Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.knowgrowshow.ca
The Big Idea: Trading tradition for truth.
The Passage: Mark 7.1-23
Know
- Have you ever been in a foreign context where you accidentally offended someone without realizing it? Share you story.
Grow
- Dan didn't watch TV on Sundays. People in Canada take their hats off to pray. What are some invisible cultural rules that you experienced when you were growing up? How would you explain the value or purpose of that rule to someone from outside your culture?
- How did the Pharisees end up with 613 rules, when there were only 10 Commandments?
- Name some invisible rules we have in church that exist "just because that's the way it is". Consider whether we should keep them or get rid of them (but you need to give a good reason from scripture for your answer!)
- If a cultural tradition cannot be proved from the Bible, does that mean it’s automatically wrong? Explain why.
- Are you someone who lives life enjoying the continent of freedom God has created for you, or are you someone who is primarily concerned with not falling off the edge? Why is this?
- How might the Pharisees have reached the place where they thought that ignoring the need of their parents was OK, and to do it in Jesus’ name? What does this show us about their heart?
- 7:8 Can we hold onto the commands of God and to human traditions, or is it always one or the other? Explain your answer.
- Take a look at Exodus 20 and choose a couple of commandments and see what they reveal about God’s heart.
- We often think about the 10 Commandments as rules. What would change if we view them as primarily revealing the heart and character of God?
- Dan said If you do everything for God’s glory, the edge is never an issue. Read 1 Corinthians 10:31 – how does this verse prevent us from sinning (falling off the edge)?
Show
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 – decide this week to do everything for the glory of God. Before doing anything, ask “Is this going to magnify or diminish God’s glory?” Commit to making your decisions based on that question.
