Purifying Faith

What can we learn from the faith of the Syrophoenician woman? Join us this Sunday at CrossWinds Church in Spencer as we continue our journey through Mark.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. In our sermon this week, we see that sometimes God places us in hard situations and places in order to test the genuineness of our faith. What is a way that God has used a hard situation or difficult circumstances to make you more like him?
2. What is one highlight from the sermon and one question that you had after hearing the sermon?
3. Read Mark 7:14–23. Summarize Jesus’s teaching on the heart from these verses.
4. Read Mark 10:45; 2 Peter 1:3–5. The news that “cleanliness before God” is solely a matter of the heart can be terrifying because it means that nothing we do can make us right in God’s eyes. But what is the overarching good news of Mark and the New Testament?
5. Read Mark 7:24–26; Ephesians 2:11–22. Why are the actions of this woman so shocking?
6. Read Mark 7:27; 1 Peter 1:6–7. What is Jesus’s response to this woman? Are his words offensive? How is Jesus testing the woman’s faith here?
7. Read Mark 7:28–30. How does the woman respond to Jesus? What does her response reveal about her faith?
8. What does it mean to seek mercy because of God’s character, not our own qualifications?
9. Read the second half of Isaiah 66:2. How can you cultivate a faith that is humble, contrite in spirit, and trembles at God’s Word? What are some steps you will take this week to do so?