CreatingCommunity is an email devotion to guide your preparation for worship next weekend. Imagine how much more clear and relevant God's Word will be if you have had an opportunity read, reflect, and dwell in the Word prior to worship. You may do this devotion alone, with others, as a family, or over Zoom as a small group.

This devotion is to be done in preparation for Sunday, June 6, 2021, The Second Sunday after Pentecost.

Please follow these three steps:

1. Read through the text
2. Respond to the questions (select one of the sets of questions)
3. Offer a Prayer
Mark 4:35-41
When evening had come, [Jesus said to the disciples,] “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
No Experience Necessary Questions:
  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  2. What delights me in this text?
  3. What stories or memories does this text stir in me?
  4. What is God up to in this text?
Family Questions:
  1. Have you ever been on a boat? What was it like? Tell of a time.
  2. Was there ever a time you were scared? What scared you? What did you do?
  3. Did you ever cry out in prayer during a scary situation? Why is it good to pray to God when we are scared? What can such prayer do?
Advance Questions:
  1. If, in this story, the sea represents evil and chaos, what do Jesus' actions represent?
  2. If, the early Christians used the image of a boat to represent the church, what does this story tell us about the church?
  3. What kind of faith do you think Jesus is questioning the disciples about? Do you have that kind of faith?
Click here to listen to this week's CreatingCommunity song
“Still - Hillsong United Lyric Video | Jesus Calms the Storm"
Pray a Prayer of your own or this one.
Mighty God, who speaks a word of peace to calm our troubled sea;
Caring God, who nudges us away from fear and toward faith;
Ever-present God, who fills us with awe but also raises many questions without easy answers;
Open our eyes to see you in our boat—today,
Strengthen our hearts for the challenges that lie ahead,
Open our ears this hour to hear the word you speak.
This we pray, In Jesus’ name. Amen.