Week one: Readings

Feel free to divide up as you need. You can read the Bible all in one sitting, or you can divide it up for your children by reading one snippet at a time. 

Habits of Grace: pp. 11-54 

Mark: 1:1-2:28