Most of our groups are off this week for Spring Break but we wrote a short study guide for you to engage this week’s sermon.

1. Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there a particular point, verse or comment that caught your attention, challenged you or raised a question?

Read Mark 11:1-19

2. What character traits do you observe in Jesus in this passage? List all the ones you see. Do any of them seem contradictory to you?

3. Was Jesus the kind of king that Israel was expecting? How might his character have differed from their expectations?

4. Looking at the your list of character traits and thinking about the Jesus you’ve seen throughout the Gospel of Mark, how does the real Jesus differ from who you expect or want Jesus to be?

5. Tim Keller says, “Either you’ll have to kill him or you’ll have to crown him. The one thing you can’t do is just say, ‘What an interesting guy!’” How do you respond when Jesus is different than you expected? How about when God doesn’t do what you expect in your life? How can you demonstrate that you trust Him even when things aren’t going the way you want?

6. How is the fig tree similar to the religious leaders and what Jesus sees happening in the temple?

7. Are there any areas in your life where you are bearing lots of leaves like the fig tree (busy with religious activity) but no real fruit (faith and true life change)? What does the fruit in your life look like or what might it like if you started living by faith?