Share the Word

1 Samuel 8:4-11,(12-15),16-20,(11:14-15)

Like many Old Testament stories with origins in an oral tradition, this passage will benefit from being read by someone who knows how to tell a story and captivate an audience. For example, listen to this week’s story as told by David Kossoff (in his own version/translation) – it begins 2 minutes 36 seconds into the video. You might like to listen to this instead of reading the passage, but if you have someone who can do this live – perhaps using The Message version, or similar – even better!

The reading could be accompanied by actors who mime the action, or by slides that illustrate it – for example, the series of images for this passage by Free Bible images.

Mark 3:20-35 

Divide those present into groups of five or more. Pose this scenario: Jesus’ family in Nazareth has a problem. It runs a respectable carpentry business; family members are pillars of the local community. Jesus – who worked brilliantly in the carpenter’s shop – has left home. He appears to have become a travelling vagabond, drawing crowds with his teaching, healing and casting out demons. He is attracting negative attention from scribes who have come up from Jerusalem. He’s out in the Galilean countryside but word is getting back to Nazareth about what he’s doing. What are your choices? 

Give each group one character from the Gospel story, each with a different perspective to consider: a scribe from Jerusalem; Jesus himself; Jesus’ brother or sister, involved in the family business; Jesus’ mother; someone healed by Jesus. Invite everyone to listen to the reading, noting how their character reacts. Then give 10 minutes for the groups to discuss: From the perspective of their character, what choices do they have? Or what do they want to suggest to others in the group? Should Jesus go home or not? Invite feedback.