Title: Disputing with God: God’s Will Be Done
Scripture: Mark 14:32–42
Main Themes: Honest prayer, faithful disagreement with God, Jesus in Gethsemane, human weakness and the Holy Spirit, moving beyond fear-based religion, God’s presence in suffering, courageous service and trusting that God is on our side.
Discussion Questions:
1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
- What does Jesus’ prayer—“Remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want”—reveal about the place of honesty, fear and struggle within a faithful life?
- Pastor Mark describes Jesus as “both a window into divinity and a mirror to our humanity.” What do you recognize about yourself in Jesus’ experience in the garden?
- The Spirit Is Willing
- How does the passage change when you hear “Spirit” as a reference to the Holy Spirit rather than only to the disciples’ human determination?
- When have you experienced help, strength or prayer beyond what you felt capable of producing on your own?
- From Fear to Trust
- What images or teachings have encouraged people to see God primarily as an opponent waiting to punish them?
- How does trusting that God is on our side affect our ability to pray honestly, acknowledge failure and seek a life of meaning?
- Disputing with God as Partnership
- Pastor Mark observes that Abraham, Moses, Jonah, the psalmist and Jesus could argue with God because they were already invested in a relationship with God. How might questioning God express commitment rather than rejection?
- Why might God want our honest, unguarded “Garden of Gethsemane selves” instead of the carefully managed versions of ourselves we present to the world?
- Applying the Sermon
- Where are fear, disappointment or uncertainty making it difficult for you to trust that God is with you?
- What courageous act of God’s will—particularly one involving meaning, purpose or service to others—might you undertake this week with the Spirit’s help?
