{"id":37323,"date":"2025-09-12T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37323"},"modified":"2025-09-02T21:17:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:17:47","slug":"mark_13_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_13_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jesus Wants His Church to Focus On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark\u00a0 13:1-13\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 13:1-13.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 13:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 Even as the disciples were admiring Jerusalem\u2019s pride and joy, the temple, as well as the surrounding buildings, Jesus predicts that all these builds will be destroyed one day.\u00a0 Jesus was right.\u00a0 In 70 AD, about 40 years after Jesus made this prediction, the Romans burned down the temple and demolished Jerusalem\u2019s other buildings.<\/p>\n

Mark 13:3-10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately,
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.<\/em>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-10:\u00a0 Jesus and four of his disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives, which at its highest peak is only about 100 feet taller than Jerusalem.\u00a0 Looking at the temple from their mountain view, the disciples ask Jesus when his prediction about the temple\u2019s destruction would happen and when the end times would come.<\/p>\n

The disciples probably grew up assuming that the destruction of the temple and the end of the world would happen at the same time.\u00a0 Jesus clarifies that the destruction of the temple, wars, earthquakes in various places and famines (v8) and other \u201csuch things must happen, but the end is still to come.\u201d (v7)\u00a0 In other words, rather than wanting his disciples to be fixated on when the end would come, Jesus instead wanted his disciples to be focused on preaching the gospel to all nations (v10) and being on their guard against persecution and prosecution for their faith (v9).<\/p>\n

I believe Jesus would probably tell His church the same today.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus does not want His church<\/strong>\u00a0caught up on questions about when exactly Jesus will return and when the end times will come \u2013 something which not even the Son knows (see verse 32).\u00a0 \u00a0Instead, Jesus wants us His church to be focused on bringing the gospel to as many people and nations as we can and being excellent witnesses for Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 13:11-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-13:\u00a0 To prepare the disciples for the trouble, persecution and prosecution they would face, Jesus gives them some advice:\u00a0 when you are arrested and brought to trial, trust that the Holy Spirit is with you and will give you words to witness for Him.\u00a0 Also, in the midst of all the chaos, trouble and even hatred you encounter, stand firm in your faith and rely on the Holy Spirit for help.<\/p>\n

Jesus, thank You for clarifying for us that when you return is God\u2019s business, and preaching the Gospel to the nations is our business.\u00a0 Thank You that You don\u2019t leave us to do our business on our own, but that You empower us with what we need to preach the gospel and witness for you.\u00a0\u00a0 May we be wise, bold, passionate, ready and effective witnesses for You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 13:1-13.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nMark 13:1-2 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 Even as the disciples were admiring Jerusalem\u2019s pride and joy, the temple, as well as the surrounding buildings, Jesus predicts that all these builds will be destroyed one day.\u00a0 Jesus was right.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37326,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37323\/revisions\/37326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}