Looking first at the life of Jesus Christ, then the first-century church and their beliefs, you will see:
- The focus of Mark's message is that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God
- Jesus’ power to heal is evidence that he has God’s authority to forgive sins
- Jesus teaches that:
- those who do the will of God are part of his family
- we should trust in God in difficult situations
- it is our motives that determine what sort of people we are
- following him means denying ourselves
- riches are a danger
- Jesus was crucified, died and rose again as predicted by the prophets
- Despite constant opposition, the apostles preached first-century Christian beliefs to all who would listen
- The first century believers were baptised when they believed in things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ
- First-century believers were
- scattered, taking their beliefs with them and sharing them with others
- warned about false teachers, some of whom would come from within the church