Scriptures 101:
The Weekly Teaching Ministry of Pastor James White
Downtown Church in Greenville, SC

"The Word incites a response in those who members of the kingdom of God."

This Week's Text: Mark 4:1-20

Parable of the Sower and Soils

1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 "Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 "And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 "Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." 9 And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

Explanation

13 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 "The sower sows the word. 15 "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

Questions to Ponder...

Q: Again, why is it important that the disciples understand this parable?
Q: Do you feel inclined to know the Word of God?  If so, what are you doing about it?
Q: Why are their different levels of fruitful response in those that hear the word?

I'd love for you to come and enjoy our fellowship at Downtown Church. We hope to be a challenging and useful resource for you in your life. And if you know someone who you feel would benefit or enjoy this weekly email, feel free to forward this to them.

Worship time 10:30 am. On McBee just off main street.

Teaching Pastor James White
Downtown Church 101 West McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601
www.downtownchurch.net
>>To Learn More Call 864-235-5746

"Our pursuit of being like Christ is not constrained by popular opinion, in fact, we are free of all popular opinion."

This Week's Text: Mark 3:7-35

7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, "You are the Son of God!" 12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

13 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), 17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, "Sons of Thunder"); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

20 And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses." 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 "If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 "But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

28 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- 30 because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You." 33 Answering them, He said, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother."


Questions to Ponder...

Q: Why would Jesus not want the demons to declare who He was?
Q: Why did Jesus send the disciples out in pairs?
Q: Why did Jesus decide not to run with popular opinion?
Q: Why was Jesus so seemingly hard to His family, particularly, His own mother?


I'd love for you to come and enjoy our fellowship at Downtown Church. We hope to be a challenging and useful resource for you in your life. And if you know someone who you feel would benefit or enjoy this weekly email, feel free to forward this to them.

Worship time 10:30 am. On McBee just off main street.

Teaching Pastor James White
Downtown Church 101 West McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601
www.downtownchurch.net
>>To Learn More Call 864-235-5746

Scriptures 101:
The Weekly Teaching Ministry of Pastor James White

"Because of Christ's sacrifice we are free from slavery to the law and open to a life of freedom."

This Week's Text: Numbers 15:32-36 and Mark 2:23-3:6

Sabbath-breaking Punished in the Old Testament

32 Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; 34 and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." 36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Questions to Ponder...

Q: What gives God the right to be so excessive with penalty over such a light infraction?
Q: Is this fair?

Question of the Sabbath in the New Testament

1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" 4 And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

Questions to Ponder...

Q: Why is Jesus so upset with the Pharisees over this issue?
Q: What significant change from Numbers to Mark has occurred?
Q: Why do we treat God more importantly on Sunday than the rest of the week?



I'd love for you to come and enjoy our fellowship at Downtown Church. We hope to be a challenging and useful resource for you in your life. And if you know someone who you feel would benefit or enjoy this weekly email, feel free to forward this to them.

Worship time 10:30 am. On McBee just off main street.

Teaching Pastor James White
Downtown Church 101 West McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601
www.downtownchurch.net
>>To Learn More Call 864-235-5746

"Christians have no religious regulation and no regulatory body in between them and God so that no one can deny them the grace of God."

This Week's Text: Mark 2:23-3:6

Question of the Sabbath

23 And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 25 And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; 26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" 27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" 4 And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

Questions to Ponder...

Q: Why do you do things on Sunday that you don't do every other day? And vice-versa?
Q: If Christ said "it is finished" on the cross then what are the values of the system of Sunday observances?
Q: Should the Christian say that every day is the sabbath day?  If so, how would that work itself out?

I'd love for you to come and enjoy our fellowship at Downtown Church. We hope to be a challenging and useful resource for you in your life. And if you know someone who you feel would benefit or enjoy this weekly email, feel free to forward this to them.

Worship time 10:30 am. On McBee just off main street.

Teaching Pastor James White
Downtown Church 101 West McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601
www.downtownchurch.net