Sunday: Confronting Man’s Traditions — Matthew 15:1-11; Mark 7:1-16
The scribes and Pharisees came all the way from Jerusalem and united together to accuse Jesus’s disciples of breaking religious tradition showing the seriousness of their purpose. Accusations about handwashing weren’t referring to cleanliness but with religious ceremonial washings. They believed Jesus and His men were “unclean” because they mingled with the common people and with outcasts. If Jesus rejected these sacred traditions, then He must be a heretic! Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13, countering that they were hypocrites by breaking God’s commandments to follow their manmade traditions.

Monday: Blind Leading the

Primary Text: Matthew 15:1-39

Memory Verse: “Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” Matthew 15:17-18

Introduction:
Bread has been an important part of life throughout the ages. One reason was nutrition. Even in Jesus’s day bread was a main staple of a meal and there were a variety of types. Authors of the time describe bread made with honey, raisins, egg, oil, poppyseed, wheat, and barley.

Bread also is a reference to

Sunday: Jesus Withdraws from Galilee — Matthew 14:13-14; Mark 6:31-34; Luke 9:10-13; John 6:1-3
Jesus received word that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed. He asked His disciples to remove themselves to a quiet place away from the multitudes. They got into a boat and headed out across the Sea of Galilee. But when the people heard where Jesus had gone, they actually raced ahead of Him and met Him on the other side. Jesus’s miracles, teaching, and love drew them to Him. On seeing their need, Jesus had compassion on them and began healing them and instructing

Primary Text: John 6:1-71

Memory Verse: “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:33-35

Introduction:

One of the most famous of Jesus’s miracles is the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus had been teaching the multitudes and privately instructing His disciples when He got word that His cousin had been

Sunday: Shortage of Workers — Matthew 9:35-38; Mark 6:6
Jesus reiterated the purpose of the church in this passage. His mission on earth was to bring good news and true sight, heal hearts, and set free those who’d been bruised and imprisoned by life’s trials and temptations. This is a universal call to all believers, and all believers need to participate, because there is so much need. He compares the souls ready to find Him to a farmer’s crop ready to be harvested. His disciples are the workers, the laborers, who need to go out into the field and pick

Primary Text: Mark 6:7-30

Memory Verse: And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts—but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. Mark 6:7-9

Introduction:

Jesus charged the twelve to go out and share the good news and minister to the needs of people. Prior to this point in time, Jesus spent a great deal of time teaching the disciples, but now

Sunday: A Legion of Demons — Matthew 8:28-32; Mark 5:1-13; Luke 8:26-33
Jesus encountered a man who was severely tormented by demons. Immediately the man recognized Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus rescued the man. Without Jesus, the man would have experienced endless torture by these multiple demons. Others had tried to help him the only way they knew how, by tying him up with ropes and chains. But their efforts were feeble. Only Jesus could save him. When life’s temptations overtake us, we can be just like this. Our efforts to triumph are pathetic, at best. But

Primary Text: Mark 5:1-6:6

Memory Verse: But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Mark 6:4-6

Introduction:

Jesus faced many contrasting reactions during His ministry on earth. As He went about the area ministering and doing miracles, sometimes He was accepted and the

Sunday: Explaining the Tares — Matthew 13:36-39
This parable teaches that the source of successful growth for the Kingdom of God is the Word of God. The goal is the world. We may begin thinking that God’s ultimate purpose is the church, but it isn’t. Remember the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount: “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13) “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14)? Too often we ask, “How can we make our church better? How can we have better programs with in these four walls?” But we should be asking, “How can we impact the world?” If

Primary Text: Matthew 13:36-53

Memory Verse: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46

Introduction:

The passages covered in this week’s lesson have a common theme. Each shows how the people of God can experience tremendous joy. Why is joy so important? Because, the Bible says, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). We need the strength that joy brings to overcome evil, to persevere, and to witness to the ends