Preaching the Gospel of Mark as early as possible into my ministry may be the best advice I have ever received as a pastor. Admittedly, pastoral advice is hard to quantify. But since proclaiming Christ is the preacher’s highest priority, such a strong sentiment is well justified. Mark’s Gospel, after all, unpacks who Christ is and what it looks like to follow him. Furthermore, it captures these themes in memorable ways. Mark communicates Christ and discipleship through the messiness and vividness of stories, not just through the precision of propositions.
As such, this narrative Christology provides a plethora of practical benefits for the pastor and his people. This article, however, will only address three reasons for preaching Mark, with a special eye toward how it benefits some of the most prominent categories of members in your church: new believers, growing believers, and mature believers.
NEW BELIEVERS – ACCESSIBILITY
Many new believers in our day follow Christ fighting against the culturally strong undercurrents of pluralism and nominalism Because of this, young Christians need crystal clarity concerning who Christ is and what it looks like to follow him. In turn, Mark’s gospel uniquely assists believers to embrace the two great cultural conundrums
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